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BIOGRAPHY

Kon Ichikawa
Eduard Yang was born in Shanghai (China) in 1947 but he grew up in Taipei, Taiwan. After studying engineering in Taiwan, he enrolled in the Electrical Engineering program at the University of Florida, receiving his Masters degree in 1974 while doing work with The Center for Informatics Research. Upon working in Seattle with microcomputers and Defense software, an encounter with a piece by Werner Herzog (Aguirre, Wrath of God) gave him inspiration to observe classics in world cinema and reignited his interest in Film. Yang eventually returned to Taiwan to write the script for and serve as a production aide on a Hong Kong TV Movie, The Winter of 1905 (1981). Although he returned to Taiwan to direct a number of television shows, his break came in 1982 with the direction and writing of the film short, Desires (1982).The short film is a rather poignant portrayal of a young girl's experiences through puberty.

Yang created films analyzing and revealing the many themes of city and urban life. His first major piece was That Day On The Beach (1983), a modernist narrative reflecting on couples and family. He followed with the urban films Taipei Story (1984), a reflection on urban-Taiwan through a couple and The Terrorizer (1986), a complex multi-narrative tale. In Yang's brilliant A Brighter Summer Day (1991), a sprawling examination of teen gangs, societal clashes, the influence of American pop-culture and youth. He has followed with the satires A Confucian Confusion (1995), and Mahjong (1996), films that looked at the struggle between the modern and the traditional, the relationship between business and art, and how capitalistic greed may corrupt, influence, or effect art. It is, however, his most recent film, Yi Yi (2000), that is considered his magnum opus, an epic story about the Jian family seen through their different perspectives.

Eduard Yang was the first Taiwanese and second Chinese to win Best Director Award at Cannes (2000). Yang's filmmaking style looks at the uncertain future of modernizing Taiwan in an enlightening manner, and his vision is one of the most original operating in world cinema today.

FILMOGRAPHY

* Guang Yin de Gu Shi/ In our Time (1982) (director and writer)
* Hai Tan de Yi Tian/ That Day, on the Beach (1983) (director and writer)
* Dong Dong de Jia Qi (1984) (actor and composer)
* Qing Mei Zhu Ma/ Taipei Story (1985) (director and writer)
* Kong Bu Fen Zi/ The Terrorist (1986) (director and writer)
* Gu Ling Jie Shao Nian Sharen Shi Jian/ Brighter Summer Day (1991) (director)
* Ma Jiang/ Mahjong (1996) (director and writer)
* Ma Jiang/ Mahjong (1996) (director and writer)
* Chu Lian Wu Xian Touch/ First Love Unlimited (1997) (actor)
* Yi Yi/ A One and a Two (director, writer and actor)

RETROSPECTIVE


 IN OUR TIME
A CONFUCIAN CONFUSSION
MAHJONG