In the Taiwanese film world, the year 2008 will be remembered for the record-breaking social phenomenon Cape No. 7.

The film not only showcased Beiguan musician Johnny Chung-jen Lin's natural acting ability (he played Old Mao) and brought a wave of fans to the location in which it was filmed, Pingtung County's Hengchun. It also set a box-office record for a Taiwanese film during a theater run of over four months, and was the second-highest-grossing film in Taiwan in history (Titanic still holds the top spot with NT$760 million), helping to dispel the misconception that Hollywood films always reign supreme.

The popular and critical attention made Cape No. 7 more than just another movie. It became a cultural phenomenon, a comforting salve for a nation experiencing deep unease and frustration.

The big ones got away

But a film's social impact must take a back seat to other considerations when it comes time to hand out cinema awards. Competition is harsh, and the winners are chosen on the basis of technical merit. Facing high expectations from the general public, the Golden Horse judges awarded Cape No. 7 and its director Wei Te-sheng awards for Best Original Film Score, Best Original Film Song, Best Supporting Actor, Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year, Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year, and the Audience Award. But for the big awards like Best Picture and Best Director, Cape No. 7 lost out to the US$40-million epic The Warlords, which featured megastars from the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan like Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro, and its Hong Kong director Peter Chan, who took home his third Best Director award after previous wins for Perhaps Love and Three.

As for the much-anticipated Best Actor and Best Actress awards, both were won by first-time actors. The year's king of film was Zhang Hanyu, who played a liberation army captain during the Chinese Civil War in the mainland Chinese political propaganda film Assembly. The queen of film was Hong Kong star Prudence Liew, who showed her skills playing a drug-addicted prostitute struggling to survive in True Women For Sale.

Powered by audiences

Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards are held every year, but unlike recent years in which winners were either from the mainland or Hong Kong, Taiwanese films did well in 2008. There was Orz Boyz, which took Best Supporting Actress, Winds of September (Best Original Screenplay), and Parking, (the FIPRESCI Prize). These films also performed well at the box office.

Director Ang Lee, who returns to Taiwan from his home in the USA every year for the Golden Horse Awards, remarked, "The old 'New Wave' of Taiwanese filmmakers is back, and compared with the old generation of directors, they have less psychological baggage to deal with." Lee expressed approval of Wei Te-sheng's ability to maintain his passion through his years in the industry. He said sincerely that he believed Wei's next film has to be a step up artistically, and that he was willing to serve Wei as a consultant.

The film Cape No. 7 alone gave Taiwanese film a chance to prove itself, but when asked in interviews about his thoughts on The Warlords, Wei Te-sheng said, "You know right off that it's of a different caliber. I'm just the best one on the B-list."

The state of Taiwanese film won't be revolutionized by just one movie. But looking at the environment and conditions in Taiwan, it just couldn't be the case that it's unable to raise the funding and produce an A-list film. Attracting funds and finding a common language between the film people and the investors, making films that speak positively to audiences, and making products that are more than personal artistic statements-these are the next steps for Taiwan's film industry in the post-Cape era.