Tsai Ming-liang Born in Ku Ching, Malaysia, in 1957. He came to Taiwan in 1977 and graduated from the Drama Department of the Chinese Cultural University in 1982. While working for the theater, Tsai started writing screenplays, and soon became one of Taiwan's most promising writers and TV drama directors. His directorial debut was a study of despondent urban youths, Rebels of the Neon God ('92). Crowned «the Fassbinder of Taiwan» by the international media, he has since been regarded as a pillar of the second generation of filmmakers in Taiwan's new cinema. His second film, Vive l'Amour, a scrutiny of isolation and absurdity in modern Taipei, won the Golden Lion at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. He also shot a documentary, My New Friends, on people infected with the HIV virus. His latest feature film, The River, which probes deeply into family life in Chinese society, is both daring and refreshing. It was shown at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival. FILMOGRAPHY (English titles) 1992 Rebels of the Neon God 1994 Vive l'Amour 1995 My New Friends (documentary) 1997 The River Aiqing wansui VIVE L'AMOUR Hsiao-kang sells niches for the cremated remains of the dead. While canvassing for clients, he spots a key in an apartment door and steals it. Later, he finds the apartment uninhabited and takes to going there. May, the real estate agent who left the key in the lock, lives alone in a small apartment and picks up occasional sex partners. One of those is Ah-jung, who sells women's clothing on the street. Soon, they are using the apartment – for a long while not suspecting anyone else is there... Direction: Tsai Ming-liang. / Screenplay: Tsai Ming-liang, Yang Pi-ying, Tsai Yi-chun. / Cinematography: Liao Pen-jung, Lin Ming-kuo. / Editing: Sung Shin-cheng. / Sound: Yang Jing-an. / Cast: Yang Kuei-mei, Chen Ghao-jung, Lee Kang-sheng. / Producer: Hsu Li-kong. / Production: Central Motion Picture Corp. / World Sales: Central Motion Picture Corp., 8F No. 116 Han-Chung Street, Taipei, Taiwan, tel.: 382 0889, fax: 331 0681. 35mm / Colour 119' He liu THE RIVER Hsiao-kang shares an apartment in Taipei with his parents, but the three of them lead very separate lives. His mother works as an elevator attendant in a restaurant and is having an affair with a man who pirates porno vidotapes. Hsiao-kang is drifting through life without a job, while his father, a pensioner, pursues a solitary quest for illicit pleasures in the city's gay saunas. As an extra in a film, Hsiao-kang plays a body adrift in the heavily polluted Tamsui River. He begins to suffer a terrible pain in his neck, but no one seems to able to cure him. In desperation, Hsiao-kang travels with his father to Taichung, to visit a faith healer. While waiting to see him, the father gets bored and decides to visit a local men's sauna. Coincidentally, Hsiao-kang has the same idea… Life is like a river: there will always be some dark, deep, damp corners. Direction: Tsai Ming-liang. / Screenplay: Tsai Ming-liang, Yang Bi-ying, Tsai Yi-chun. / Cinematography: Lao Peng-jung. / Editing: Chen Seng-chang. / Sound: Yang Chin-an. / Sets: Lee Pao-lin. / Cast: Lee Kang-sheng, Miao Tien, Lu Hsiao-ling, Chen Shiang-chyi, Chang Long, Anne Hui. / Producer: Hsu Li-kong, Chiu Shun-ching. / Production: Central Motion Picture Corp., Taipei, Taiwan. / World Sales: Celluloid Dreams, 34 rue Lamartine, 75009 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4970 0370, fax: 33 1 4970 0371. 35mm / Colour 115' Chin shao nien na cha REBELS OF A NEON GOD Hsiao-kang, an introverted high-school student, decides not to participate in the college entrance examination. He takes a refund on his cram-school tuition, and opts for the bright lights of downtown Taipei. He comes across Ah-tze, whom he clearly remembers as the bike-riding vandal who once hit the family taxicab. Hsiao-kang follows Ah-tze and his prostitute girlfriend Ah-kwei through the heavy rain to a hotel, and quietly plots to avenge himself and his father on Ah-tze's beloved motorcycle. Ah-tze discovers the limits of his luck: not only is his motorcycle vandalized, but his best friend, Ah-bing, is beaten by the Chinese Mafia. To top it all, Ah-tze realizes he has fallen in love with Ah-kwei. However, Hsiao-kang's fate is no better. His father has kicked him out for quitting school, and now he does not know where to go. Direction: Tsai Ming-liang. / Screenplay: Tsai Ming-liang. / Cinematography: Liao Pen-Jung. / Editing: Wang Chyi-yang. / Sound: Hu Ting-i. / Music: Huang Shu-chun. / Sets: Lee Pao-ling. / Cast: Chen Chao-jung, Wang Yu-wen, Lee Kang-sheng, Jen Chang-bin. / Producer: Hsu Li-kong. / Production: Central Motion Picture Corp., Taipei, Taiwan. / World Sales: Celluloid Dreams, 34 rue Lamartine, 75009 Paris, France, tel.: 33 1 4970 0370, fax: 33 1 4970 0371. 35mm / Colour 106'