Sep 15, 2015
SFFILM
San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Film Society will present the sixth Taiwan Film Days, October 12–13 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema, in association with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco. This exciting two-day series is designed to call attention to the excellence of Taiwanese cinema and provides Bay Area audiences with unique opportunities to view bold films and engage with visionary filmmakers. Always a cinematic highlight for the local Chinese-speaking community and adventurous cinephiles of all kinds, this year’s edition of Taiwan Film Days features a very special spotlight on master filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, celebrating his remarkable influence on international art cinema for the last three decades. Director Hou, who received the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is expected to attend the series kickoff event.
“We have been long time admirers and supporters of the work of Hou Hsiao-hsien at the San Francisco Film Society,” said SFFS Director of Programming Rachel Rosen. “Our popular 1999 retrospective of his work was one of the early seeds of what is now our Fall Season lineup of festivals celebrating national cinemas. We have never had the honor of welcoming director Hou to San Francisco in person, so his visit and this presentation of his wonderful new film will make this a rare and memorable edition of Taiwan Film Days.”
The San Francisco Film Society has long been a proponent of Taiwanese cinema and has played a pioneering role in introducing it to Bay Area audiences through the San Francisco International Film Festival, which has shown more than 50 Taiwanese films over the years. Works of leading figures-Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang and Edward Yang-have been featured, and prominent actor Lee Kang-sheng was a Festival guest in 1998. In January 1999 the Film Society partnered with the Asian Art Museum to present the retrospective series An Unfolding Horizon: the Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Taiwan Film Days kicks off with a special early look at Hou Hsiao-hsien’s latest film The Assassin, with the director expected to attend in person. The series continues with the insightful documentary Flowers of Taipei: Taiwan New Cinema, which delves into the history and legacy of the Taiwanese New Cinema movement, and wraps up with a newly restored version of Hou’s timeless classic The Boys from Fengkuei, an integral part of that movement which signaled an important shift in Hou’s signature style.
For complete program information visit sffs.org/Exhibition/Fall-Season-2015.
MONDAY OCTOBER 12
6:30 pm The Assassin
Hou Hsiao-hsien (Nie Yinniang, Taiwan 2015) – Director expected
To open the sixth installment of Taiwan Film Days, we are proud to present one of the most heralded films of 2015-winner of the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival-master filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin. Set in ninth-century China, the film centers on Nie Yinniang (played by a smoldering Shu Qi) a female killer appointed to slay corrupt government officials by her master, Jiaxin, a nun who raised her from the age of ten. When Yinniang displays mercy by failing to kill during her duties, Jiaxing punishes her with a ruthless assignment designed to test Yinniang’s resolve. Written by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Chu Tien-wen, Hsieh Hai-meng, Zhong Acheng. Cinematography by Mark Lee Ping Bing. With Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Zhou Yun. 105 min. In Mandarin with subtitles. Print provided by Well Go USA.
9:15 pm The Assassin
TUESDAY OCTOBER 13
6:15 pm Flowers of Taipei: Taiwan New Cinema
Chinlin Hsieh (Guangyin de gushi: Taiwan xin dianying, Taiwan 2014) – Director expected
The Taiwanese New Cinema movement of the 1980s and ’90s captured the imaginations of audiences and filmmakers worldwide. This comprehensive documentary features interviews with leading critics, curators and filmmakers mixed with glorious archival clips from some of the most beloved and inspiring films of the era. Pitch perfect, Flowers of Taipei is an ideal introduction to and celebration of one of the most vital film movements of our time. Cinematography by Olivier Marceny. 109 min. In Mandarin and English with subtitles. Print provided by Ablaze Image.
9:00 pm The Boys from Fengkuei
Hou Hsiao-hsien (Fengkuei-lai-te-jen, Taiwan 1983)
Hou Hsiao-hsien’s beautiful fourth feature-length film follows three bored teenagers who move from the small island of Fengkuei to the port of Kaohsiung. Elegantly recalling the excitement, confusion, anxiety and directionless possibilities of youth in transition to adulthood, the film reveals director Hou in a transition of his own to a canny naturalism that will mark his films for a decade. Restored at the Cinémathèque Royal de Belgique in collaboration with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and the Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project. Written by Chu Tien-wen. Cinematography by Ch’en K’un-hou. With Doze Niu, To Tsung-hua, Lin Hsiu-ling. 100 min. Print provided by Cinematek Belgium.
Film tickets $12 for SFFS members, $14 general, $13 seniors, students and persons with disabilities, $10 children (12 and under); Fall Season CineVoucher 10-Packs $110 for SFFS members, $130 general. Box office opens September 15 for members and September 16 for the general public, online at sffs.org.
Taiwan Film Days is sponsored by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco and special reception sponsor MarketBar.
To request screeners and interviews contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.