Film producer Lee Lieh (李烈) yesterday criticized the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs, saying that its intervention in the organization of the Taipei Film Festival prompted her to resign from her role as chairperson.
Lee said on Facebook that she decided to leave her post because her efforts to organize the festival met with many restrictions, thwarting progress.
“The Taipei Film Festival’s mission is to promote culture, but the Department of Cultural Affairs is abandoning culture for commercialism,” Lee wrote.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang,Taipei Times
“No one has ever attempted to preside at the event over the past 17 years [since the festival’s inception], but that is about to change,” she added.
Lee said that she tendered her resignation to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Ni Chung-hwa (倪重華) after much thought.
“It was a careful decision… The title of Taipei Film Festival chairperson is not a feather in my hat. I accepted the title with hopes to make a difference. Now that it has become my shackles, I choose to do without it, because it only holds me back,” Lee wrote.
Lee, an actress-turned-producer, is known for producing box office hits such as Monga and Zone Pro Site.
Lee said that she would continue to monitor how officials exercise their power as a filmmaker and taxpayer.
According to a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Ni refused to approve a list of consultants responsible for selecting films to be screened at the festival and proposed to show old blockbusters at the event, instead of new films, apparently to free up capital for the 2017 Summer Universiade and other city projects.
Separately yesterday, event consultants and staff issued a joint statement on Lee’s resignation, accusing Ni of being “authoritative and almost brutal” in his alleged intervention in the festival’s organization.
Ni also issued a statement, saying that both he and Ko felt it was regrettable that Lee had resigned.
Ni promised not to change the “independent” framework under which the festival is organized and said that he would streamline efforts between the department and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs to market the Taipei Film Festival’s international brand.
He added that the post vacated by Lee would likely be filled by Golden Horse Award-winning cinematographer Mark Lee (李屏賓).
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