“Only a society filled with love can progress properly.”

In the film Our Neighbour, director Hsing Lee brings us to mid-19th century Taiwan with nostalgic black and white pictures and low fidelity musical scores.

In the dark corners of the cities in Taiwan, there hide people who barely survive below the poverty line. Casting these stories in an uplifting light, Our Neighbour focuses intensely on the lives of these people and how they cope with the dilemmas encountered on an everyday basis. The film stresses the relationships between people in their hardships as the characters from the bottom rung of society interact and assist each other in times of trouble and difficulty.

Length: 92 minutes
Director: Hsing Lee
Cast: Koon Cheung Lee, Jian Cao, Xiao Ping Cui, Fan Yang, Yu Hua He, Wan Lin Luo, Chuan Yu, Ming Lei

About the Director
Hsing Lee was born in 1930 in Shanghai. Lee shoots Taiwanese film with a unique take on comedy. After the 1963 film Our Neighbour, Lee began filming using mainly Mandarin, bringing his film career to a peak once again. His most famous works He Never Gives Up, Story of a Small Town, and Good Morning, Taipei all depict realistic yet entertaining themes. Throughout 1978, 1979, and 1980, Lee was consecutively awarded Best Film at the Golden Horse Awards, the only director to have achieved such prestige in the history of Taiwanese cinema.

Awards and Honors
1963 The 2nd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival — Best Child Star (Wan Lin Luo)

In 1987, after 38 years, martial law was lifted from Taiwan. This finally allowed for open examination and discussion of issues which had impacted the island since 1949.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's A City of Sadness was the first mainstream film to deal with the 228 Incident, a violent suppression of anti-government demonstrators in 1947, a most sensitive subject to address. Told from the point of view of a deaf and mute young man, this film not only respectfully approaches the subject matter, but also remains, to this day, one of the most pivotal and successful pieces of cinematic art to arise from this period of change.

Winning the Golden Lion Award for the Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, along with numerous other awards and accolades, attests to the all-around strength of A City of Sadness as a cornerstone in Taiwanese cinematic history.

Length: 157minutes
Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Sung Young Chen, Jack Kao, Li Tian-lu

About the Director
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and leading figure of Taiwan’s New Wave cinema movement. Hou often makes rigorously minimalist films probing the upheavals of the Taiwanese history of the past century by depicting their impact on individuals. His unique style is marked by extreme long shots with intricate choreography of actors and space within the frame. Hou’s films have been awarded prizes from prestigious international festivals.

Awards and Honors
46th Venice Film Festival — Golden Lion and UNESCO Prize
1989 Golden Horse Film Festival — Best Director and Best Leading Actor
1989 Kinema Junpo Awards — Best Foreign Language Film
1991 Mainichi Film Concours — Best Foreign Language Film
1991 Political Film Society — Special Award

A mountain, a song, a sun coloured in blue;
A boy, a drawing, and a beautiful dream.

Set in the 1960s, the story revolves around a mischievous eight-year-old boy Amin, who grew up with his elder sister by the rural tea fields. Despite coming from a poverty-stricken family and losing his mother at an early age, Amin is blessed with extraordinary artistic talents and creativity. He finds joy in creating paintings that reflect his ingenuous perspective on the world. Kuo, the new art teacher in town, realizes Amin's potential and decides to vote for him to represent the school in a county-wide art competition. Little do they know that the mayor and Kuo’s fellow teachers intend to intervene with their plans.

Dull Ice Flower is the literal translation for the Chinese name of the plant Lupinus polyphyllus (lupins). Commonly found in the high mountain tea fields in Taiwan, lupins facilitate the growth of the tea trees and impart a richer aroma and flavour to the tea. When the lupins wither, they fertilize the soil and further nourish the tea trees.

This film illustrates the transition phase that Taiwan was in during the modernizing age and when democracy was still in its infancy. And like the lupins, stories of this time - interwoven with tears, heartbreak and profoundness - continue to nurture the sublime and beautiful aspects of humanity.

Length: 93minutes
Director: Li-Kuo Yang
Cast: Kun-Hsuan Huang, Shu-Chen Lee, Sung-Yung Chen, Han Yu

About the Director
Li-Kuo Yang is a graduate of the Theatre Arts at Chinese Culture University. He had directed numerous shorts and films and made his directorial debut The Story in Sorghum Field in 1983. His signature piece The Dull Ice Flower (1990) has received tremendous recognition worldwide.

