Batalha Centro de Cinema dedicates retrospective to the director of "The Taste of Watermelon"

The work of Malaysian filmmaker Tsai Ming-Liang, director of “The Taste of Watermelon”, will be the subject of a retrospective at Batalha Centro de Cinema, in Porto, taking place from January 13th to February 28th.The “Tsai Ming” retrospective -Liang, Time of Desire” includes the director's works of fiction for cinema, as well as “a set of short and feature films that break down genre barriers”, in a total of 13 titles, as stated in the statement released today. Tsai Ming-Liang, who Batalha defines as “one of the biggest names in contemporary cinema”, was born in Malaysia into a Chinese family, studied in Taiwan where he began his career as a director, being associated with Tawain's New Cinema, a movement spearheaded by by filmmakers such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang.Distinguished at festivals such as Cannes and Venice, he is presented as a “master of contemplative cinema, author of a prolific filmography, which includes the famous 'The Taste of Watermelon'”.Tsai Ming -Liang distinguished himself from an early age “for his portraits of urban solitude, tinged with eroticism and desire, and for the long collaborations he established with a group of actors who, recurrently, play the same characters”, indicates the presentation of the retrospective. in the case of Lee Kang-Sheng, “one of the constants in his work, notable for his performance as penetrating as it is silent, in famously minimalist plots, set in desolate city spaces”. In 2013, the filmmaker announced that he would retire from directing narrative films , accentuating a line that was already developing. Since then, continues the Batalha statement, Tsai Ming-Liang has explored the possibilities of art and exhibition spaces in museums and galleries. “Visage”, from 2009, was the first film to be included in the Louvre Museum's collection. The break in narrative cinema would not, however, be definitive and in 2020 Tsai Ming-Liang returned to the big screen with the fiction feature film “Days”. These two films will be screened at Batalha. The retrospective also includes “Rebels of the Neon God” (1992), awarded at the festivals in Singapore, Tokyo and the Three Continents, in Nantes, “Vive l'amour” (1994), Golden Lion at the Venice Festival, “The River” (1997), Urso de Silver at the Berlin Festival, and “The Hole” (1998), winner of the Critics' Prize at Cannes. From the 2000s, “What Time Is It There?” (2001) distinguished in Berlin, which also had its premiere in Portugal, and “I Don't Want to Sleep Alone” (2006), 'CinemAvvenire' Prize, in Venice.”Cães errantes” (“Stray Dogs”, 2013), Special Grand Prize of the Jury in Venice, “Afternoon” (2015) and “Sand” (2018) are the other films scheduled for Batalha's retrospective, in addition to “Visage” and “Days”, which were part of the 2020 IndieLisboa Festival program. In 2008, the director created the installation “Erotic Space” for the Curtas Vila do Conde festival, which won the following year, in the fiction area, with “Madame Butterfly”.