Tsai Ming-liang

Tsai Ming-liang (Chinese: 蔡明亮; pinyin: Cài Míngliàng) (born 27 October 1957) is a Malaysian Chinese filmmaker. He has written and directed 10 feature films and has also directed many short films and television films. Tsai is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese cinema. His films have been acclaimed worldwide and have won numerous film festival awards.

Early life

Tsai was born in Malaysia of Chinese ethnic background and spent his first 20 years of his life in Kuching, Sarawak, after which he moved to Taipei, Taiwan. This, he said, had "a huge impact on [his] mind and psyche," perhaps later mirrored in his films. "Even today," said Tsai, "I feel I belong neither to Taiwan nor to Malaysia. In a sense, I can go anywhere I want and fit in, but I never feel that sense of belonging."

Tsai graduated from the Drama and Cinema Department of the Chinese Culture University of Taiwan in 1982 and worked as a theatrical producer, screenwriter, and television director in Hong Kong. From 1989 to 1991, he directed several telefilms. Two of these, All the Corners of the World and Boys, starred his muse, Lee Kang-sheng.