British scholar promotes classic "Taiwanese-language movies" on the big screens of theaters in Lithuania

【Taiwan Immigrants’ Global News Network】Edited by Raymond Rodriguez

From 2016 to 2019, the Taiwan Film Institute (台灣國家電影中心) restored a number of classic Taiwanese language films and screened the movies in the UK and European countries. The man responsible for this was British film scholar Chris Berry (裴開瑞), who successfully promoted Taiwan’s classic "Taiwanese language films" in Lithuanian (立陶宛) theaters in 2020. Lithuanian audiences have a very good understanding of Taiwan’s history. However, because of the global epidemic, the film tour has been postponed or even cancelled in many of the European cities, but the screenings in Lithuania will continue in September.

Read More: British new immigrant "settles down in Taiwan for love", devotes himself to education and is now an English teacher

The man behind is the British film scholar-Chris Berry. Photo/Provided by Chris Berry

Chris Berry is a professor at King's College London (英國倫敦國王學院), and is a well-known scholar of Chinese film studies, and was one of the judges in the 2017 Golden Horse Film Festival (金馬影展). Chris Berry’s goal is to allow European "movie lovers and Asian culture lovers" to be aware of the existence of Taiwanese films. Movie fans have long been interested not only in art films but also in the technology and aesthetics of commercial films. The Taiwanese film production team must be bold and creative especially when their budget is limited.

Read More: Tainan's first "New Immigrant Care Hotline" to assist their fellow new immigrants in their native language to relieve homesickness

Taiwanese language movies were featured on the big screens of theaters in Lithuania. Photo/Provided by Chris Berry

In Vilnius (維爾紐斯), the capital of Lithuania, five Taiwanese language films including "Tarzan and the Treasure" (泰山與寶藏), "May 13^th, Night of Sorrow" (五月十三傷心夜), "Six Suspects" (六個嫌疑犯), "Foolish Bride, Naïve Bridegroom" (三八新娘憨女婿), "The Rice Dumpling Vendors" (燒肉粽) were screened in the oldest local cinema in Skalvija. Interestingly, the number of screenings in Vilnius was not only the highest among all the participating cities, but also the Taiwanese films have triggered a phenomenon of "word-of-mouth promotion" in the local area in just five days. Some viewers not only watched several consecutive shows, but also introduced relatives and friends to watch together.

Chris Berry said that their partners in the touring film festival helped promote the Taiwanese language films to European audiences by writing movie guides and holding discussions for each film, including explaining the Cold War's impact on Taiwan and China’s relationship. Chris Berry said that Lithuanian audiences can easily resonate with issues such as "Big Brother Neighbor" and issues on ethnic differences.