Liao Pen-Jung

Liao Pen-Jung

Birth : 1949-01-01, Taiwan

History

Liao Pen-Jung (Chinese: 廖本榕) is a Taiwanese cinematographer. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Motion Pictures and Video at Kun Shan University of Technology/ Graduated from the Department of Humanities at the National Open University, he served as photographer for Central Motion Picture Corporation, in the board of the ROC Cinematography Association, and lecturer at Shih Hsin University. He was the winner of the Best Cinematography Award for The Missing and the Best Taiwan Film Professional of the Year at the 40th Golden Horse Awards.

Profile

Liao Pen-Jung

Movies

Tracing Her Shadow
Director of Photography
An old Chinese woman visits Japan to find her missing daughter whom she adopted in post-WWII China. Her granddaughter and a retired Japanese policeman join her search.
The Taste of Rice Flower
Director of Photography
Ye Nan, a mother belonging to the Dai minority, comes back to her village after living in the city. She wants to take care of the 13-year-old daughter she'd left behind, but the road to rebuilding their relationship is full of obstacles. One day her daughter is arrested for stealing money from the village's most sacred temple with her friend. Since people think the girls are possessed by the devil, they decide to save them by worshipping a stone Buddha in a 250-million-year-old karst cave during the Water-Sprinkling Festival.
Revenge of the Goat
Producer
A property assistant, an intern, a broke greengrocer and casino keeper, a gun in the black suitcase and a celebrity goat all take part in a play within a play. There's a lot going in at the inn. Not only a film crew checked in, somebody also wants to settle a score.
No No Sleep
Director of Photography
In 2015, Tsai Ming-Liang was once again invited by the Hong Kong International Film Festival to make the opening short film. This time, he selected Shibuya station in Tokyo as his main filming location and invited the famous Japanese actor Masanobu Ando to appear alongside Lee Kang-Sheng. They sleep separately at a capsule hotel and cleanse themselves at a public bath. Their fatigued bodies yearn for sleep but restless minds keep them for falling asleep. "No No Sleep" won the Best Director Award at the Taipei Film Festival.
Stray Dogs
Director of Photography
An alcoholic man and his two young children barely survive in Taipei. They cross paths with a lonely grocery clerk who might help them make a better life.
Walking on Water
Director of Photography
In 2013, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited by Malaysian filmmaker Tan Chui Mui to make a short film for an anthology film, "Letters from the South". Tsai Ming-Liang returned to his hometown in Kuching, Malaysia and made a "Walker" film at his childhood home, "Walking on Water". The seven-storey flat which contained the happy memories of his childhood is now occupied by strangers. His old neighbour, an older girl who used to bathe and feed him when he was a child, has also grown old.
No Form
Director of Photography
In 2011, Tsai Ming-Liang staged a play, "Only You", for Taiwan's National Theater and Concert Hall. In it, there was a powerfully moving scene where monk Xuanzang walked at an extremely slow pace for half an hour. Lamenting the transient nature of theater, Tsai decided to make a movie out of this slow-walking performance, "No Form", the first of his "Walker Films" series.
Face
Director of Photography
Hsiao-Kang, a Taiwanese film director, travels to the Louvre in Paris, France, to shoot a film that explores the Salomé myth.
Help Me, Eros
Director of Photography
Having lost all his money in the stock market, a depressed man falls in love with a woman over a suicide helpline.
It's a Dream
Director of Photography
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Cannes Film Festival invited around thirty filmmakers to create three-minute short films to compose the collective film Chacun son cinema. Tsai Ming-liang proposed a twinned piece with his feature Goodbye, Dragon Inn, an exploration of the movie theater as a public space and collective experience. Shortly after, Tsai put on this new version of the piece, twenty minutes longer, which was presented at the Venice Biennale.
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
Director of Photography
Rawang, an immigrant from Bangladesh living in awful conditions, takes pity on a Chinese man, Hsiao-kang, who is beaten up and left in the street. Rawang lovingly nurses him on a mattress he found. When he is almost healed, Hsiao-kang meets the waitress Chyi. His love for Rawang is put to the test.
The Song of Spirits
Director of Photography
