Yen and Ai-Lee
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Polish premiereTheatrical Screenings
Kinomuzeum
Kinoteka 3
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Film description
A young woman, Yen, returns to her hometown in southern Taiwan after serving a prison sentence for killing her father, who for years physically and psychologically abused her mother, Ai-Lee. Ai-Lee now runs a small shop and has entered a new relationship in which she once again becomes a victim of domestic violence. Yen decides to leave home and start a new life in the city of Kaohsiung. There, she finds a job and enrols in acting classes as a way to work through her traumatic experiences. Yen’s decision also inspires Ai-Lee to make changes in her own life.
The film was inspired by the true story of a young man who killed his father in defence of his mother. It explores the issue of filial obedience, one of the key principles of Confucian thought, and serves as a portrait of the mother-daughter relationship in contemporary Taiwanese society. Before shooting began, director Tom Lin Shu-yu and actress Kimi Hsia, who plays Yen, conducted a series of interviews with former prisoners to learn about their process of reintegrating into normal life.
text:
Maja Korbecka
Tom Lin Shu-yu
Tom Shu-yu Lin was born in 1976 in Taipei. He attended primary school in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA, where his father was pursuing a PhD in American literature. After completing his undergraduate studies in Hsinchu, Taiwan, he earned a master’s degree in film production from the California College of the Arts. His directorial career began in 2008 with the semi-autobiographical film "Winds of September", which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. His second feature, "Starry Starry Night" (2011), was an adaptation of a book by acclaimed illustrator Jimmy Liao. His third film, "Zinnia Flower" (2015), received critical acclaim at the Busan International Film Festival and won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress. His professional and life partner is actress and producer Kimi Hsia, with whom he collaborated on "Yen and Ai-Lee".
1997 Xiu jue / The Olfactory System (short)
2002 Tiaosan xiaohai / Parachute Kids (short)
2005 Haixun jianbing / The Pain of Others (short)
2008 Jiu jiang feng / Winds of September
2011 Xingkong / Starry Starry Night
2015 Bairi gaobie / Zinnia Flower
2019 Xiwu huayuan / The Garden of Evening Mists
2024 Yen i Ai-Lee / Xiao Yan yu Wu Aili / Yen and Ai-Lee
