The film begins with the dim lights of an old theater closed long ago. An inspiration to Tsai Mingliang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn, this theater is possibly where the director’s world of film began. Symbolic of the Taiwanese new wave, Tsai Ming-liang was born and raised in Malaysia. He returns home and looks for the theater where he once began his dreams of film. It’s not only the theater, however, that seems to be the home of his films in his hometown. This different approach by Tsai Ming-liang, who has already broadened his turf from film to theater to prop art, is perhaps his effort to extend his childhood experiences into film. He has faith that communication with the audience is not made just by the film itself, but through the complete experience provided by the elements of location and moments therein. Past Present connects with Tsai Ming-liang’s present in which he tries to bring to the fore the nostalgic past through film, and also tells us about the passion he has for his vivid films. (CHO Young-jung)