- Born in Kuching, Malaysia, he graduated from the Drama and Cinema Department of the Chinese Cultural University of Taiwan and worked as a theatrical producer and TV director. His second feature film, Vive L'Amour (1994), won the Golden Lion (best picture) at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. His idiosyncratic oeuvre continues to enthrall audiences worldwide.
- IMDb mini biography by: L.H. Wong
- Long, fixed shots
- His characters frequently have difficulty communicating their emotions with others and with themselves.
- Rarely uses a traditional musical score in his films, with the exception of several 1930s Mandarin pop songs.
- Very little dialogue
- There are floods, leaks, and drafts of wind prominently featured in most of his work.
- Has never made a feature film (excluding TV films) that does not feature actor Kang-sheng Lee.
- Met Kang-sheng Lee, his on-screen alter ego, at a video-game arcade.
- His favorite film is François Truffaut's The 400 Blows (1959), featured in What Time Is It There? (2001), which also features Jean-Pierre Léaud in a cameo appearance.
- In 2003, was voted by UK newspaper The Guardian as #18 of the 40 Best Directors in the World.
- Retrospective at the 42nd Gijón International Film Festival, Spain.
- [on Kang-sheng Lee] When I found Lee Kang-sheng on the street, I invited him to be in my films. Since then, his perfect embodiment of an anti-actor has had a profound impact on my work. One day, to my shock, I realized I never wanted to move my camera away from his face, and it was then that I found the true reason for making films.
- I feel like I'm a citizen of the world, yet there's no single place that I can put my roots down and call home. I don't own anything. I'm not a homeowner. I've always rented and never stayed in one place for long. Almost every time I rent a place, I have some sort of water leakage or flooding.
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