DAYS / RIZI / 日子
Directed by Tsai Ming-liangTaiwan · 2020 · 127'00
Born and raised in Kuching, Malaysia, Tsai Ming-liang (1957) is the son of Chinese parents who were farmers and operated a noodle stall in Kuching. Tsai was raised mainly by his maternal grandparents from the age of three; his grandparents, who were film buffs, took Tsai to the cinema every night. Often watching two films each night, Tsai was introduced to popular Hong Kong, mainland Chinese, Malay, Indian and American cinemas from an early age. At the age of 20, Tsai went to Taiwan and enrolled in Taipei’s Chinese Culture University, majoring in Dramatic Art. After graduation, Tsai wrote and directed several plays, including one he starred in, all dealing with issues of loneliness and contemporary society, which became a lasting theme in his career. His films Vive L’Amour (1994), The River (1997), The Wayward Cloud (2005), and Stray Dogs (2013) have successively won, respectively, the Golden Lion Prize at the Venice Film Festival, the Grand Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, the Silver Bear Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, and the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival. He has been the recipient of five FIPRESCI Prizes, which are voted on by the International Federation of Film Critics. His first virtual reality film, The Home at Lan Re Temple (2017), was shortlisted for the VR competition at the 74th Venice Film Festival in 2017. During the last decade or so, his work has extended from feature-length works to short films and installations, such as It’s a Dream (2007), Erotic Space (2010), The Theater in the Boiler Room (2011) and the Walker series (to date, seven short films made between 2012 and 2015).
― Originally screened on August 30th 2021 at Cafe Pamenar, as a Toronto premiere ―