The Taipei City Government has forwarded all files on Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) Fuhsingkang Film Production Studio to the city government’s cultural assets committee to determine whether the studio can be considered a cultural heritage site, as it is unable to decide whether to continue with a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project and wants to pre-empt further protests, sources said.
The city government in 2013 set aside NT$1.6 billion (US$50.68 million) to purchase the land with the intent of building a flagship facility for movies and backstage productions, as well as for planning music and other cultural activities.
The land had been abandoned since the studio was absorbed by the Ministry of National Defense in 1995.
The city government’s quandary stems from an amendment to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法) that is to be implemented in July next year.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) last year said that the BOT project for the studio would not continue and that the grounds would be used for the development of a film school.
The BOT project is an ongoing process, but some details might change pending the assessment of its cultural values, sources said.
The city government wants the committee to have the final say on whether the studio would need to be torn down to pre-empt any protests from cultural heritage conservation groups, the source said.
Department of Cultural Affairs Division of Cultural Assets chief Lin Chang-chieh (林長杰) said that the department would base its decision on the architectural aesthetics of the building, its historic significance and other factors.
Once the department has made its decision, the BOT project would have to make changes accordingly should the buildings be considered a cultural heritage site, Lin said.
Sources within the city government said the studio should be preserved because it is an important site in the history of Taiwanese filming.
The studio was relocated from China in 1949 and produced Storm Over the Yangtze River (揚子江風雲), The Story of Tin-Ying (緹縈) and other films that promoted the military.
The studio’s last film was completed in 1995.
The studio was merged with the Ministry of Defense Political Warfare Division and was tasked with the filming of a military-education TV program called Chu-Kuang Garden (莒光園地) at a different location.
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