The sounds of Taiwan New Cinema

The Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to welcome Dr Andy Birtwistle for a talk on sound and modernity in Taiwanese cinema.

Drawing on a chapter from Andy's new book, Film Sound Modernism, published by the British Film Institute in 2025, this talk examines how the directors of Taiwan New Cinema in the 1980s transformed the sonic landscape of Taiwanese film.

Through close analyses of key works by Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang, Andy will explore explore how both filmmakers used their soundtracks to articulate creative responses to Taiwan’s rapid urbanisation and the emergence of a distinct Taiwanese identity during the 1980s. The talk traces how Hou and Yang developed contrasting sonic strategies in a period of intense experimentation in Taiwan cinema: Hou’s immersive, observational realism draws listeners into the textures of everyday life, while Yang’s use of audiovisual dissonance creates a distancing effect that resonates with themes of urban alienation and rapid social change.

By situating Taiwan New Cinema within a broader international history of modernist sound practices, the talk highlights how Taiwanese filmmakers forged innovative aesthetic approaches that challenged dominant cultural paradigms and expanded the expressive possibilities of the film soundtrack.