Tsai Ming-liang 30th Anniversary Tribute

Tsai Ming-liang 30th Anniversary Tribute

This special program, in conjunction with Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, Taiwan Cultural Center and Tokyo FILMeX, features Tsai Ming-liang, marking the 30th year since his directorial debut Rebels of the Neon God, which won the Bronze Prize in the Young Cinema Competition of the 1993 Tokyo International Film Festival. You will witness various facets of the contemporary world examined in each of his films. Hopefully commercial releases of those films will follow this special program.
Tsai Ming-liang

Tsai Ming-liang is a Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan. Tsai has written and directed 11 feature films and directed many short films and television films. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese cinema. His films have been acclaimed worldwide and have won numerous awards at festivals.

Rebels of the Neon God

106min / Mandarin / 1992 / Taiwan

Introduction

Depicting young people gathering in downtown Taipei, Tsai's directorial debut was invited to numerous international festivals, including TIFF 1993, where it won the Young Cinema Competition Bronze Award.
Rebels of the Neon God
© Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee

Staff

Director/Screenplay: Tsai Ming-liang, Producer: Hsu Li-kong, Cinematographer: Liao Pen-jung, Editor: Wang Chi-yang, Music: Huang Shu-jun

Cast

Hsiao-kang: Lee Kang-sheng
Ah-tze: Chen Chao-jung
Ah-ping: Jen Chang-bin
Ah-kuei: Wang Yu-wen
Hsiao-kang's Mother: Lu Yi-ching
Hsiao-kang's Father: Miao Tien
Goodbye Dragon Inn

82min / Color / Mandarin,Taiwanese,Japanese / 2003 / Taiwan

Introduction

King Hu's Dragon Inn is screening at an old cinema, soon to close, and the aged actors are viewing it... Japan premiere of the digitally restored version of the Venice FIPRESCI Prize-winning masterpiece.
Goodbye Dragon Inn
©Lin Meng-Shan

Staff

Director/Screenplay/Executive Producer: Tsai Ming-liang, Producer: Claude Wang, Cinematographer: Liao Pen-jung, Editor: Chen Sheng-chang, Art Director: Lu Li-Chin, Costume Designer: Sun Huei-mei, Sound Designer: Du Tu-chih, Sound Recordist: Tang Hsiang-chu

Cast

Ticket-taker: Chen Shiang-chyi
Projectionist: Lee Kang-sheng
Mitamura Kiyonobu
Miao Tien
Shih Chun
Yang Kuei-mei
Chen Chao-jung
Tsai Ming-liang Shorts Program
Autumn Days
24min / Japanese / 2015 / Taiwan
Light
18min / Mandarin / 2018 / Taiwan
The Moon and the Tree
34min / Mandarin / 2021 / Taiwan
The Night
20min / Mandarin / 2021 / Taiwan
©Homegreen Films ©Claude Wang

Introduction

Autumn Days
The film features Nogami Teruyo, who supported Kurosawa films as a script supervisor and production manager. Partly shot at the Kinuta Toho Studio. Imbued with Tsai's respect and affection for Nogami.

Light
Tsai made this short, capturing the "face" of Zhongshan Hall, an erstwhile important event hall with Tsai made this short, capturing the "face" of Zhongshan Hall, an erstwhile important event hall with Arabic-style windows in Taipei, just after shooting Your Face (2018) in the hall.

The Moon and the Tree
Commissioned by Taipei Film Festival, this film features singer Lee Pei-jing, known for her 70s pop hit "I Love the Moon", and who later became paralyzed, and legendary star actor Chang Feng at nearly 100 years old.

The Night
Shot in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in November 2019. Painful traces from the pro-democracy protests emerge in the nightscape. The original title is taken from the classic hit song. Premiered at Venice.

Staff

Autumn Days
Director: Tsai Ming-liang, Producer: Claude Wang, Cinematographer: Chang Jhong-yuan, Editor: Lei Cheng-ching, Sound Mixer: Chen Chai-wei

Light
Director: Tsai Ming-liang, Producer: Claude Wang, Cinematographer/Editor: Chang Jhong-yuan

The Moon and the Tree
Director: Tsai Ming-liang, Producer: Claude Wang, Cinematographer/Editor: Chang Jhong-yuan, Sound Designer: Terry Lin

The Night
Director/Cinematographer: Tsai Ming-liang,Producer: Claude Wang, Cinematographer: Tsai Ming-liang, Editor: Chang Jhong-yuan

Cast

Autumn Days
Nogami Teruyo
Lee Kang-sheng

Light
Ide Kaoru

The Moon and the Tree
Lee Pei-jing
Chang Feng
Walking on Water / Journey to the West
Walking on Water
30min / Mandarin / 2013 / Taiwan
Journey to the West
56min / No Dialogue / 2014 / France, Taiwan
Walking on Water/Journey to the West
©Homegreen Films

Introduction

Two films from Tsai's Walker series, which began in 2012, the epitome of slow cinema, in which Lee Kang-sheng as a monk walks through various cities at ultra-slow speeds.
Journey to the West, shot in France and screened in the Panorama section at Berlin, is the longest film in the series. Denis Lavant, known for Leos Carax films, also appears.
Walking on Water is a short-length episode of the omnibus Letters from the South about Chinese immigrants in Southeast Asia, co-directed by Tan Chui Mui, Aditya Assarat, Midi Z, Royston Tan, and Sun Koh. Filmed in Tsai's hometown of Kuching, Malaysia. Japan premiere.

Staff

Walking on Water
Director/Screenplay: Tsai Ming-liang

Journey to the West
Director/Screenplay: Tsai Ming-liang, Cinematography: Antoine Héberlé, Editor: Lei Chen-ching, Music: Sébastien Mauro, Sound Designer: Xavier Dreyfuss, Sound Recordist: Frédéric Salles

Cast

Walking on Water
Lee Kang-sheng

Journey to the West
Lee Kang-sheng
Denis Lavant

TOKYO FILMeX Co-hosted Screenings

What Time Is It There?

116min / 2001

The Wayward Cloud

114min / 2005

Face

141min / 2009

Official Partners