Contents
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Directing A City of Sadness and helping define Taiwan’s New Cinema.
A City of Sadness · The Puppetmaster
- Born
- 8 April 1947
- Birthplace
- Meixian, Guangdong, China
More people
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Taiwanese filmmaker known for long takes and intimate stories shaped by historical upheaval.
Early life
Migration
Moved with his family from mainland China to Taiwan as a young child.
Arts education
Studied at the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts before entering film production.
Career
- 1970s–early 1980s
Film apprenticeship
Worked in the industry before directing commercial features.
- 1980s–1990s
Taiwanese New Cinema
Developed a distinctive approach to family memory and national history.
- 2000s–2010s
International work
Directed films in Taiwan and abroad, including historical and contemporary stories.
Selected work
A City of Sadness
Explores a family’s experience of political violence in postwar Taiwan.
The Puppetmaster
Draws on the life and memories of puppeteer Li Tian-lu.
The Assassin
Reimagines martial-arts cinema through controlled movement and visual detail.
Beyond work
Collaboration
Worked repeatedly with writer Chu T’ien-wen and cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing.
Retirement
His family confirmed in 2023 that illness had ended his filmmaking career.
Sources & photo credit
Biography and references ↗Biography and contributions ↗Photo: JJ Georges. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
