Taiwanese master Tsai Ming-liang quietly contemplates life in the mountains, reflecting on chairs, cats and portraits of his muse, Lee Kang-sheng.

Commissioned by France’s Centre Pompidou, this beautiful, achingly poetic new short from Tsai (Vive L’Amour, MIFF 2022; Goodbye, Dragon Inn, MIFF 2004) finds the director in an abandoned mountain home and in dialogue with time, memory and the self. Ensconced in that idyllic environment, he contemplates his indelible connection with various old chairs that have inspired his paintings, and reflects on portraits of Lee as well as his Days (MIFF 2021) co-star Anong Houngheuangsy.