The Mountain Maker: A Century's Bet — A TSMC Epic Without Tsing-Mao Morris, Filmed from Hsinchu to Purdue

30-Second Overview: Documentary director Hsiao Ju-cheng spent five years (2019–2024) interviewing over 80 semiconductor pioneers to create an epic about Taiwan's semiconductor industry. However, Morris Tseng did not give a formal interview in the film. The Chinese title is The Mountain Maker: A Century's Bet, and the English title is A Chip Odyssey (not the commonly circulated "The Mountain Maker"). After its theatrical release in Taiwan in June 2025, it broke NT$32 million at the box office, ranking among the top five documentaries in Taiwan's film history. From autumn 2025 to spring 2026, the film visited Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Michigan—the key hubs of U.S. semiconductor manufacturing in the CHIPS Act era—becoming another diplomatic track for Taiwan's technological soft power.

Afternoon at Purdue

On April 16, 2026, in West Lafayette, Indiana, at Purdue University, Dan Delaurentis, Executive Vice President for Research; Chad Pittman, CEO of the Purdue Research Foundation; Zhihong Chen, Chair of the Purdue Semiconductor Leadership Association; and Josh Richardson, newly appointed President of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, sat in the screening room¹.

Six days prior, the same event was held at Morgridge Hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Attendees included Maggie Brickerman, President of the Wisconsin Technology Council, and Doug Din, Mayor of Waukesha¹. Going back further to February 8, the screening at the University of Michigan featured Michigan State Senator Sue Shink, UM Professor Becky Peterson, and IMEC Director James Foresi¹.

These three universities were not on a random list. Indiana, where Purdue is located, received investment for an SK hynix packaging plant; Wisconsin's technology corridor is welcoming Microsoft's AI data centers; and Michigan is the core of the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing belt. The common thread among the three screenings is that these states aim to rebuild their semiconductor manufacturing industries following the CHIPS Act of 2022.

And the film shown before them was directed by a Taiwanese filmmaker, telling the story of how Taiwan created the world's most complex manufacturing processes.

A TSMC Epic Without Morris Tseng

The Mountain Maker: A Century's Bet (English title: A Chip Odyssey) is directed by Hsiao Ju-cheng, a professor at the General Education Center and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of National Tsing Hua University². She is a Taiwanese director who won the Golden Horse Award for Best Documentary Film for two consecutive terms—The Legend of the Red Leaves in 1999 and Silver Hairpin in 2000³.

But this film has a structural absence: Morris Tseng.

"Morris Tseng did not accept our formal interview," Hsiao Ju-cheng said. "He is writing the second volume of his autobiography, and TSMC's restrictions on filming are naturally layered with protection." She could only capture Tseng's figure and speech at a public award ceremony using multi-camera supplementary footage⁴.

📝 Curator's Note
An epic about TSMC without the founder himself giving a formal interview—this structural absence itself says something. TSMC's uniqueness lies not only in its processes but also in its external radiation method: its culture of secrecy is so deep that even reviewing its own history is heavily protected.

The final appearance is a side profile, supplementary footage, or clips cut from news footage. Hsiao Ju-cheng instead turned the lens toward those who are mountain makers even if not in TSMC: Former ITRI President Hsien-Bin Chiang served as the film's chief consultant; MediaTek's Tsai Ming-kai; RCA Project Team Leader Yang Ding-yuan; Macronix CEO Lu Chih-yuan; Former TSMC Vice Chairman Tseng Fan-jeng; Ben N. Liu (breakthrough in immersion lithography); Shao-Yi Jiang; Min-Shiang Shih (inventor of non-volatile memory); United Microelectronics Corporation's first General Manager John Shyu; and the first generation of female operators (unnamed)⁵.

Five Years, Eighty People

The name CNEX Studio Corporation is familiar to the documentary circle. It is a Chinese-language documentary NGO established simultaneously in Taipei, Beijing, and Hong Kong in 2007 by Hsien-Bin Chiang, Ling-Chen Chen, and Chao-Wei Chang⁶. Hsien-Bin Chiang is a co-founder of Sina.com and has long been involved in supporting and distributing Chinese-language documentaries after founding CNEX.

The producing team did something in this film: they brought semiconductor industry veterans directly into the production side. Tian-Shun Chen is a senior executive in the semiconductor industry and serves as the film's producer alongside Hsien-Bin Chiang⁷. According to Hsien-Bin Chiang, the film's origin was in 2019, when he attended a memorial service for semiconductor pioneer Hu Ding-hua. A friend asked CNEX to film this topic, and Chiang and Hsiao Ju-cheng took it on.

From 2019 to the completion of the film in 2024, it took five years. The number of interviewees is officially listed as "over 80"—Hsiao Ju-cheng and the producing team interviewed that many people⁸. Editing supervisor Chen Po-wen is collaborating with Hsiao Ju-cheng for the fourth time; the music score is by Lin Sheng-hsiang.

