Japan Premiere

The Winter of 1905 is a dramatic retelling of the great Chinese artist and Buddhist monk Li Shutong’s time spent in Japan in 1905.

It is an era of political upheaval as Chinese nationalism is on the rise and Japan is engaged in the Russo-Japanese war. Li, the scion of a wealthy family in Shanghai, travels to Tokyo in search of a place where he can study art. There, he learns of Western art techniques and falls in love with a Japanese woman. However, he cannot escape political tensions due to commitments to friends (one of whom is played by Hong Kong director Tsui HARK).

This is the digitized version of a rarely screened debut work of director YU Wei-cheng. It was an independent production funded by friends and family and co-written by Edward YANG (who also appears in the role of a Japanese military officer) and it features the involvement of many other people who would go on to become involved in the Taiwanese New Wave. [Jason MAHER]