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

30-Second Overview: Documentary director Hsiao Ju-chen spent five years (2019–2024) interviewing over 80 semiconductor pioneers to create an epic about Taiwan's semiconductor industry. However, Morris Chang 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 box office records with NT$32 million, ranking among the top five in the history of Taiwanese documentary cinema. From autumn 2025 to spring 2026, the film visited Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Michigan—the key hubs of the US semiconductor manufacturing industry 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, President 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; University of Michigan Professor Becky Peterson; and James Foresi, Director of IMEC¹.

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

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

A TSMC Epic Without Morris Chang

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

But this film has a structural absence: Morris Chang.

"Morris Chang did not give us a formal interview," Hsiao Ju-chen said. "He was writing the second volume of his autobiography, and TSMC's restrictions on filming were, of course, layered with protection." She could only capture Chang's figure and speech from 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 confidentiality culture is so deep that even reviewing its own history is heavily protected.

What appears last are silhouettes, supplementary footage, and clips cut from news footage. Hsiao Ju-chen instead turned the lens toward those who are mountain makers even if not in TSMC: Former ITRI President Hsien Tai Hsiao served as the chief consultant for the entire film; MediaTek's Tsao Ming-chien; RCA Project Team Leader Yang Ding-yuan; Macronix General Manager Lu Chih-yuan; Former TSMC Vice Chairman Tseng Fan-cheng; Ben N. G. Ren (breakthrough in immersion lithography); Shang-Yi Chiang; Min-Shiang Shih (inventor of non-volatile memory); UMC's first General Manager John Shyu; and the first generation of female operators (unnamed)⁵.

Five Years, Eighty People

The name CNEX (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 Chiang Hsien-pin, Chen Ling-chen, and Chang Chao-wei⁶. Chiang Hsien-pin 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. Chen Tien-shun is a senior executive in the semiconductor industry and serves as the producer alongside Chiang Hsien-pin⁷. According to Chiang Hsien-pin, the origin of this film was in 2019, when he attended the memorial service for semiconductor pioneer Hu Ding-hua. A friend asked CNEX to film this topic, and Chiang and Hsiao Ju-chen took it on.

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

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

During the production period, 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 entire film had a mixed funding structure of "independent documentary production × private industry sponsorship × international public funds."

From Nanyang Street to Arizona

The timeline anchor of this film starts in 1974.

That year, Sun Yun-hsuan, Li Kuo-tung, Pan Wen-yuan, and five others held a breakfast briefing at the Little Hsin Hsin Soy Milk Shop, finalizing the "Integrated Circuit Technology Development Plan"¹⁰. That same year, Pan Wen-yuan wrote the IC plan in Room 508 of the Yuan Shan Hotel. In 1976, ITRI's Electronics Research and Service Organization signed a 10-year technology transfer contract with the US 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 half a year¹¹.

In 1980, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) was founded. In 1985, Morris Chang came to Taiwan to serve as the President 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. G. Ren achieved breakthroughs in immersion lithography. In the 2020s, the US-China chip war, CHIPS Act, TSMC's Arizona plant, China's ban, and the AI wave.

The timeline ends in March 2025—Tsao Ming-chien entered the White House, met with Trump, and announced TSMC's additional investment of $100 billion in the US¹².

✦ "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-chen¹³

In interviews, Hsiao Ju-chen repeatedly emphasized that this is a story about "people": "Technology is also part of culture, part of Taiwanese life, and 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 US semiconductor industry. Three months later, an English edition report in CommonWealth Magazine titled the film: "Taiwan Never Stole from the US!"¹⁵

The chronological overlap is no coincidence. Cinema Escapist's review positioned this film as a "timely and fitting visual companion" to Chris Miller's Chip War—but with a more Taiwan-centric angle, more insider access, and more everyday Taiwanese voices¹⁶.

The reviews also carried reservations: "unapologetically lionizes," "self-sacrificing framing," and a narrative setup where the "national crisis is not yet over." In public interviews, Hsiao Ju-chen also mentioned an observation: 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 choose either side in the film; this ambiguity itself is proof of the film's political maturity.

The US tour itself also carried 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 local TECO offices and the local semiconductor industry-government-academia circle¹⁷.

The Mountain Maker Was Actually Absent

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

Hsiao Ju-chen said afterward that she was "nervous and excited, but also a little disappointed"—disappointed that she never managed to get Morris Chang 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 spoke: "I sincerely thank the production of this film. The director and producers have presented the events that have happened over the years and the challenges we have faced in a structurally clear way."²⁰

By October 2025, the box office across Taiwan broke NT$32 million, ranking among the top five in the history of Taiwanese documentary cinema box office (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 Park as the concrete geographical carrier of the mountain makers, the stage for this film's scenes
• Cognitive Warfare — "Taiwan Never Stole" responds to the 2025 US-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 US Midwest three-university tour screenings, attendees, and affiliated institutions↩
2. National Tsing Hua University General Education Center — Introduction to Professor Hsiao Ju-chen — Hsiao Ju-chen is currently a professor at the General Education Center and College of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, teaching since 2016↩
3. Wikipedia — Hsiao Ju-chen — Records Hsiao Ju-chen's birth in 1972, graduation from National Tsing Hua University's Department of Economics in 1994, and the complete record of The Legend of Red Leaves and Silver Hairpin winning consecutive Golden Horse Awards for Best Documentary↩
4. GVM Magazine — Interview with 'The Mountain Maker' Director Hsiao Ju-chen — Hsiao Ju-chen explains the reason for Morris Chang not being interviewed: busy writing the second volume of his autobiography + TSMC filming restrictions↩
5. CNEX Official Website — A Chip Odyssey Production Info — Records the complete list of interviewees, production years, runtime, and distribution info↩
6. Wikipedia — CNEX — CNEX was established simultaneously in Taipei, Beijing, and Hong Kong in 2007 by Chiang Hsien-pin, Chen Ling-chen, and Chang Chao-wei 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 the backgrounds of producers Chen Tien-shun and Chiang Hsien-pin↩
8. Kuomintang Magazine — The Mountain Maker: A Love Letter to Semiconductor Pioneers — Hsiao Ju-chen 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, Chiang Hsien-pin'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 Little Hsin Hsin Soy Milk Shop is 40 Nanyang Street (legendary location, single source)↩
11. Business Weekly — 'The Mountain Maker' Reveals 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 — Tsao Ming-chien Goes to White House to Announce TSMC's $100 Billion US Investment — March 4, 2025 report, TSMC Chairman Tsao Ming-chien met with Trump at the White House to announce an additional $100 billion investment in the US to expand the Arizona plant scale↩
13. Kuomintang Magazine — Same as Note 8 — Hsiao Ju-chen's original quote paragraph on "born in adversity"↩
14. GVM Magazine — Same as Note 4 — Hsiao Ju-chen'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 pointing out 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 co-hosts and attending scholars↩
18. United Daily News — Morris Chang and Wife Buy Tickets to Watch Film — June 2025 Morris Chang 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: Culture Minister Li Yuan, Lin Huai-min, National Tsing Hua University President Gao Wei-yuan, Hsien Tai Hsiao↩
20. Mirror Media — Tsai Ing-wen Speaks at Film 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 broke NT$32 million, ranking among the top five in the history of Taiwanese documentary cinema box office (according to production team announcement)↩