French cinema is thriving in Taiwan despite an overall slump in movie attendance, with 2009 looking set to be a prosperous year in this market.
So far this year, 17 French films have hit the screens in Taiwan, including Taken (over 11, 000 admissions), a re-release of Fatale (Damage) by Louis Malle (5,000 on one print), Enfin veuve (A Widow At Last), and Entre les murs (The Class), which both attracted over 3,000 spectators. The release of Home was bolstered by a promotional campaign made possible by a partnership between the City of Taipei and the French Institute in Taipei (including posters on garbage trucks around the city and the distribution of 100,000 brochures in primary schools). The film, which was dubbed by the city’s Mayor, was seen by 4,000 moviegoers.
Faubourg 36 (Paris 36, released on 9 prints) and Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I’ve Loved You So Long, released on 5 prints) were released last weekend, while La Fille de Monaco (The Girl From Monaco) will hit theaters this weekend (3 prints released). Thirteen titles are slated for release in Taipei before the end of 2009, including Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) and Largo Winch, both of which will hit the screens in summer.
The number of French films released in Taiwan has increased at a regular pace in recent years, with figures currently fluctuating between 20 and 30 titles annually. 2008 was a highpoint, with 38 French titles released, accounting for 10% of all theatrical releases in this territory. Admissions to French films have topped the 400,000 spectators mark in the past two years, securing a 2.5% share of the market. French films are traditionally only offered a modest release in Taiwan (apart from highly commercial titles such as Transporter 3 and Babylon AD), although 2008 marked the first year in which one third of films solely or majority produced by France were released on more than 7 screens.
Since 2006, the French Institute in Taipei and Unifrance have structured their support initiatives around a range of services offered to distributors:
>Promotion – promoting the supply of pre-used prints by the CNC (2 films have benefited from this service since January)
>Encouragement – encouraging distributors to invite French actors and directors to take part in promotional initiatives through Unifrance travel grants (2 films have benefited from this service since January)
>Assistance – assisting distributors in their requests for CNC distribution aid packages (8 films have already benefited from this service in 2009, representing a total commitment of €66,000)
>Participation – participation in promotional actives at film festivals and other events, such as retrospectives devoted to French directors held at festivals, evening events, previews and premiere screenings at festivals, encouraging festivals to program French films already acquired by distributors, mobilizing networks of French teachers and Francophiles, and offering subsidies for the release of French films in provincial cities. Financial aid schemes have enabled distributors to raise their advertising budgets, increase the number of prints released, and to screen increasing numbers of French films in provincial theaters (24 titles in 2008).
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