Cinema Taiwan: Politics, Popularity and State of the Arts - Hardcover

'[F]ull of useful material that is up-to-date, informative, and scholarly.' - R. D. Sears, CHOICE, Vol. 45, No. 06, February 2008

"As China gains more and more prominence as an economic superpower, the pressure it exerts on the geo-political status of Taiwan intensifies. As the recent (and by now familiar) squabble over whether a film like Ang Lee's Lust, Caution should be entered into the Venice Film Festival under "Taiwan" or "Taiwan, China" indicates that, any consideration of Taiwan's history, politics or culture within a "national" framework would become mired in geo-political arguments. Avoiding the pitfalls of such an unproductive debate, Cinema Taiwan by its very title defines its object of study not as a "national cinema" but rather as a "place where Taiwan is located by movies." (p. 8)." - Helen Hok-Sze Leung, Pacific Affairs, Vol. 80, No. 3, Fall 2007

Following the recent success of Taiwanese film directors, such as Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwanese film is raising its profile in contemporary cinema. This collection presents an exciting and ambitious foray into the cultural politics of contemporary Taiwan film that goes beyond the auterist mode, the nation-state argument and vestiges of the New Cinema.

Cinema Taiwan considers the complex problems of popularity, conflicts between transnational capital and local practice, non-fiction and independent filmmaking as emerging modes of address, and new possibilities of forging vibrant film cultures embedded in national (identity) politics, gender/sexuality and community activism. Insightful and challenging, the essays in this collection will attract attention to a globally significant field of cultural production and will appeal to readers from the areas of film studies, cultural studies and Chinese culture and society.