Taipei, Aug. 20 (CNA) Film director Lee Hsing (??), who has been lauded as the godfather of Taiwan cinema for having made important works across various genres passed away Thursday, according to an industry group.
Lee died of heart failure at 9:55 p.m. Thursday, according to the Taipei-based Cross-Strait Films Exchange Committee under the Motion Picture Foundation R.O.C. Lee had headed the committee since it was established in 2009.
"Director Lee Hsing helped pass on Chinese culture and grounded his works in Taiwan. His passion for the land was reflected by his care and deep love for local writers," Lan Tsu-wei (???), chairman of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, said in response to the news on Friday.
Lan also praised Lee's efforts to promote Taiwanese films to the world by growing the Golden Horse Awards, a landmark event for filmmakers in the Chinese-speaking world, during his tenure as the first chairman of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee that started in 1990.
A documentary on Lee's filmmaking career produced by the institute is expected to be shown during this year's Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in November, Lan said.
Director Ang Lee (??), who has been chairman of the committee behind the annual film festival and awards since 2018, called his predecessor a model for filmmakers in a statement released Friday.
Lee Hsing will be forever remembered for his contribution to Taiwan cinema by promoting new talent and dedicating his life to the development of cultural exchange through Taiwanese films, he said
Born in Shanghai in 1930, Lee Hsing moved to Taiwan in 1948 amid the civil war between the Nationalist government and the Chinese Communist Party and began studying in what is now National Taiwan Normal University, where public school teachers were trained.
In 1954, after teaching at a high school for a year, Lee took up a job as a reporter at the Independence Evening Post, where his father was the publisher, covering culture, education and entertainment, while also working as an actor in various films.
In 1958, Lee made his directorial debut by co-directing "Wang and Liu Tour in Taiwan" (???????) with Tien Feng (??) and Chang Fang-hsia (???).
The movie, released in two parts in February 1959, marked the beginning of the late director's series of films shot in the Taiwanese dialect through 1962 in his portfolio of 52 films.
In 1962, he directed his first film in Mandarin -- Our Neighbors (????) -- which was released the following year. The success of the film earned him a contract with the then state-backed Central Motion Picture Corp.
He and Lee Chia (??) co-directed Taiwan's first color feature film "Oyster Girl" (??) in 1963, which won best picture and best director awards at the 11th Asian Film Festival held in Taipei in 1964.
Seven films directed by Lee Hsing won the Golden Horse Awards for best picture, including three between 1978 and 1980, while he received three best director awards -- in 1965, 1972 and 1978 -- and a lifetime achievement award in 1995.
Apart from his role as a film director, Lee was also a long term volunteer for the film industry in the later part of his career, promoting exchanges between the film industries of Taiwan and China, as well as film preservation and restoration.
He organized Taiwan's first delegation to China's top film awards -- the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards -- in 1991, and it was during his tenure as chairman that China sent its first delegation of filmmakers to attend the Golden Horse Awards in 1993.
In a statement released Friday, the Ministry of Culture said it has asked President Tsai Ing-wen (???) to issue a citation commemorating Lee Hsing's life-long dedication to the film industry.
Noting that the late director's works have often been trend setters in the film industry, Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (???) said in a statement that Lee Hsing played an important role in building up Taiwan's film industry.
A mourning hall has been set up for family and friends, while details about the funeral will be announced later, according to the Cross-Strait Films Exchange Committee.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel