Famed screenplay writer and director Wu Nien-jen has been hailed as the greatest storyteller in Taiwan. Wu talked not only about movies, the topic he knows best, but told stories: his own, those of miners growing up in Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule, those of Taiwanese female factory workers in the 1960s, etc. He also talked about what he had learned from life: ‘When I look back on my life now, I see that the greatest frustration, the most distressing moment, the most devastating change that made me feel so hopeless were in fact pivotal in forcing me to change direction.’

Wu is also an actor, writer and advertiser. When asked which role he found most fulfilling, he said, ‘I am proudest being a father…. As a creative person, I seriously lack confidence. Whenever I finish an essay or a film, I would say: it’s so lousy…. The only role I feel I’m quite good at is being a father. I get along very well with my son.’