France’s Centre National du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC) and Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) have signed a cooperation agreement, aimed at increasing collaboration and exchanges between the film and TV industries of Taiwan and France.
The agreement was signed by CNC President Dominique Boutonnat and TAICCA Chairperson Homme Tsai at the on-going Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) today. At the TCCF closing ceremony tomorrow, TAICCA and CNC will also present the TAICCA X CNC AWARD with a $30,000 cash prize.
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Speaking at today’s signing ceremony, both sides stressed their common values, such as cultural exception and diversity, and said the agreement focuses on supporting emerging talent, encouraging creative freedom, digital content creation and international co-production.
Boutonnat said France and Taiwan would become key partners in “the work undertaken by all countries seeking a strong independent sector in the face of American or Chinese giants and streaming platforms.”
He added that CNC and TAICCA are working towards two progress updates on their collaborative activities – one in March in France and the second during the Cannes film festival.
“France and Taiwan have our own narratives and uniqueness, and it is through an independent voice, enabled by the preservation of intellectual property, that our works must convey this,” Boutonnat said.
While France and Taiwan share common values, the signing of a fully fledged co-production treaty is complicated by the fact that mainland China claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory, and very few nations in the world recognize it as an independent country. However, Taiwan is fast becoming one of the most proactive film and TV funders and co-producers in East Asia.
Following the ceremony, Chilean director Felipe Gálvez Haberle and Filipino American filmmaker Joseph Mangat discussed their experiences in co-producing with Taiwan.
Haberle’s The Settlers, which won a Fipresci prize at this year’s Cannes film festival, and Mangat’s documentary Divine Factory, which is currently on release in Taiwan, both received funding from Taiwan’s International Co-funding Program (TICP), managed by TAICCA.
Both films did their sound post-production in Taipei with legendary sound designer Tu Duu-Chih.
Japanese director Koji Fukada, who has a project in TCCF’s Pitching section, Nagi Note, also spoke on the panel about how he hopes to work with Taiwan in the future. Fukada regularly co-produces with France and has also worked with Indonesian partners.
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