Colin Geddes, a Toronto International Film Festival programmer, rescued some of the rare films from closed Chinatown cinemas, and even from the garbage. (Toronto International Film Festival)

The University of Toronto has been given more than 400 Hong Kong and Taiwanese films and trailers for use by its students and scholars.

Colin Geddes, film archivist, curator and programmer with the Toronto International Film Festival, donated the works. They will become part of the special collections archive of the university's Media Commons.

The donation includes approximately 200 feature films and 225 trailers on 35 mm film spanning the 1970s through the 1990s. Among the works are some of the early films by critically acclaimed and award-winning directors Wong Kar-wai, Tsui Hark, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Ronny Yu Yan-Tai, Ringo Lam and John Woo.

In a press release, Geddes said he believes the collection should stay at the University of Toronto, where film students will be able to access and study the works. "Every title seemed like an orphan sent far from home to be appreciated by our city's audiences," he said.

Compiled over a 15-year period, the Geddes collection includes reels procured from Toronto Chinatown cinemas after they had closed. In some cases, they were rescued from the garbage.

"The collection was born out of a recognition that these films represent a valuable piece of international cinematic history that would be impossible to replace if ever lost," Geddes said.

Charlie Keil, director of the university's Cinema Studies Institute, said many of the titles are unavailable elsewhere in North America. "In certain instances, these reels are the last surviving prints in the world," he added.