'Taipei Story' tonight at the Pickford

The next Masters of Asian Cinema film is Taipei Story, which screens at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb.13, at the Pickford Film Center, 1318 Bay St. in downtown Bellingham.

Edward Yang's second feature, Taipei Story, was written by and stars the great Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien. Hou plays a former baseball player whose loyalty to tradition and to friends and family threatens to derail his plans for the future with partner Chin (played by pop singer Tsai Chin).

Employing an understated visual style, Yang crafts a mournful meditation on a changing world and how connections from our past help and hinder us as we try to keep pace.

Each film in the Masters of Asian Cinema series begins with an introduction from select speakers including local professors, artists, and educators. Series curator and librarian from Western Washington University, Jeff Purdue, will introduce Taipei Story.

Co-sponsored by Western Libraries and the Pickford Film Center, the Masters of Asian Cinema series continues the rich tradition that began with the Masters of Japanese Cinema series, one of the Pickford's longest running and most popular series.

This year’s remaining film series lineup includes Maborosi, the first feature by Kore-eda Hirokazu, which will screen in March in a newly restored print.  Later in the spring will bring Taiwanese filmmaker Chen Kuo-fu’s 2001 The Personals.  And there will also be one more feature by Taiwanese director Edward Yang: his last feature, Yi Yi.