Lee Hsing

Circus of Sheng Changfu

In 2013, the Golden Horse Film Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary. The ministry of Culture commissioned director Yang Li-chou to make a documentary about the history of Golden Horse. What is unique to this film is that it's not an ode to celebrities but about the role cinema plays in ordinary people's lives. It's a love letter to cinema, filmmakers and audiences.

No synopsis available yet.

In Taiwan, director Lee Hsing's films have become a reflection of society and a collective memory of many. His dedication to film not only launched the careers of many movie stars and crew, but was also the foundation of the prestigious Golden Horse Awards. This documentary offers Lee Hsing's personal perspective on family, films, fate and beliefs, giving us a glimpse of the glory and rebirth of Taiwanese cinema.

Dragon Eye Congee tells the story of a second-generation Taiwanese American, Shaun Tam, who, since childhood, has repeatedly dreamt about the same woman in the same scenes, complete with a haunting melody and the fragrant smell of rice congee with dried longan.

Yimin, the son of a carriage driver of Xinjiang ethnicity, is in love with Malihan. Malihan's father despises Yimin for his lowly background and forces his daughter to marry Bulate. Min then leaves town for development for 5 years and comes back as an army officer. However, Han has been forced to engage with Te. With Han defying the arrangement, Te challenges Min to a duel. Min catches the bullet meant for Te and wins him and Han's father to his side. But when war beckons, he sacrifices love to join the army. After the war, Min goes back to his hometown but everything has changed. Han and her whole family have gone without a trace. Min can only recall the past alone.

A 1999 documentary film directed by Ho Ping and funded by the Spring International Company. It honors the legendary Taiwanese director Lee Hsing—often called the godfather of Taiwanese cinema—capturing his life, career, and monumental impact on the island's film industry.

Lin Tian-liang (George Wang), head of the Lanshan Forestry Station, returns to his hometown and reunites with childhood friend Chun-mei (Wu Ching-hung). Their bond deepens while fighting a forest fire. But fellow villager Chou Chin-fa (Ching Miao), scheming for Chun-mei, causes trouble and even sets the forest ablaze before fleeing. Five years later, thanks to Tian-liang and Chun-mei’s efforts, reforestation thrives. The two finally unite as a couple, and Chin-fa is captured—bringing the story to a happy ending.

Hsiao-yueh and her widowed father receive a flock of genetically-improved ducks from the state agricultural council to participate in a breeding experiment.

Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.

The film is based on the real story of Zheng Fengxi. The disabled author studied hard since childhood and finally he graduated from the college.

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Overweight shoeshiner Brother Wang (Wang Ge) and skinny rickshaw driver Brother Liu (Liu Ge) are best friends and roommates. One day, they come across a fortune teller who offers a peculiar forecast: that Wang will become very wealthy in three days but that Liu will die in 44 days. When Wang strikes gold by winning the lottery, just as predicted, the celebratory mood is soon eclipsed by the reminder that Liu’s death also has been forecast. With his newfound wealth, Wang decides to reward his dying buddy with the trip of a lifetime. Carrying around a suitcase full of cash, the working-class twosome embark on a road trip around the beautiful island of Taiwan. Enjoying a lavish lifestyle as inexperienced big spenders, they find themselves in unexpected situations and amusing predicaments, one after another.

Oyster-gatherer Ah-lan is in love with the often-absent fisherman Chin-shui, but a bout of premarital sex leaves her pregnant and vulnerable to malicious gossip.

Story from Qiong Yao's novella collection "Shui Ling"

A journalist meets three girls with the same appearance but different identities. Finally, it turns out that these girls are the same person. Why does she use different identities? As the journalist tries to get the answer, he falls into the labyrinth of love.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples travel west in search of Buddhist scriptures, but demons and temptations constantly disrupt their journey. From Gao Family Village to the Cave of the Spider Demons, Zhu Bajie's worldly desires repeatedly throw the group into danger, forcing him to join Sun Wukong in facing one crisis after another. A key Taiyupian work by Lee Hsing, the film extends the comic energy of Brother Wang and Brother Liu Tour Taiwan into the fantastical world of Journey to the West.

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Taiwanese romance film.

This film is based on a short story by Qiong Yao whose film adaptions took the world by storm in the 1960s. The time of the story sets in the 1920s, the first decade after the country was founded. This is a bitter love story among three brothers and their beautiful cousin. The film reveals the struggles of a woman facing modern liberation and stereotypes of traditional culture.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

Jointly and respectively directed by King Hu, Lee Hsing, and Pai Ching-Jui, three major Taiwan directors of the 1970s, this film consist of three shorts with the same cast of two actors and one actress, who through reincarnation meet in three different times.

An ex-convict came to a small town to learn a handcraft from an old sculptor. He came to know his mute daughter, and soon they fell in love. Then, one day, a hooligan came. He had a crush on the mute daughter and wanted to harass her.

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A young boy witnesses his mother’s cheating ways and, after the death of his sick father, grows to despise her. When he’s adopted by another family, the road to reconciliation proves achingly difficult.

No synopsis available yet.

Fang Yiyi is a mute woman with physical disabilities who cannot speak or hear. Despite her limitations, she is kind-hearted, intelligent, and beautiful. She marries Liu Jingyan and demonstrates utmost filial piety toward her in-laws, supporting her husband and raising their daughter—a series of touching tales. Fang Yiyi's mother had a close relationship with the Liu family as cousins. During her pregnancy, they arranged a marriage by touching bellies, promising to marry Yiyi to Liu Jingyan. After marriage, they had a daughter who was also mute. Jingyan was disappointed and left home, marrying a talkative woman elsewhere. Yiyi worked tirelessly at home, caring for her in-laws, raising her young daughter, and dedicating herself to the family until she fell ill. On her deathbed, she finally saw her husband return. Liu Jingyan knew that Yi Yi had loved him until her death, and he felt endless sorrow and guilt. In the end, he lived out his days with the mute girl Xue'er.

Taiwan's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1986. In the story, the kindly and very efficient Chinese settlers are distrusted by the natives until they show that they are able and willing to cure an outbreak of plague. The daughter of the native Taiwanese chief has her own peace plan for the region, which involves finding the most eligible Chinese bachelor and marrying him.

A loose youth passes the time freely until he comes across a young, female broadcaster who works at a radio station.