The history of world cinema teems with “new waves” that symbolized electrifying new directions – in technique, in the kinds of stories being told, and in the people doing the telling. In Taiwan, that New Wave revved up in the early Eighties with Edward Yang at the wheel. Austin Film Society’s new Essential Cinema presents a rare look at Yang’s filmography, which has grown in stature since his early death at 59 from colon cancer. Series kickoff Taipei Story (1985) stars Hou Hsiao-hsien, fellow titan of New Taiwanese Cinema, as a former star baseball player stuck in the past and at odds with his more modern-minded girlfriend, played by Tsai Chin, a pop singer who would become Yang’s first wife. – Kimberley Jones
Tue., March 19; Fri.-Sat., March 22-23
