Restoration of 1959 Film 'Formosa' Offers Snapshot of Taiwan's Development

TaiwanPlus News

A team at Tainan National University of the Arts has restored a 1959 government film called "Formosa" from a 16mm print bought from overseas by a collector. The film offers a priceless snapshot of Taiwan on the cusp of the rapid industrialization that would make the country a global powerhouse.

Transcript

00:00A glimpse into Taiwan's past, this restored archival film called Formosa documents some

00:07of the country's renowned scenic spots and of Taiwan's industrialization in the mid-20th

00:13century.

00:14Shot in 1959, the 40-minute film was commissioned by the Nationalist or Kuomintang government

00:20to promote its image to the international community after it had relocated to Taiwan

00:25from China a decade earlier.

00:28It follows the template of an earlier Japanese film, Southward Expansion to Taiwan, produced

00:33in 1940, when Taiwan was governed by Japan.

00:36The film had been held by the Sun Yat-sen Cultural Center in Brussels, Belgium, which

00:59later became the Taipei representative office in the EU.

01:03It was later bought by Taiwanese film collector Zhu Shijie, who gave it to a team at Tainan

01:08National University of the Arts to undergo restoration and digital transfer.

01:13It's now being screened to the public for the first time in decades.

01:16Zhu says he didn't fully appreciate the historical value of the footage when he acquired it.

01:33The team at the university have worked to save archive footage held by members of the

01:47public, emphasizing the importance of original images as primary historical documents.

01:53The restoration of Formosa offers a priceless snapshot of Taiwan at a crucial moment in

01:58the early stages of the country's journey to becoming an industrial powerhouse.

02:04Luffy Lee and Wesley Lewis for Taiwan Plus.

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