Lee Hsing

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.

Circus of Sheng Changfu

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The story is based on a play written by famous playwright Yao Yiwei whose work takes adaptation from the novel in Sung Dynasty. The film describes Xiuxiu, a daughter of an aristocrat,who falls in love with her cousin who is a talented sculptor. Nevertheless they experience all kinds of difficulties during the process of trying to get married.

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.

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

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.

Peigang, his family's only son for three generations running, is to be executed on account of larceny, but not without the intervention of his grandmother.

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

A Taiwanese opera (koa-á-hì) tiayupian by Lee Hsing

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.

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.

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.

Taiwanese movie

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.

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.

Brother Wang and Brother Liu Pass Five Difficult Traps

In a tiny fishing hamlet on an island off the coast of Taiwan, men find their balls are swelling. The entire village gets involved in diagnosis and treatment.

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.

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.

The Warring States Period was a time of regional conflict as warlords sought to annex their neighbors and consolidate power across China. Set amidst this backdrop, "Fire Bulls" is an epic tale of the survival of a people and the heroism of one man. As the Yen army gathers on the outskirts of Chi seeking to gobble up its neighbor, the people of Chi are faced with the fall of the capital.

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.

Taiwanese romance film.

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.

A talented woman painter falls in love with a gallery owner, who is married. His son falls in love with her niece at first sight. The painter gets along well with the gallery owner's grown son and daughter. In order to keep their family united, his son and daughter ask her to withdraw from her love relationship, and she promises to do so to save the gallery owner's marriage.

Meng Yun Lao, a college student originally from Hong Kong, stays at a family friend’s house and falls in love with their daughter, Hai Ni. Hai Ni is born with a serious heart defect. When she is notified that Yun Lao is heading back to Hong Kong, she suffers depression and dies. Yun Lao leads his life in despair until he meets a pop singer Hsiao Mei, who looks exactly like Hai Ni.

An orphaned girl in a poverty-stricken neighborhood is adopted by a kindly neighbor. He struggles to support her honestly, despite opportunities to participate in a neighbor’s scurrilous get-rich-quick schemes. Invoking the pain of Chinese exiles living in Taiwan, or missing relatives still in China, the touching film posits an in-between historical period during which it is crucial for displaced residents to maintain virtue as a bedrock of identity.

Zhou Lan-Ping, who wrote the renowned Mandarin pop song ‘Green Island Serenade’ and the score of the acclaimed Chinese musical film The Love Eterne, is one of the most celebrated Chinese composers in modern times. Through old friends and colleagues’ recollection, commentaries from experts in the fields and academic researches, together with historical photos and audio-visual materials, this documentary explores this musician’s life and music and pays tribute to his contribution to the Chinese film and pop industries.

A film by Lee Hsing

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.

A detective writer and his girlfriend are involved in a mysterious case when he watches at his neighbor's house.

The "Lost Generation" is an obsolete term against the Land of the Brave, in which the younger generation awakens to the fact that their community and their nation are in need of their dedication for brighter prospects. Permeated with enchanting music and campus folk songs, the film will surely animate lofty sentiments of movie-goers.

Dr. Huang runs a clinic. One day, Mr. Chen moves to next door and opens a Chinese medicine clinic. In the beginning, the two families get along fine and Chen’s son and Huang’s daughter like each other. But when Mrs. Chen proposes the marriage to Dr. Huang, the conflicts between the families explode.

The story of the Opium War between China, in the waning days of the Qing Dynasty, and the British Empire, in the 1830s, and the subsequent takeover of Hong Kong by Britain; through the eyes of the key figures, fiercely nationalistic Lin Zexu, and opportunistic British naval diplomat Charles Elliot.