Days (日子), a new film by Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), has been selected for the upcoming New York Film Festival, the festival’s organizers said on Thursday.
The festival, which runs from Sept. 17 to Oct. 11, released a statement announcing its lineup of 25 feature films from 19 countries.
Days follows the daily lives of two solitary men — played by Tsai’s long-time muse Lee Kang-sheng (李康生) and first-time actor Anong Houngheuangsy, a young Laotian immigrant to Thailand — whose lives converge in a brief romantic encounter, according to the festival Web site.
The film ranks among “the most cathartic” of Tsai’s works, and is “constructed with the director’s customary brilliance at visual composition and shot through with profound empathy,” the festival said.
Days premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where it received a Teddy Award, which honors films with an LGBT focus.
The film’s US premiere, scheduled in April at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of the crowd-size restrictions, the festival’s screenings would be held either in drive-in theaters or virtually, the statement said.
Following the announcement, Tsai on Facebook thanked the MoMA for allowing Days to premiere at the festival, adding that “each film has its own destiny.”
The noncompetitive New York Film Festival is held annually at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
In addition to between 20 and 30 feature-length films, the festival also includes documentaries, experimental movies and holds retrospectives.
Days is Tsai’s fifth film to be shown at the festival, following What Time is it There? in 2001, Goodbye, Dragon Inn in 2003, Stray Dogs in 2013 and Your Face in 2018.
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