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).
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS