Restored Taiwan film 'Osmanthus Alley' screens at Lumière Festival

Paris, Oct. 13 (CNA) A 4K-restored version of the Taiwanese drama film "Osmanthus Alley" (桂花巷) was screened at the 18th Lumière Festival in Lyon, France on Monday, after being selected for the festival's Lumière Classics section.

Released in 1987 and directed by Chen Kun-hou (陳坤厚), the film is set in the early 1900s and stars Lu Hsiao-fen (陸小芬) as an orphaned girl who faces poverty, widowhood and social constraints with resilience. Throughout her life, she uses her cunning and beauty to change her fate.

The Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) has restored the film in 4K and recovered its original Taiwanese Hokkien audio from the Mandarin version.

With support from the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris under the Ministry of Culture, Chen, Lu and TFAI Chairman Arthur Chu (褚明仁) traveled to Lyon and attended the screening at the Pathé Bellecour cinema.

Festival director Thierry Frémaux, who also heads the Cannes Film Festival and is familiar with Taiwanese cinema, introduced the film before its screening, praising Taiwan as a major filmmaking country with considerable creative talent, including Taiwanese directors Edward Yang (楊德昌) and Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢).

He added that Taiwan's vibrant contemporary film scene reflected a strong cinematic heritage, supported by institutions, film festivals and efforts to restore classic films.

Speaking to CNA by phone, Chen said restoring "Osmanthus Alley" allows modern audiences to see Taiwan's early architecture and way of life and learn about the island's past.

Chen also recalled being moved by the century-old filmmaking and projection equipment at the Musée Lumière in Lyon, reflecting on how far cinema had advanced and saying the experience reaffirmed his choice of career.

Meanwhile, Lu said she never imagined that when filming "Osmanthus Alley," the movie would one day take her to the Lumière Festival.

Despite being released 39 years ago, the film's portrayal of resilience continues to move audiences, Lu said.

The film was originally conceived, written and shot in Taiwanese Hokkien but later released to the public in Mandarin, Chu said, indicating that the TFAI was later able to find four surviving copies of the Hokkien version.

Established 17 years ago, the Lumière Classics section recognizes outstanding restorations of world cinema heritage. Each year, the festival selects several restored films from nearly 180 submissions from film libraries, studios, archives, rights holders and foundations worldwide for exclusive screenings during the event.

The Lumière Festival runs from Oct. 10-18 this year, celebrating cinema history through restored prints, retrospectives and tributes to films of the past. The festival is named after the Lumière brothers, who invented the Cinématographe motion picture system in 1895, and is organized by the Institut Lumière.