MIFF presents
Back Home
Hui Jia
When
Sat 8 Aug – Mon 17 Aug 2026
Let loose in Laos without a crew, master auteur Tsai Ming-liang delivers a quiet, contemplative meditation on place and belonging.
Slow-cinema legend Tsai Ming-liang accompanies actor Anong Houngheuangsy (Days, MIFF 2021) back to his hometown, a rural Lao village situated amid rice paddies. Armed with only a Leica camera and a Canon camcorder, Tsai undertakes a minimalist meditation on the power of place. More drawn to the surrounding environment than the reunion between Anong and his family, Tsai’s ever-patient camera gazes on dogs, cats, cows, goats and house plants. For the Buddhist filmmaker, these lives are just as interesting as those of family members, farmers selling their wares at markets and stonemasons carving statues of Buddha.
Tsai calls this film, shot over two weeks, a work of “handcrafted cinema”. Premiering at Venice, Back Home offers another still, quiet study for those attuned to Tsai’s filmmaking approach, and particularly the entries in his ongoing Walking series (Abiding Nowhere, MIFF 2021; Journey to the West, MIFF 2014). Tsai first graced Melbourne screens with his sumptuous Vive l’amour in 1995; each new outing for cinema’s Zen master is a humble treasure to behold.
Content: Melbourne International Film Festival
Tsai’s works reward those who are observant, curious and patient. … To make the most of his films, we must take the initiative to engage with the material and seek our own answers.
Join our newsletter
Be the first to hear about upcoming exhibitions, films, events and special offers.