We are delighted to once again bring masterpieces from Taiwan to The Garden Cinema with the return of Taiwanese Cinema: Now and Then, supported by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. As with our autumn programme from last year, we will be showcasing superlative work from filmmakers both old and new.
This year we are spotlighting the early films of the most successful Taiwanese director of all time, Ang Lee, with screenings of all three entries in Lee’s loose ‘Father Knows Best’ trilogy. Before his English language success, Lee made a huge impact in the early 1990s with two stories of Taiwan immigrant families in the USA, Pushing Hands (1991) and his Golden Bear-winning The Wedding Banquet (1993). The trilogy is completed by Lee’s delectable ‘return’ to Taiwan, Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).
We’re thrilled to continue to present restorations of legendary titles from New Taiwanese Cinema figureheads at The Garden Cinema. Hou Hsiao-hsien’s beautifully nostalgic Dust in the Wind (1986) will join Edward Yang’s debut, That Day, on the Beach (1983), and Tsai Ming-liang’s provocative and playful The Wayward Cloud (2005). The digital restorations of these three titles will be shown for the first time in the UK during the season. Joining these will be the recent restorations of Edward Yang’s wonderful satire of 1990s Taipei life, A Confucian Confusion (1994), and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s epic tapestry of the personal and political history of Taiwan, A City of Sadness (1989).
Also continuing from previous years is our patient journey through the Buddhism-inflected wuxia films made by King Hu in Taiwan. His 1979 Legend of the Mountain is perhaps his most spiritual and ambitious work, and one that is rarely screened in UK cinemas.
Our contemporary classics section will focus on incredible films made after the turn-of-the-millennium, by post new-wave filmmakers. The hugely impactful diasporic director Shih-Ching Tsou will join us for an online Q&A following a screening of her thrilling neorealist debut, Take Out (co-directed with Sean Baker, 2004). Huang Hui-chen will join us for an online Q&A following her emotionally raw and empowering study of queerness and religion, Small Talk (2016)and the acclaimed Old Fox (2023) will be screened for the first time in London. We’re excited to include short form works this year, with the anthology film, 10 + 10 (2011), which comprises of segments from some of the most important names in Taiwanese cinema such as Hou Hsiao-hsien, Chun Mong-Hong, Sylvia Chang, and Wu Nien-jen.
