This film screened on Saturday 13th May 2017.

Hou’s fourth feature and one of the breakthrough works of the Taiwanese New Wave, follows Ah-Ching and his friends who have just finished school, on their journey away from their island fishing village to the city of Kaohsiung where they face the harsh realities of the big city and of growing up.

A story based on his real-life experiences, this is Hou’s favourite film, his self-proclaimed ‘first real film’, and the first Taiwanese New Cinema film to gain recognition at festivals in Europe. Through the use of non-professional actors, complex sound design, prolonging the duration of shots, and elliptical narrative, he realised a careful new language for his films, where form and content are equals.

The screening will be introduced by Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

This film is screening as part of the Made in Taiwan season of Chinese Language films, running from May 11th to 14th. More info here.