In the realm of global cinema, ‘Taiwan Cinema’ has been a recognisable entity since the 1980s, earning a strong reputation from both cultural and artistic perspectives. However, following the Taiwan New Cinema movement of the 1980s, international discourse on Taiwanese cinema seems to have relatively stagnated. Despite the subsequent diversification of Taiwanese cinema into various forms, including documentaries and commercial films, contemporary Taiwanese cinema, particularly from the 2000s onwards, apart from localised explorations and historical and archaeological investigations, especially in areas such as Taiwanese-Language Cinema (Taiyupian), appears to have reached a standstill in terms of its discourse development within the broader context of film history.

Drawing from the speaker’s practical experience and engagement with the film industry, this presentation will examine the characteristics of Taiwanese film directors in the post-Taiwan New Cinema era. The aim is to assess the current landscape of Taiwanese cinema from both an authorship and an industry perspective, providing insights for discussing further research directions in the realm of Taiwan Cinema.

Dr Chen Pin-Chuan is the former Director of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), previously known as the Taiwan Film Institute (TFI). He is a scholar specialising in Taiwanese cinema, documentary filmmaking, and archival films.

This seminar is co-organized with the Oxford Taiwan Studies Programme as part of the Oxford Taiwan Studies Seminar series