Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in Taiwan and have always been fascinated by cinema. I received my Ph.D. in 1998 in the UK in communications studies and shifted my research priority from media to Taiwan cinema in 2005 when I became Head of Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. I had fun working on several projects, screening Taiwanese films, discussing Taiwan cinema and society with filmmakers and audiences, and publishing widely in Chinese and in English. I have travelled, lived, and worked in different cities and countries since 2005 and have continued to find it rewarding to study what I have been passionate about since childhood. 


I wrote

Taiwan Cinema: International Reception and Social Change

By Ming-Yeh Rawnsley (editor), Kuei-fen Chiu (editor), Gary Rawnsley (editor)

Book cover of Taiwan Cinema: International Reception and Social Change

What is my book about?

My book is about Taiwan cinema in the 21st century. Focused on the work of prominent filmmaker Wei Te-sheng, renowned…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of 32 New Takes on Taiwan Cinema

Ming-Yeh Rawnsley Why did I love this book?

I have always enjoyed reading works by Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh and Darrell William Davis as I find their perspectives on the subject I love–Taiwan cinema–refreshing and intelligent.

In their new volume, Yeh and Davis team up with co-editor Wenchi Lin and provide a meticulous examination of 32 individual Taiwanese films between 1963 and 2017. I like the fact that this book offers a wide spectrum of Taiwanese cinematic output in addition to updating the existing literature.

I am particularly inspired by a question that runs through the entire volume: What does national cinema mean to Taiwan at different times under different social, political, and cultural contexts?  

By Emilie Yueh-Yu Yeh (editor), Darrell William Davis (editor), Wenchi Lin (editor)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 32 New Takes on Taiwan Cinema as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Curating Taiwan Cinema: 32 New Takes covers thirty-two films from Taiwan, addressing a flowering of new talent, moving from art film to genre pictures, and nonfiction. Beyond the conventional framework of privileging "New and Post-New Cinema," or prominence of auteurs or single films, this volume is a comprehensive, judicious take on Taiwan cinema that fills gaps in the literature, offers a renewed historiography, and introduces new creative force and voices of Taiwan's moving image culture to produce a leading and accessible work on Taiwan film and culture.

Film-by-film is conceived as the main carrier of moving picture imagery for a…


Book cover of Island on the Edge: Taiwan New Cinema and After

Ming-Yeh Rawnsley Why did I love this book?

This is one of the first English books I read about Taiwan New Cinema (TNC), arguably the most significant film movement in Taiwan to date.

When the TNC occurred in the 1980s, I was a student and Taiwan was going through the early stage of regime transition and democratization. It was an exciting but also uncertain time. I found films of TNC compelling but often opaque in meaning.

Reading this book in the early 21st century suddenly unlocked a lot of mysteries about the TNC as a film movement and the brilliance of these works for me. It motivated me to start researching Taiwan cinema as a subject more seriously.       

By Chris Berry (editor), Feii Lu (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Island on the Edge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the first English-language anthology on the Taiwan New Cinema and its legacy. It is an exciting collection which covers all the major filmmakers from Hou Hsiao Hsien and Edward Yang to Ang Lee and more. The volume gatehrs a range of essays that analyze individual films produced since the advent of the Taiwan New Cinema in the early 1980s.

Taiwan and its internationally renowned cinema are " on the edge" in more ways than one. For all of its history the island has been on the edge of larger geopolitical entities, subjected to invasions, migrations, incursions, and pressures.…


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Book cover of Adventures in the Radio Trade: A Memoir

Adventures in the Radio Trade By Joe Mahoney,

Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio, largely at Canada's public broadcaster. It's for people who love CBC Radio, those interested in the history of Canadian Broadcasting, and those who want to hear about close encounters with numerous luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, J. Michael Straczynski, Stuart…

Book cover of Cinema Taiwan: Politics, Popularity and State of the Arts

Ming-Yeh Rawnsley Why did I love this book?

When I decided to study Taiwan cinema more systematically, I tried to read as much on the subject as possible. I enjoyed this book because it offered me a broad overview of many kinds of questions that can be asked about and through Taiwan cinema.

For example, I realized that it is possible to try and understand Taiwanese domestic & international politics, cross-strait relations, colonial history, and the impact of globalization in a more relatable manner by reading films and documentaries as texts. It is also possible to analyze different festivals, genres, filmmakers, and individual films from the perspectives of the film industry and film artistry.

I was totally energized by the enormous potential the subject of Taiwan cinema can offer because of this book.     

By Darrell William Davis (editor), Ru-shou Robert Chen (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cinema Taiwan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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.…


Book cover of Taiwan Cinema: A Contested Nation on Screen

Ming-Yeh Rawnsley Why did I love this book?

I recommend this book because it is one of the few single-authored monographs in English that covers Taiwan cinema exclusively and comprehensively.

The study of Taiwan cinema has proliferated and diversified a great deal in recent years. However, when Hong’s Taiwan Cinema was published in 2011, most books on this subject were edited volumes and tended to have a narrower focus at the time. I like the fact that the author has offered many first-hand research materials.

I learned not only about the history of Taiwan cinema from pre-1945 to the new millennium but also why and how Taiwan cinema has shown the island as a contested nation on screen throughout the many decades. 

By Guo-juin Hong,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Taiwan Cinema as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A groundbreaking study of Taiwan cinema, Hong provides helpful insight into how it is taught and studied by taking into account not only the auteurs of New Taiwan Cinema, but also the history of popular genre films before the 1980s. The book is essential for students and scholars of Taiwan, film and visual studies, and East Asian cultural history.


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Book cover of The Bloomsbury Photographs

The Bloomsbury Photographs By Maggie Humm,

An enthralling portrait of the Bloomsbury Group’s key figures told through a rich collection of intimate photographs. Photography framed the world of the Bloomsbury Group. The thousands of photographs surviving in albums kept by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, and Lytton Strachey, among others, today offer us a private…

Book cover of Taiwan Cinema as Soft Power: Authorship, Transnationality, Historiography

Ming-Yeh Rawnsley Why did I love this book?

I think the author is very clever by bringing in the trendy concept of soft power and thus opening a new window for our understanding of Taiwan cinema.

I found the book not the easiest to read if you are not particularly familiar with the language of cultural studies or with specific films and filmmakers in Taiwan. However, the author has presented a convincing and valuable argument by linking a cinematic output to the entire system, which enables the production, circulation, and distribution of this output.

In other words, Taiwan cinema is a result, but the system that enriches creativity is where Taiwan’s values and soft power lie.  

Explore my book 😀

Taiwan Cinema: International Reception and Social Change

By Ming-Yeh Rawnsley (editor), Kuei-fen Chiu (editor), Gary Rawnsley (editor)

Book cover of Taiwan Cinema: International Reception and Social Change

What is my book about?

My book is about Taiwan cinema in the 21st century. Focused on the work of prominent filmmaker Wei Te-sheng, renowned for his blockbuster hits like "Cape No.7," "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," and "Kano," the book sheds light on Taiwan cinema’s resurgence after a period of decline until approximately 2008. It probes the intricacies of how cinema reflects and shapes Taiwan's shifting social dynamics within the historical narrative of Taiwan. Of particular significance is the exploration of the global reception of contemporary Taiwan cinema. It offers insightful perspectives on why, compared to previous decades, current Taiwan cinema may be met with a less enthusiastic response internationally on the one hand, but enjoyed higher domestic popularity on the other hand.

Book cover of 32 New Takes on Taiwan Cinema
Book cover of Island on the Edge: Taiwan New Cinema and After
Book cover of Cinema Taiwan: Politics, Popularity and State of the Arts

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