City-slicker DJ Li Tong Zhe (Darren Chiu) heads to the mountain regions of central Taiwan to record sounds for a 921 earthquake memorial segment. Staying with a teacher in a Bunun village, he finds himself worlds away from the life he knows in Taipei. Tong Zhe meets A-Bu, a 10-year-old boy who lost his eyesight after the earthquake and keeps himself shut away from other people. A-Bu’s teacher Zu Wei (Janine Chang) is teaching him folk songs, hoping that music will open his voice and heart. While helping A-Bu and Zu Wei, Tong Zhe realizes what has been missing from his own life.
The Wayward Cloud
Director of Photography
Hsiao-Kang, now working as an adult movie actor, meets Shiang-chyi once again. Meanwhile, the city of Taipei faces a water shortage that makes the sales of watermelons skyrocket.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Director of Photography
On a dark and rainy night, a historic and regal Taipei cinema sees its final film: 1967 martial arts feature "Dragon Inn". As the film plays, the lives of the theater's various employees and patrons intersect, and two ghostly actors arrive to mourn the passing of an era.
The Missing
Director of Photography
A grandmother is looking for her grandson, a teenager for his grandfather.
The Skywalk Is Gone
Director of Photography
A young woman wandering around meets a young man going to a casting call for a pornographic film.
The Hole
Director of Photography
In the final days of the year 1999, almost everyone in Taiwan has died from a strange plague that ravished the island. As rain pours down relentlessly, a single man is stuck with an unfinished plumbing job and a hole in his floor. This results in a very odd relationship with the woman who lives below him.
The River
Director of Photography
A young man develops severe neck pain after swimming in a polluted river; his dysfunctional parents are unable to provide any relief for him or themselves.
Tropical Fish
Director of Photography
Young boy, Ah-Jiang, a school failure and day dreamer witnesses the kidnapping of a child. After being taken hostage by a corrupt family, he begins an unusual adventure away from home.
Vive L'Amour
Director of Photography
Three lonely young denizens of Taipei unknowingly share an apartment: Mei, a real estate agent who uses it for her sexual affairs; Ah-jung, her current lover; and Hsiao-kang, who's stolen the key and uses the apartment as a retreat.
Green Green Leaves of Home
Director of Photography
Rebels of the Neon God
Director of Photography
Defying his parents, disaffected youth Hsiao Kang drops out of the local cram school to head for the bright lights of downtown Taipei. He falls in with Ah Tze, a young hoodlum, and their relationship is a confused mixture of hero-worship and rivalry that soon leads to trouble.
Banana Paradise
Director of Photography
"Door Latch" and his friend followed the KMT army and moved to Taiwan in 1949. They conceal their real name and get many trials and afflictions to adapt the circumstances in that special situation. Yueh-Shiang is a classic traditional woman from China country. For requiting the graciousness of being saved by Door Latch, she becomes Door Latch's wife. She suffers hardship to raise and teach their children without any complains. Door Latch wasn't well educated and can hardly read. However, he uses Yueh-Shiang's late husband's name and diploma to get himself a job. Even though there are a lot of embarrassing situations and he suffers many difficulties, Door Latch survives. Door Latch also looks after his old pal Lee Der-Sherng when Lee loses his mind. However, the KMT government released the restriction to visit Mainland China. They are able to visit their parents and relatives there. Their son finds "their" parents, but bigger secrets will unfold.
The Digger The Suona Player
Director of Photography
The Kinmen Bombs
Director of Photography
After a devastating artillery attack on the island of Kinmen, commander Chi Liang-chen and his battery prepare a counter-attack.
A Flower in the Storm
Director of Photography
Financial woes causes a young woman to turn to the oldest profession for work. Her sacrificial deeds to raise her siblings are left unappreciated by her younger sister.
Wells up in My Heart
Director of Photography
A new secretary for the Hsiao family met an office boy on her first day at work. She was puzzled when he asked if she would marry into Hsiao family. Upon understanding the fact that all the Hsiao secretaries had married the Hsiao sons, she assertively assured that she would not follow the trend, they started dating and soon fall in love. Then one day an angry man stormed into the office and revealed the true identity of the office boy. He was actually the youngest son of the Hsiao family…
My Cape of Many Dreams
Director of Photography
An old granny missed her beloved grand-daughter who was away in America for many years. Little did she know that her grand-daughter had met a mishap and died long ago. In view not to hurt the old granny, her grandson found a girl who was his sister look-a-like to feign her...
Cloud, Stay With Me
Director of Photography
A pretty nurse falls for her wheelchair-bound patient, and love triumphs over a series of misunderstandings caused by jealousy.