Just like language and literature, film is a new medium of human culture, which can document and represent the human history. Thus, film is the microcosm of a country and also could serve as the reflection of the social, political and economic development of a country.
After 1940s, many countries established film archives to collect and preserve film heritage and to advocate and support film studies and research. In 1978, during the 20th session of UNESCO, the UN members agreed that every country should make laws and technical procedures to keep and preserve their film culture. In 1980, the 21st session of UNESCO General Conference made “Draft Recommendation on the Safeguarding and Preservation of Moving Images. In this draft, UNESCO recognizes cinema representing the characteristics of different cultures, and with its educational, cultural, artistic, scientific and historical values, film has become an important cultural heritage.

Up till 1979, there was no organization responsible for collecting, restoring, preserving and researching on films made in the Republic of China. Most films made in 1930s and 1940s were damaged or lost, this makes the research of Taiwan film history even more difficult. In 1979, Government Information Office recognized the importance to salvage film heritage and founded the Film Library under the Motion Picture Development Foundation of R. O. C. Later, to emphasize its function of preserving film culture heritage, the Film Library was upgraded as the Chinese Taipei Film Archive (CTFA) in 1989. CTFA is supported by the government in budget and the archive’s operation is supervised by the government. The plan for the future is to upgrade the Chinese Taipei Film Archive to the National Film Center.