Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien (born 1947) is a Taiwanese director and a central figure of the Taiwan New Wave. After early work in commercial cinema, he developed a contemplative style built on long takes, fixed-frame compositions, and elliptical narratives, often drawing on memories of growing up in postwar Taiwan and on Chinese historical material. His patient observational approach reframed Taiwanese cinema internationally in the late 1980s and influenced a generation of directors across East Asia. His acclaimed films include A City of Sadness, The Puppetmaster, Flowers of Shanghai, Three Times, and The Assassin.