Film commissions flock to BIFCOM
Written by Han Sunhee
Saturday, 04 October 2008
BUSAN - The Busan International Film Commission and Industry Showcase(BIFCOM) 2008, which kicked off on Friday, saw two film commissions attend for the first time.
The Taipei Film Commission, which was newly launched in January this year is now attracting international co-production projects to the city.
"We have so many masters of cinema such as Hou Hsiao-shien, Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-liang. But we didn't have any organization to support their filmmaking. With the establishment of the commission, now we hope to develop a much more stronger film industry in Taiwan." Jennifer Jao, the director of the commission told Variety at BIFCOM 2008.
"We also want to induce more international co-production projects. In such films as "Mission Impossible 3" and "The Dark Night", Hollywood studios chose to shoot in Shanghai and Hong Kong instead of Taipei, though we have beautiful city landscapes. I think that was because we didn't have any supporting organization. But now we will actively attract international projects." Jao added.
The commission has already supported some shooting of international co-production feature films. In March, helmer Monika Treut's mystery drama "In Between", a Germany-Taiwan co-production film developed by Chi & Company was shot in Taipei.
Clara Law, a Chinese director based in Australia also lensed her new film "Like a Dream" from Arc Light Films in June, with the support of the commission. In October, another Germany-Taiwan co-project "First Page in Taipei" will be shot in Taipei by helmer Arvin Chen, with Wim Wenders attached as an executive producer.
"The city government of Taipei has already increased their budget for subsidizing film production in the city to $300,000. We will provide advantageous services and subsidies to attract foreign productions." Jao told.
Meanwhile, The Royal Film Commission-Jordan(RFC) is also expanding its activities through the close collaborations with American organizations. Founded in 2003 by Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, the commission is making efforts to encourage Jordanians and people from Middle East to make films, developing film culture in Jordan.
"There are many young filmmakers in Jordan. Our mission is to offer them education opportunities, through firm relationships with the Sundance Institute and The University of Southern California. We're also promoting Jordan as a location for international film productions." Ms. Dima Hamdallah, a spokeswoman for the commission told Variety.
In 2007, numerous notable Hollywood pictures were lensed in Jordan, including Katherin Bigelow's "Hurt Locker" and Brian de Palma's "Redacted" among others.
"We have wonderful landscapes and moderate weather year round. The commission is providing services for free to the international projects shot in Jordan."
"This is our first attendance at BIFCOM. We expect to attract more projects from Asia." added Hamdallah.
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