"Flowers of Shanghai," by a Taiwanese director, Hou Hsiao-hsien, is a tale of sexual intrigue, set in a 19th-century Shanghai brothel, that is based on an 1894 novel.

The Cannes Film Festival saw the premiere of Flight of the Red Balloon (2007) by the widely acclaimed Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Squyres has had an extended collaboration with the Taiwanese director Ang Lee, having edited all but one of Lee's feature films.

Only British comic writer Tony Hawks and Taiwanese director Yeh Tien Lun attended from abroad.

In addition, Tsai Ming-liang, an oversea Chinese student from Malaysia, has gained the world's attention as a Taiwanese director.

His popularity soon began to grow, and due to the quality of his choreography and disciplined approach to his work, he again caught the eye of celebrated Taiwanese director, King Hu.

Crouching Tiger, for example, was directed by a Taiwanese American director (Ang Lee).

Taiwanese directors who emerged in the 1980's, like Hou Hsaio-hsien and Edward Yang, were fueled by the need to question the military-controlled, emigré Nationalist government's official version of history.

The film impressed Taiwanese directors with its "Hollywood way" of filmmaking.

Other famous Taiwanese directors include Tsai Ming-Liang, Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien.