「Zhungshan 73 film art space」is a special space to play the art films for the people in Taichung. Today (30th), the test run of the place was initiated to have the first floor with light meal food court and multifunctional art and cultural exhibitions. The second floor is designed to have the meeting rooms and a theater for 36 persons of audience to play Digital Cinema Package; all the setting and facilities there can meet the level of the general professional theaters and will become the art film promotional center in Taichung. Mayor Chia-lung Lin said, the City Government has been facilitating the old town reborn program, one of the strategies is cultural renaissance which will reserve the culture of the old streets and town to reinvigorate and use the original constructions. 「Zhungshan 73 film art space」will provide the people a place to see the non-mainstream movies and facilitate all kinds of communications and experiences sharing. You’re welcome to come and visit the space to enjoy the easy and free movie space.

Mayor Lin today was accompanied by Director of Information Bureau, Guan-ting Cho, Deputy Director of Education Bureau, Chun-mei Hsu, Chief of Executive Ying-chi Lin, Taichung Film Development Foundation, Chief of Central District Chi-ming Huang and Chief Secretary of Ministry of Culture Deng-ching Chen to congratulate and cut the ribbon at the opening of「Zhungshan 73 film art space」. Also, the Councilor Joao-guo Chiang, General Manager Guan-li Wan of Above Taiwan Cinema,Inc., Representatives from the offices of Legislator Guo-shu Huang and Hsiao-yen Lu were all there to greet together under a liver atmosphere. The drone shooting film of 「Our Taichung」for the introduction of Taichung was announced and broadcasted on site to show the landscape of Taichung and the beautiful night scenes through the air view recently. The film was produced by Above Taiwan Cinema,Inc. and the directed by Yi Chi with voice-over by Nien-jen Wu.

「Our Taichung」was produced by Above Taiwan Cinema,Inc. and the directed by Yi Chi to be sot by the drone to introduce Taichung in a film with around 7 minutes. The audience can see some important landmarks and sceneries in Taichung recently. It’s also the first drone shooting film at the night to show the beautiful night views of Taichung. Also, the famous director, Nien-jen Wu, was invited to be the narrator.

Mayor Lin said, the「Zhungshan 73 film art space」test run was initiated today. It’s the indicator that Taichung has completed the puzzles of being the film city. As Taichung is the origin of film cultural industry in Taiwan. Recently, Taichung Film Development Foundation has started the film assistance service and built the film and television base in central Taiwan in addition to the central Taiwan movie center; also, they have collaborated with Ministry of Culture to build the national comic museum.

Mayor Lin mentioned, the City Government is aggressively facilitating the old town reborn with the 3 arrow strategies, the first arrow is Grand station project, the second arrow is Luchuan/ Liuchuan restoration, and the third arrow is cultural renaissance; all these three arrows are shotted. Through the re-activation and reuse of the old historical constructions, they can be combined with the movie theaters to become the best cultural renaissance for the old towns reborn.

「People will love Taichung if they really know what the lives will be!」，Mayor Lin was so moved after seeing the film of「Our Taichung」so he believes all the people living hear can feel the grace of Taichung and the emotional connection between people and the land has been delivered by the film. As Taichung is the most livable city in Taiwan, the attraction of Taichung will be spread out through the film.

Chief Secretary of Ministry of Culture Deng-ching Chen said, art films and some niche artworks are not easy to be seen among the general commercial pieces.「Zhungshan 73 film art space」formed in Taichung should be highly recognized as it will help to allow more diverse artworks and films to be presented. It’s anticipated to make the film and television development more comprehensive and diverse to become an important element of the Taiwanese culture restoration. We wish the film art and cultural space will step towards a new milestone.

Director of Information Bureau, Guan-ting Cho said, the City Government has invested a lot of resources on the film and television development; also, the art films are paid with the same level of attention as the others so「Zhungshan 73 film art space」is established and become the beginning point of the development for allowing more independent films, art films or the local produced artworks to been seen by more people. Mayor Lin has shown his strong support by allocating the second reserve fund to build it up so the test run of the center can be initiated today. It’s expected「Zhungshan 73 film art space」will not only be used to play the films, but also to be a platform for everyone from different territories to have their experiences exchanged, and conduct seminars to bring more opportunities and root the seeds of art films deeper.

And the City Government has expressed the appreciations to Ministry of Culture and National Property Administration, Ministry of Finance etc. central government institutes in addition to the efforts from many organizations. Under the integration and coordination of Taichung Film Development Foundation, the old and unused public constructions in the Central District has been able to be reinvigorated and completed for test run successfully. Now it’s the first place to play the art films as the major events and to fulfill the expectations of the art film fans for a long time.

As the first floor of「Zhungshan 73 film art space」will serve the light meals and multifunctional exhibition halls to conduct all kinds of film related courses or seminars, art and cultural activities, and guided tour services in connection with the other art and cultural places to promote film and television education to make Central District more active. Meanwhile, the non mainstream film lovers will be cultivated to raise the level of the culture of the films in the city to make the gorgeous old Taichung to be passed forward and visible.

The officer of Information Bureau pointed, Taichung has aggressively dedicated to the film and television industries related policies and constructions in terms of software and hardware. Since July of 2016, Taichung Film Development Foundation was formed to be the contact point of film assistance services, also, we’ve aggressively contacted and connected to the professional film industry to participate in the domestic and international congress or exhibition of films. The newly added movie investment subsidies this year are planned to join in the production of excellent Taiwanese movies.

In the aspect of film and television education promotion, the professional film seminar in the academies, summer film programs for the teenagers and the successfully completed 4th Taichung International Animation Festival, which has created the new records of visitors and box office again, won all positive comments from the international film critics and the audience. Along with the completion of「Zhungshan 73 film art space」, all the people now have a new place to contact and see the art films.

The officer of Information Bureau explained,「Zhungshan 73 film art space」 is located at No. 73, Zhungshan road, Central District, near by the Taichung Station and Luchuan waterside corridor with convenience in transportation. It’s the former central engineering office of Construction and Planning Administration, Ministry of Interiors but has been left unused for years. Taichung Film Development Foundation has proposed to Ministry of Culture for the business operation based on the 「Law for the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries Article 22」first then applied for the rental use to National Property Administration. After 7 months of reconstruction and remodeling, its test run was initiated today.

Taichung Film Development Foundation CEO Yi-chi Lin said, after the test run of「Zhungshan 73 film art space」kicked off, all kinds of art films and small film festivals will be played and rolled out. It’s going to be built as a mixed art and cultural space for some small performances and meetings. The first opening night show of the test run was the most recent documentary film, 「Contact Prints of Baileng Canal」 produced by Hsin-yao Huang, the winner of the Best Director Award of Golden Horse Award. The first wave of films to be played will be the series of products of the famous Germany director, Wim Wenders, and this is also the first time to have his films to be played in Taichung. Also, the other films produced during 1950 to 2000 will be played concurrently which are the old Taiwanese movies related with Taichung, including「Ping-guei Hsuei and Bao-chuan Wang」,「Yi-yi」etc. In the future, it will connect with the art and cultural places of the other cities as well.

「Zhungshan 73 film art space」will be used based on the membership regulation, the citizens can register to be the members freely with the ID during the test run period from 30th October to 30th November; however, the membership fee will be charged from the official opening on 1st December. For the detailed time schedule of the films, please visit the website of Zhungshan 73 to check.