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Hou Hsiao-Hsien (simplified Chinese: 侯孝贤; traditional Chinese: 侯孝賢; pinyin: Hóu Xiàoxián; Wade–Giles: Hou Hsiao-hsien) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. A Hakka, Hou Hsiao-Hsien was born in Mei County, Guangdong province in 1947. He and his family fled the Chinese Civil War to Taiwan the following year. Hou was educated at the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts. Hou generally makes rigorously minimalist dramas dealing with the upheavals of the Taiwanese (and occasionally larger Chinese)... MORE

Hou Hsiao-Hsien (simplified Chinese: 侯孝贤; traditional Chinese: 侯孝賢; pinyin: Hóu Xiàoxián; Wade–Giles: Hou Hsiao-hsien) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. A Hakka, Hou Hsiao-Hsien was born in Mei County, Guangdong province in 1947. He and his family fled the Chinese Civil War to Taiwan the following year. Hou was educated at the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts. Hou generally makes rigorously minimalist dramas dealing with the upheavals of the Taiwanese (and occasionally larger Chinese) history of the past century by viewing its impacts on individuals or small groups of characters. A City of Sadness (1989), for example, portrays a family caught in conflicts between the local Taiwanese and the newly arrived Chinese Nationalist government after World War II. It was groundbreaking for broaching this long-taboo subject and became a major success despite its seemingly uncommercial nature. His storytelling is elliptical and his style marked by extreme long takes with minimal camera movement but intricate choreography of actors and space within the frame. He uses extensive improvisation to arrive at the final LESS