Director Tsai Ming-liang honored at Czech documentary film festival

Prague, Nov. 3 (CNA) Taiwan-based Malaysian film director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) was honored with an award on Saturday at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival held annually in the Czech Republic.

The festival, held between Oct. 25 and Nov. 3 this year, presented the art house director with the Contribution to World Cinema Award.

The festival also worked with Taiwan's Ministry of Culture and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague to organize the "Tsai Ming-liang retrospective" event, screening five of Tsai's shorts in the Czech city of Jihlava.

They are "A Conversation with God" (與神對話), "Light" (光), "Madame Butterfly" (蝴蝶夫人), "Moonlight on the River" (河上的月光), and "Walker" (行者).

The event also screened Tsai's two features, "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" (不散) and "Where" (何處), and his virtual reality piece "The Deserted: VR" (家在蘭若寺).

With Tsai attending the festival in person, the Taiwan-based film director also hosted a masterclass at which he discussed the philosophy behind his creative process and his unique view of movies.

Tsai also explored the relationship between cinemas and museums at the event.

Tsai said he strives to break down the boundary between cinema and museums, and that he thinks cinemas should not only play feature films but also exhibit various kinds of visual art.

That ideal is what keeps him going and drives the creation of his "odd" pieces as a means to pursue what he sees as images in their purest form.

In an interview, the festival's director Marek Hovorka said that he sees Tsai as "an interesting film director."

Hovorka said Tsai's works traverse the fine line between films and visual art, as the director treads steadfastly down the path of movies while also creating art pieces for many contemporary museums.

In addition, Tsai's style of featuring marginalized characters to highlight the kindness of humanity also makes the director a representative figure of Taiwan's New Wave Cinema movement, he said.

On co-organizing the event, Taiwan's representative to the Czech Republic Ke Liang-ruey (柯良叡) said his office was happy to work with a festival as prestigious as Ji.hlava to invite Tsai to the Czech Republic.

Ke said he aims to promote Taiwan's rich cinematic culture in the Czech Republic and more Central European locations. He hopes to cultivate cinematic collaborations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in the future, he added.

The Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival was first launched in 1997 as a small scale event before its evolution into one of the most prestigious celebrations of movies in Central Europe. A total of 90,000 attendees participated in the event last year, watching almost 400 films.

The 2024 edition of the event also marked Tsai's first visit to the Czech Republic in 20 years, as his first visit was in 2004 where he took home the Lifetime Achievement Award at the nation's Febiofest.