'Lupin' Begins Overseas Marketing, Cannes Classics Screening More Than Just Nostalgia

(Central News Agency, Reporter Li Ruo-yun, Paris, 18th) To promote world film heritage, the Cannes Film Festival established the non-competitive 'Cannes Classics' section over 20 years ago. This year, the 79th edition selected the Taiwanese national film 'Lupin,' allowing this sincere story that never won a major international award to be listed alongside works like Akira Kurosawa's first film, becoming one of the 32 films on this year's screening list. 'Lupin' had its world premiere with a new digitally restored version on the evening of the 17th, French time. Chu Ming-jen, Chairman of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, stated that the purpose of restoring classic films is not just for archiving; after its premiere in Cannes, 'Lupin' will be actively promoted in overseas sales markets. He pointed out that at a time of heightened geopolitical sensitivity, Taiwan is receiving increasing international attention, and Taiwanese cinema plays an important role in telling Taiwan's story, which is the new discovery 'Lupin' brings to the Cannes Classics section. According to official Cannes Film Festival information, the festival established the 'Cannes Classics' section in 2004 to reflect the digital transformation happening in world cinema. Many classic old films are no longer just stored in film vaults on celluloid but are being re-screened through restoration and digitization, allowing film history to walk the red carpet again and be re-watched by the world. To showcase the efforts of production companies, rights holders, film archives, and national archives around the world in promoting film heritage, the selection criteria for Cannes 'Cannes Classics' focus on 'connecting' contemporary audiences with film memory, and it is hoped that this will lead to subsequent international theatrical releases, streaming platforms, VOD, DVD, and Blu-ray distribution. This year's 'Cannes Classics' list includes 21 feature films, 6 documentaries about cinema, and special screenings of 2 contemporary feature films and 3 contemporary short films. The opening film is 'Pan's Labyrinth' by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, which was released in 2006, with the new restored version personally supervised by Guillermo del Toro. Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's first film 'Sanshiro Sugata' (1943) and Chinese director Chen Kaige's 'Farewell My Concubine' (1993) were also specially mentioned in the festival's official news. In addition to internationally renowned directors and films, 'TILAÏ' (literally 'The Law'), a film from Burkina Faso that won the Cannes Grand Prix in 1990, is also on the list. The daughter of Burkina Faso director Idrissa Ouédraogo attended on his behalf, speaking movingly about how the film addresses the dark side of women's rights in her country. The new restored version of the Taiwanese film 'Lupin' completed its world premiere on the 17th, screened in the Salle Buñuel, which accommodates about 450 spectators. Chu Ming-jen and the film's master cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing attended a pre-screening talk. In a pre-screening exclusive interview with CNA, Chu Ming-jen expressed his gratitude to the institute's staff for restoring the film so well and to the international cooperation team for re-contextualizing the film, which led to a new discovery for the jury about Taiwanese cinema and its eventual selection, despite 'Lupin' never having won a major international award. Chu Ming-jen spoke of 'international marketing' as a crucial part of the film restoration process. Faced with thousands of films in the archives awaiting restoration, selecting the works most suitable for re-watching and re-discussion in the contemporary international context requires solid research, copyright clearance, and a targeted approach to major film festivals to have a chance for the classics to be re-screened. Chu Ming-jen, who attends the Cannes Film Festival every year, said that 30 years ago, international film professionals still couldn't tell the difference between Taiwan and Thailand. Now, due to Taiwan's technological strength, chip industry, and geopolitics, it is receiving increasing international attention, and more people want to understand Taiwan through its films. Chu Ming-jen said that with the premiere of 'Lupin' in Cannes, the Film and Audiovisual Institute will actively promote it in overseas sales markets to let more facets of Taiwanese cinema be seen. (Editor: Tang Shengyang)