✦ "Recording this batch of aging pioneers is a race against time." — Hsien-Bin Chiang, at the New York premiere⁹

During production, the IDFA Bertha Fund (Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival), Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, CCDF (CNEX Chinese Documentary Project Conference), and the Ministry of Culture provided support⁸. There was no official funding from TSMC, nor evidence of direct government funding—the film's funding structure is a hybrid of "independent documentary production × private industry sponsorship × international public funds."

From Nanyang Street to Arizona

The film's timeline anchor starts in 1974.

That year, a breakfast briefing involving Sun Yun-hsuan, Kuo-Tung Li, Wen-Yuan Pan, and five others at the Hsin-Hsin Hsin Soy Milk Shop finalized the "Integrated Circuit Technology Development Plan"¹⁰. That same year, Wen-Yuan Pan wrote the IC plan in Room 508 of the Grand Hotel. In 1976, ITRI's Electronics Research and Development Organization signed a 10-year technology transfer contract with the U.S. RCA. The first batch of 19 "seed troops" went to Princeton to train in 3-inch wafer processes, raising the yield from 50% to 70% within six months¹¹.

In 1980, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) was established. In 1985, Morris Tseng came to Taiwan to serve as the director of ITRI, proposing the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) plan. In 1987, TSMC was founded, pioneering the pure foundry model¹¹. In the 1990s, Ben N. Liu achieved the breakthrough in immersion lithography. In the 2020s, the U.S.-China chip war, CHIPS Act, TSMC's Arizona plant, China's ban, and the AI wave.

The timeline ends in March 2025—C.C. Wei enters the White House, meets with Trump, and announces TSMC's additional $100 billion investment in the United States¹².

✦ "If the country had been comfortable at that time, Taiwan would not have had the miracle of the semiconductor industry. The spirit of the mountain makers lies in 'born in adversity.'" — Hsiao Ju-cheng¹³

In interviews, Hsiao Ju-cheng repeatedly emphasized that this is a story about "people": "Technology is also part of culture, part of Taiwanese life. At the same time, technology, the silicon shield, and we are tightly connected as a community of shared destiny."¹⁴

"Taiwan Never Stole"

In March 2025, Trump accused Taiwan of stealing the U.S. semiconductor industry. Three months later, an English edition of CommonWealth Magazine reported on the film with the title: "Taiwan Never Stole from the US!"¹⁵

The chronological overlap is not a coincidence. Cinema Escapist's review positions the film as a "timely and fitting visual companion" to Chris Miller's Chip War—but with a more Taiwan-centric perspective, more insider access, and more everyday Taiwanese voices¹⁶.

The reviews also carry reservations: "unapologetically lionizes," "self-sacrificing framing," and a narrative setup where the "national crisis is not yet over." Hsiao Ju-cheng also mentioned an observation in public interviews: if the semiconductor development plan had been submitted to public opinion at the time, it might not have passed. This statement itself reveals the tension between early decision-making in Taiwan's tech industry and democratic deliberation.

📝 Curator's Note
From the perspective of authoritarian development history, "public opinion would not have passed it" can be read in two ways: one is "visionary elites driving national progress," and the other is "long-term investment without democratic deliberation." The director does not explicitly state which side she chooses in the film; this ambiguity itself is proof of the film's political maturity.

The U.S. tour itself also carries diplomatic color—Stanford (Hoover Institution + APARC), UCLA (Samueli + LA TECO), Columbia (Weatherhead East Asian Institute), New York (Deputy Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, Chang Li-hsien attended), Purdue, Wisconsin, and Michigan (Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, Lei Yen-feng attended)—most co-hosted by the local TECO offices and the local semiconductor industry-academia-government circles¹⁷.

The Mountain Maker Was Actually Absent

On an evening in June 2025, 84-year-old Morris Tseng and his wife entered Shin-Yi Wovie Cinema—"not a private screening, but buying tickets like general audiences to enter the theater"¹⁸. A month earlier, the premiere on May 10 was held at the Shin-Yi Wovie A13 IMAX Hall. Minister of Culture Li Yuan, Lin Huai-min, National Tsing Hua University President Gao Wei-yuan, and Hsien-Bin Chiang all attended¹⁹. Morris Tseng and his wife chose a regular ticketed screening to watch it themselves, becoming two ordinary audience members in a screening.

Hsiao Ju-cheng said afterward that she was "nervous and excited, and also a little disappointed"—disappointed because she never managed to get Morris Tseng himself to sit in front of the camera for an interview¹⁸.

Two months later, in August 2025, former President Tsai Ing-wen and former Vice President Chen Chien-jen attended the screening. Tsai Ing-wen said: "I sincerely thank the production of this film. The director and producers have presented the events that have occurred and the challenges we have faced in a structurally clear way."²⁰

By October 2025, the box office across Taiwan exceeded NT$32 million, ranking among the top five documentaries in Taiwan's film history (according to the production team's announcement)²¹.

The mountain maker did not give an interview. He chose the most ordinary screening to watch it himself, and let the film speak for him.

This epic without him makes the story of the mountain maker no longer belong to just one person.

