Running Time: 106 mins / Production Year: 2007~2008 / Theatrical Release: Taiwan, 6 Jun 2008 / Screens: 8
1996, during the time of the tragic Taiwan baseball scandal, the story follows Yen and Tang and their gang of friends through the last year of their high school life. From chasing girls after school, midnight skinny dipping at the school pool to supporting their favorite baseball team, the China Times Eagles, they did everything together, with Yen being their leader.
One night, because of an accident and the carelessness of the other boys, Yen falls into a coma and everything starts falling apart. With guilt hovering over the other boys, conflicts surface, but Yen is not there to resolve them. Tang, not wanting to lose another friend, tries his best to become Yen, but to no avail, it only resulted in more aggression and hatred. Like the scandalous China Times Eagles’ final fate, their friendship ended, never to return.
On the day of graduation, Tang chooses not to attend the ceremony, but to fulfill the promise he made with Yen, which is to go down south together to seek out their Baseball hero. Upon reaching the baseball field, he finds the place empty. Empty as it is, Tang still finds the answer he came looking for…
CREW & CAST
CREW
Producers: ERIC TSANG, YEH JUFENG
Associate Producers: CHO LI, GARY TSANG
Production Coordinator: HUANG JUO-HSUAN
Scriptwriters: HENRY TSAI, TOM SHU-YU LIN
Director of Photography: FISHER YU
Gaffer: HARKER CHU
Production Designer: LEE TIEN-CHUE
Costume Designer: SUN HUI-MEI
Editor: CHEN HSIAO-DONG
Sound: CHOU CHENG, FRANK CHENG
Music: BLAIRE KO
CAST
RHYDIAN VAUGHAN as Yen
CHANG CHIEH as Tang
JENNIFER CHU as Yun
WANG BO-CHIEH as Hsing
LIN CHI-TAI as Chao
SHENG WEI-NIAN as Bo-chu
CHIOU YI-CHENG as Sheng
CHI PEI-HUI as Pei-pei
LEE YUE-CHENG as Han
ERIC TSANG as Yen’s Father
LU YI-CHING as the School Drillmaster
DIRECTOR
TOM SHU-YU LIN
Born in 1976, earned his BFA in film from Shih-Hsin University and his MFA in film from California Institute of the Arts.
Tom is one of the few promising new directors emerging from Taiwan. Since he lived in the Unites States when he was a child, he grew up learning both Chinese and English, giving him the ability to communicate fluently in both languages. His films all carry a distinctive mix of cultural backgrounds.
His works are often filled with dramatic tension, yet within the story, explores the most basic problems of humanity, creating believable characters that touch the heart.
DIR’S STATEMENT
When one reaches a certain age, facing the harsh reality and the pressures of society, one starts looking back to the best of times. And usually, those best of times are the pure and innocent days of growing up; we call it youth-hood. Everyone has a memory of youth-hood, and my memories belong with the gang of boys I called friends, back in high school.
Honor and loyalty among high school friends are a great deal of importance to me; and for me, what defines a gang is, in not just one or two, but a whole bunch of boys, gathered together. When a high school boy lacks recognition of himself, often, he needs a gang to belong to, and it is the group that defines him. When the group is scattered, he is forced to face himself, to recognize who he really is. What “WINDS OF SEPTEMBER” is aiming to achieve, is to make a manly, but at the same time boyish coming of age tale, a different kind of high school youth film, a cruel and atrocious reality in which the boys must courageously face in order to grow. In the film, there will be warmth, friendship, happiness, and there will be conflicts, jealousy, and betrayal. Yet this is all just a part of youth. In the end, how are the young supposed to face the future, who are they to look up to, and why does innocence have to end?
AWARDS
*Selected for Hong Kong Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
*Best Film for Asia New Talent Awards at the Shanghai Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
*Jury Special Award & Best New Talent & Best Screenplay & Media Choice Award at the Taipei Film Festival, 2008.
*Selected for Melbourne Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
*Selected for Toronto Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
*Selected for the A WINDOW ON ASIAN CINEMA section at the Busan Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
*Selected for the WINDS OF ASIA section at the Tokyo Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
*Selected for Hawaii Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
*Best Screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards, 2008.
*Official selection at the Thessalniki Int’l Film Festival, 2008.
TRAILER