Awards and Honors
The 20th Giffoni International Film Festival — Bronze Gryphon Award
The 7th Montpellier Chinese Cinema Festival — Golden Bear Award
The 40th Berlin International Film Festival — Special Recognition Award
C.I.C.A.E. Award - Special Mention
The Bavarian Film Festival — Best Award
The 26th Taipei Golden Horse Awards — Best Supporting Actress Award

The third film in what is often termed the “Father Knows Best” trilogy of Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's arsenal of films, Eat Drink Man Woman is a fabulous piece on family, relationships, and the intricacies of cooking Chinese cuisine.

The film opens with a mouthwatering four-minute montage of Sunday dinner being prepared by a father of three now-grown daughters. However, the perfection and harmony of the meal is starkly contrasted by the state of the family: an aging father, three daughters who are now facing life as grown adults, and their evolving roles in the family.

Like the earlier two films in the famous trilogy, Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman is a film that earnestly portrays human emotions and relations without being overt. It is light-hearted enough to enjoy, and you'll likely find yourself empathizing with this unique family.

Length: 120minutes
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Sihung Lung, Ah Lei Gua, Sylvia Chang, Chien-lien Wu, Kuei-mei Yang, Yu-wen Wang

About the Director
Ang Lee, a Taiwanese-American film director, was born in Pingtung, Taiwan. After graduating from the National Taiwan University of Arts, Lee completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and received his MFA at the Tisch School of Arts of New York University. Lee won an Academy Award for Best Director with Brokeback Mountain, becoming the first person of Asian heritage and the first non-white to ever win the award. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Sense and Sensibility(1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(2000), Hulk(2003) and Lust, Caution(2007).

Awards and Honors
Nominations: 67thAcademy Award — Best Foreign Language Film
Golden Globe Award — Best Foreign Language Film
Awards: Taipei Golden Horse Awards — Best Film Producer
Asia Pacific Film Festival Award — Best Film and Best Editing
Independent Spirit Award — Best Film and Best Director

“What is the purpose, you ask? I’ve only heard of brotherhood, but never of ‘meaning’!”

To many, the lifestyle within the mafia is unthinkable and even intolerable. To director Doze Niu, however, the structure of the mafia contains the essence of brotherhood.

That vision is the story of Monga, a story of youth and friendship. From the revenge of a stolen chicken drumstick, to the establishment of the Gang of Princes, the director emphasizes the inexplicable bonds and hardships of youth within this unique group.

In response to the controversies which arose following the film’s debut, Niu explains that “Monga is not a film that applauds the mafia lifestyle,” but rather “a contemplation and reminder of the absurdness of youth.”

Length: 141 minutes
Director: Doze Niu
Cast: Ethan Ruan, Mark Chao, Ju-Lung Ma, Rhydian Vaughan, Chia-Yen Ko

About the Director
Deeply influenced by Hong Kong films in his youth, Doze Niu started acting at the age of nine in different television dramas and films. Niu began his directing career in 2000, and founded the production company Red Bean Production Co. in 2002. In 2008, Niu was awarded the Golden Horse Awards’ FIPRESCI Prize for his involvement in the dramatic film What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?!.

Awards and Honors
2010 Taipei Film Festival — Best Art Direction
The 30th Hawaii International Film Festival — Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema Award
The 21st Stockholm International Film Festival — Telia Film Award
The 47th Golden Horse Awards — Best Leading Actor (Ethan Ruan)
The Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year (Lee Lieh) Best Sound Effects

This is a story about exchange — the exchange of dreams.

Doris had always dreamed of a café of her own, and that dream has finally come true. As the café begins to collect many great and strange items for sale, Josie, Doris’s little sister, decides to secretly barter for things she herself dreams of...

One person trades a day of work for a Thai recipe. Another trades two songs for a Japanese songbook. One man trades his guitar for a wooden toy horse. One more leaves his collection of handmade soaps in the hope of trading them for love.

Every item has a value in our heart. Someone needs a sofa; someone has an extra sofa. Someone is missing a vase; someone has an extra vase. They simply haven’t found each other yet.

This is a film about a city and its never-ending stories. For those who have come to trade, they bring along with them a story to tell. Perhaps one day, Doris will walk out of her café seeking her own story…

Length: 82 minutes
Director: Ya-Chuan Hsiao
Cast: LunmeiKwai, Zaizai Lin, Han Chang

About the Director
Ya-Chuan Hsiao graduated from the Fine Art Department of the National Institute of Arts. Hsiao began making short films in 1988 and was awarded with Golden Video Award, Golden Harvest Award and China Time Award. In 1997, Hsiao was the Assistant Director of the feature film Flower of Shanghai. His first feature-length film, Mirror Image, was selected in the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes in 2001 and won numerous awards.

Awards and Honors:
2010 The 47th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival — Best Original Sound Track
2010 The 12th Taipei Film Festival — Best Music