There are to be no more government advertisements before movies in theaters.
The Motion Picture Act (電影法) was overhauled in the legislature yesterday, “with an emphasis on getting rid of outdated rules and aiding the development of the industry,” the Ministry of Culture said.
The act was first promulgated in 1983, and few amendments have been made in the 32 years since then, said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), one of the lawmakers who proposed to amend the act.
“This act has finally been set free from the authoritarian system, as clauses such as rewarding films that ‘promote Chinese culture and stimulate the nation-loving spirit’; of granting permits to movie manufacturing, production and filming; and of inspecting promotional posters and advertisements before their propagation have been abrogated,” Kuan said.
Other anachronistic regulations that have been deleted include injunctions that movies cannot damage the nation’s dignity, go against national policies, disdain ancient saints and sages or distort history, and the requirement that the owner of a film company should have at least a high-school diploma, the ministry said.
The clause that requires the screening of “films and slides promoting government policy and public service,” as stipulated in the existing act, has also been abolished.
To promote Taiwan’s films, the amended act is to systematize the subsidies and rewards provided for the various parts of the industry.
“The period for the granting of benefits to enterprises that have invested in domestically produced motion pictures, in the form of tax credits, has been prolonged for another 10 years,” the ministry said, adding that foreign film companies are also now entitled to tax refunds if they meet certain requirements.
Regarding the impact of foreign films on the domestic film industry, a new clause permitting authorities to set a ratio of domestic movies to imported ones or to implement other temporary measures to protect the domestic film industry, when it is facing serious damage, has been added to the newly amended act.
“To protect the rights of hearing and visually impaired people,” the clause that used to require only imported foreign motion pictures be dubbed in Mandarin or to have Chinese subtitles now requires all movies shown in theaters to conform to the rule.
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