Partly based on screenwriter Chu T’ien-wen’s personal experience, Tung-tung and his sister Ting-ting are dropped off at their grandparents’ countryside home for the summer while their mother is recuperating at a hospital. The picturesque Miaoli is a playground for the siblings from Taipei but also offers a stark glimpse at the perplexing and callous lives of adults. After the warm reception of The Boys From Fengkuei, a young Hou Hsiao-hsien continued to develop his cinematic language in another coming-of-age through the eyes of city kids in a rural town. This quietly moving gem is said to be a spiritual precursor of Hayao’s Miyazaki’s Totoro. Fans of Taiwanese cinema will be delighted by director Edward Yang’s onscreen cameo.

Hou Hsiao-hsien (b. 1947, Guangdong) moved to Taiwan with his family soon after he was born. After completing his military service, he studied filmmaking at university. In 1973, Hou entered the film industry, serving as assistant director and in other positions. He made his directorial debut with Loveable You in 1981. Hou’s string of critical successes, including The Boys from Fengkuei (1983), A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985), and Dust in the Wind (1986), made him one of the most notable names in Taiwan New Cinema. The award-winning A City of Sadness (1989) and The Puppetmaster (1993) cemented his status as a leading figure in world cinema. Hou’s most recent film, The Assassin (2015), garnered awards at film festivals such as Cannes and the Golden Horse Awards.