Batalha hosts Malaysian film-maker Tsai Ming-Liang

Tsai Ming-Liang, one of today's most acclaimed directors, was at the Batalha Centro de Cinema last Sunday for a talk about his work and career. He was accompanied by Lee Kang-Sheng, the actor with whom he has collaborated throughout his entire career.

The Malaysian film-maker was in Porto for the retrospective 'Tsai Ming-Liang, the Time of Desire' which ends today, the 28th, with the screening of 'Days', at 7:15 p.m.

Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the film marked Ming-Liang's return to fiction filmmaking after a seven-year gap.

Made with a small crew and budget, 'Days' follows two characters: Kang wanders around in a lonely urban landscape and seeks treatment in Hong Kong for a chronic illness; and Non, a young Laotian immigrant, works in Bangkok.

In parallel, an installed version of the film 'Afternoon' - a public exercise in complicity in which Tsai Ming-Liang exposes himself in the company of Lee Kang-Sheng - is available in Batalha's Foyer 2.

Running since January, the 'Tsai Ming-Liang, the Time of Desire' retrospective is one of the most watched programmes since the Batalha Centro de Cinema opened.