Acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien has retired and stopped work on planned feature On The Shulan River, according to a statement from his family.
The 76-year-old director had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease prior to work beginning on what was to be his next film but his condition worsened after contracting Covid-19, said the statement.
Hou is known as a pioneer of the Taiwanese New Wave in the early 1980s and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1989 with A City Of Sadness. His last film as director was The Assassin in 2015, for which he received the best director award at Cannes. Further notable works included A Time To Live, A Time To Die, which won the Fipresci prize at the Berlinale in 1986 and The Puppetmaster, which won the jury prize at Cannes in 1993.
In a statement (translated from Chinese), his family said his Alzheimer’s diagnosis “did not diminish his enthusiasm for movies, and his work continued as usual”.
Confirming that a bout of Covid-19 impacted his condition, the statement urged his friends and fans “do not be sad”.
“In the past, director Hou was devoted to his film work for many years and had no time to take care of his family life,” said the statement. “Therefore, although he is sick now… this period has allowed our family to re-establish closer intimacy. We sincerely ask everyone to give director Hou and his family the space to live peacefully.”
It added that his family-run company, Sinomovie, is still in operation and the business continues to operate, but that On The Shulan River would not continue production.
Hou was born in Mei County, in China’s Guangdong province, but his family fled to Taiwan to escape the Chinese civil war.
He graduated from the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts in 1972 and released his feature debut in 1980, Cute Girl (aka Lovable You).
Going on to win a string of awards at Berlin, Cannes and Venice, he was honoured with the Akira Kurosawa prize at Tokyo International Film Festival in 2005 and the Leopard of Honour at Locarno in 2007.
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