The Garden Cinema is delighted to present the fourth edition of our annual season dedicated to Taiwanese cinema — Made in Taiwan. Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, this year’s programme continues to showcase the best of classic and contemporary works from the region.
At the heart of the season is a special focus on master cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing, who joins us in London for a selection of seven films from his remarkable career spanning over four decades. Central to Lee’s career is his legendary collaboration with Hou Hsiao-hsien. Alongside the rarely screened Flight of the Red Balloon, we revisit four masterpieces from previous editions: the hypnotic, neon-lit Millennium Mambo (2001), Hou’s autobiographical The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985), the sublime wuxia The Assassin (2015) and the ravishing lamplit Flowers of Shanghai (1998). Lee will take part in Q&As for the latter two titles, and present the UK premiere of the newly restored The Dull Ice Flower. Additionally, King’s College London will welcome Mark Lee Ping-bing for a free masterclass session examining his distinctive approach to cinematography and visual storytelling on 3 December.
Lee’s cinematography can also be seen in Strawman (1987), the first chapter of Wang Toon’s celebrated “Modern Taiwan Trilogy”. Together with Banana Paradise (1989) and Hill of No Return (1992), the trilogy traces ordinary Taiwanese lives through Japanese colonial rule, the upheavals of 1949 and the early Kuomintang era.
Taiwan’s colonial past is approached differently in Huang Ya-li’s award-winning documentary Le Moulin (2015), an evocative collage of archival footage, poetry, reenactment and sound exploring Surrealist-inspired poets in 1930s Taiwan. Huang will join us online for a post-screening Q&A.
On Halloween, we present Double Vision (2002), Chen Kuo-fu’s landmark collision of police procedural, Taoist mythology and horror. To mark the 70th anniversary of Taiwanese-language cinema, a restoration of Hsin Chi’s Dangerous Youth (1969) brings its daring New Wave aesthetics and provocative portrait of desire and exploitation back to the screen. The beloved restored animation Grandma and Her Ghosts (1998) combines family life, folklore and the supernatural, while its long-awaited sequel is now in production. Together, they offer a glimpse into the breadth of Taiwan’s dynamic filmmaking.
Continuing the tradition of previous editions, we also celebrate masters of Taiwanese cinema: Edward Yang’s Taipei Story (1985) will be screened in memory of the late critic and programmer Tony Rayns, Tsai Ming-liang reunites with his muse Lee Kang-sheng in the melancholic, Paris-haunted What Time Is It There? (2001), and King Hu’s newly restored Raining in the Mountain (1979) blends martial arts with Buddhist philosophy amid spectacular mountain landscapes.
Alongside Q&As, many screenings will feature expert introductions. Audiences are also welcome to join us for a Taiwanese-flavoured launch event, in partnership with Kung Fu Mama and our Taiwan Cinema Night reception towards the end of the season.
