Yang Li Kuo's 'Dull Ice Flower' series picks up eight Taiwanese classics for US-UK release as London-based distributor Radiance.

Lyon, France - London-based Radiance Films has acquired eight classic Taiwanese films from the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), including works by acclaimed directors Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, for theatrical and home entertainment release in 2027. Hou's “A Time to Live […]

Radiance's 2027 UK release slate includes remastered classics by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang and Chang Yi as Taiwanese remake cinema finds a new generation of fans.

LYON, France — London-based Radiance Films has acquired eight classic Taiwanese films from the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), including works by acclaimed directors Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, for theatrical and home entertainment release in 2027.

The deal, unveiled Thursday at the Lyon International Classics Film Market (MIFC), includes Ho Ho's A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1985) and Dust in the Wind (1986), along with three films by Tsai: Rebels of the Neon God (1992), Vive L'Amour (1994) (1994). RELATED STORIES Hillary Clinton co-hosts James Murdoch's Vox Media podcast on the 2026 midterm elections with Cara Swisher.

It also includes In Our Time (1982), a landmark anthology of Taiwan's New Cinema movement, Chang Yi's Kui-Mei, A Woman (1985) and Yang Li-ku's The Dull Ice Flower (1989). The latter will be released in both the UK and US, while the other seven titles are UK purchases only. Popular in Variety

Radiance plans separate releases and compilations, including a collection of Taiwanese New Wave and Tsai's three films.

For Radiance founder Francesco Simoni, the acquisitions are the culmination of years of efforts to secure films that are largely unavailable in the UK. After unsuccessful attempts to license titles from Taiwan, he finally contacted TFAI at this year's Berlin Film Festival. The deal came about at Cannes, where he saw "The Dull Ice Flower" shown at Cannes Classics and decided to include it in the package.

"I would argue that Ho Hsiao Hsien and Edward Yang are some of the most important filmmakers in world cinema," Simoni told Variety. There are many people who are somewhat aware of them but are not aware of where they started. I think it's always important to understand where filmmakers are coming from."

Radiance is planning a wide theatrical release ahead of its home entertainment release, with a screening at London's Garden Cinema later this month to drum up interest in the film, with further screenings and potential streaming deals.

Simoni believes the films will particularly resonate with younger moviegoers, citing the enthusiastic response Radiance has received to similar classics such as Noboru Nakamura's The Shape of Night at theater screenings and film clubs, as well as through its online community. He told Variety that most of the interest seems to come from people in their twenties and thirties.

This is a group of people who have just started their cinematic journey and are discovering and coming to us for the first time.

The acquisitions come as the remastered film legacy finds new audiences and business opportunities through theatrical distribution. Retrospectives and the collector-driven home entertainment market – a key theme at this year's MIFC, where Taiwan is in the spotlight.

In a panel titled "Taiwanese Cinematic Heritage: Preserving the Past, Shaping the Future," TFAI President Arthur Chu and Programmer Howard Yang, along with Radiance Production Manager Elena Lasik and French Film Distribution Co-Founder Vincent Paul Boncourt, discussed the Institute's restructuring and international distribution strategies. This discussion was moderated by Wafa German, an expert on Taiwanese cinema.

TFAI has restored 110 titles since 2013 and now completes about 12 restorations per year. Its initial international strategy focused on acclaimed filmmakers, with 4K remakes of "Dragon Inn" and "Touch of Zen" at Cannes Classics in 2014 and 2015. Now the agency is increasingly turning its attention to lesser-known films.

"These famous and A-list filmmakers are like a springboard for us to engage with major festivals and markets and network with key players in the industry," said TFAI's Chu.

Audience demand also plays an important role: a public poll in 2023 identified "The Boring Ice Flower" as one of Taiwan's most popular classics, leading to its remake and subsequent screening at Cannes.

Paul Boncourt cited Carlotta's Edward Young retrospective as an example of how restored classics can find new commercial life. In 2025, Carlotta brought Yang's previously unreleased films "A Confucius" Confusion and "Mahjong" to French theaters as part of a wider revision, followed by a DVD and Blu-ray release.

Again, this past screening attracted a new generation of moviegoers, and German recalled long lines of young audiences waiting to see Young's films.

For Paul Boncourt, an important step is to ensure that conservation leads to access. He argued that remakes needed more than festival screenings: they needed distributors willing to invest in screenings, promotions, and home entertainment releases to give them a sustainable commercial life.

But getting such films back into production can be a long and complicated process. Rights ownership, lost material and music licenses remain significant hurdles, with negotiations sometimes lasting years.

TFAI representatives acknowledged these challenges, especially for older productions where tracking rights holders can be difficult. The institute has also sought new partnerships with filmmakers, producers and sponsors to finance remakes and facilitate international distribution.

Beyond the business opportunities, the panel emphasized the cultural importance of Taiwan's film heritage as the island celebrates the 70th anniversary of Taiwanese-language cinema.

More than 1,200 Taiwanese-language films were produced between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, but only about 200 are believed to have survived. Often overshadowed by Mandarin-language productions promoted during the Nationalist era, these films offer a glimpse into Taiwanese society and identity long before the rise of the New Wave.

"Especially because of the influence of international geopolitics, I think Taiwan is increasingly being noticed on the world stage," Chu said. "This is the best way for us to promote our heritage through classic Taiwanese-language cinema."