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Further Reading

• Semiconductor Industry — The complete context of Taiwan's semiconductor industry from RCA technology transfer to the Arizona plant, the industrial background of this film
• Technology Park Development — Hsinchu Science Park as the concrete geographical carrier of the mountain makers, the stage for this film's scenes
• Cognitive Warfare — The response to "Taiwan Never Stole" is the 2025 U.S.-China information battlefield, coinciding with the film's political framing
• Taiwan Strait Crisis and Cross-Strait Relations Development — The geopolitical background of the term "Silicon Shield," the implicit premise of this film's argument
• Lin Chi-erh — Taiwanese-American NASA astronaut who spoke at Central University on the same day (4/22), another track of Taiwan's soft power

References

1. Sing Tao Daily — Documentary 'The Mountain Maker' Conveys Taiwan's Semiconductor Experience — 2026-04-22 report, summarizing the 2026 spring U.S. Midwest three-university tour screenings, attendees, and affiliated institutions↩
2. National Tsing Hua University General Education Center — Introduction to Professor Hsiao Ju-cheng — Hsiao Ju-cheng is currently a professor at the General Education Center and College of Humanities and Social Sciences at NTNU, teaching since 2016↩
3. Wikipedia — Hsiao Ju-cheng — Records Hsiao Ju-cheng's birth in 1972, graduation from NTNU Economics Department in 1994, and the complete record of The Legend of the Red Leaves and Silver Hairpin winning consecutive Golden Horse Awards for Best Documentary↩
4. GVM Magazine — Interview with 'The Mountain Maker' Director Hsiao Ju-cheng — Hsiao Ju-cheng explains the reason for Morris Tseng not being interviewed: busy writing the second volume of his autobiography + TSMC filming restrictions↩
5. CNEX Official Website — A Chip Odyssey Production Info — Lists the complete list of interviewees, production years, runtime, and distribution info↩
6. Wikipedia — CNEX Studio Corporation — CNEX was established simultaneously in Taipei, Beijing, and Hong Kong in 2007 by Hsien-Bin Chiang, Ling-Chen Chen, and Chao-Wei Chang as a Chinese-language documentary NGO↩
7. Focus Taiwan — Documentary on Taiwan's chip industry seen as fitting tribute — 2025 New York premiere report, introducing producers Tian-Shun Chen and Hsien-Bin Chiang's backgrounds↩
8. Kuang Hua Magazine — The Mountain Maker: A Love Letter to Semiconductor Pioneers — Hsiao Ju-cheng interview, revealing the 5-year production period, over 80 interviewees, and international funding backing from IDFA Bertha Fund and Sundance IDFP↩
9. Focus Taiwan — Documentary celebrates Taiwan chip pioneers in NY premiere — 2025-11-09 New York East Coast premiere report, Hsien-Bin Chiang's original quote "a race against time"↩
10. GVM Magazine — Review of 'The Mountain Maker': Breakfast Briefing at 40 Nanyang Street — Review notes that the location of Hsin-Hsin Hsin Soy Milk Shop is 40 Nanyang Street (legendary location, single source)↩
11. Business Weekly — 'The Mountain Maker' Unveils Taiwan's Semiconductor History — Complete introduction of the timeline anchors: 1974 breakfast briefing, 1976 RCA technology transfer, 1980 UMC, 1985 VLSI plan, 1987 TSMC founding↩
12. CNA — C.C. Wei Goes to White House to Announce TSMC's $100 Billion U.S. Investment — March 4, 2025 report, TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei met with Trump at the White House to announce an additional $100 billion investment in the U.S. to expand the Arizona plant scale↩
13. Kuang Hua Magazine — Same as Note 8 — Hsiao Ju-cheng's original quote paragraph on "born in adversity"↩
14. GVM Magazine — Same as Note 4 — Hsiao Ju-cheng's original quote paragraph on "technology is also part of culture"↩
15. CommonWealth English — Taiwan Never Stole from the US! — CommonWealth Magazine English edition June 2025 report, title directly responding to Trump's March 2025 accusation↩
16. Cinema Escapist — Review: A Chip Odyssey — November 2025 international film review, positioning this film as a visual companion to Chris Miller's Chip War and noting reservations such as "unapologetically lionizes"↩
17. Hoover Institution — A Chip Odyssey Screening — Stanford Hoover/APARC November 5, 2025 screening official page, including complete info on host organizations and attending scholars↩
18. United Daily News — Morris Tseng and His Wife Buy Tickets to Watch — June 2025 Morris Tseng and his wife bought tickets to watch at Shin-Yi Wovie and bowed three times to the audience to express gratitude↩
19. GVM Magazine — Same as Note 4 — May 10, 2025 Shin-Yi Wovie premiere attendee list: Minister of Culture Li Yuan, Lin Huai-min, NTNU President Gao Wei-yuan, Hsien-Bin Chiang↩
20. Mirror Media — Tsai Ing-wen's Speech at Screening — August 8, 2025 Tsai Ing-wen and Chen Chien-jen screening report, Tsai Ing-wen's original quote↩
21. The Mountain Maker A Chip Odyssey Official Facebook — October 2025 official announcement that Taiwan box office exceeded NT$32 million, ranking among the top five documentaries in Taiwan's film history (according to production team announcement)↩