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Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang has unveiled “Dust,” the eleventh entry in his extended “Walker” series, at the Venice Film Festival before traveling to San Sebastian. The film features Lee Kang-sheng, Tsai’s longtime collaborator, traversing Spanish landscapes in the series’ signature slow-paced style. The monk-like figure, barefoot and robed in red, moves deliberately through San Sebastian’s distinctive locations, including the Peine del Viento sculpture and surrounding Basque countryside.
Tsai initiated the “Walker” project in 2012, inspired by a stage performance more than a decade prior. The series employs a deceptively simple concept: Lee’s methodical progression through various global cities, allowing viewers to experience each location’s unique atmosphere and character. According to the director, this approach represents a deliberate rejection of conventional filmmaking. “Slowness may simply be a method: it allows you to become quiet, to really look and to feel,” Tsai explained, describing the technique as fundamentally subversive.
The filmmaker emphasizes that his extended collaboration with Lee transcends formal experimentation. Over three decades of working together, Tsai has documented the actor’s physical transformation, capturing the passage of time itself. Supported by regional Basque government funding and multiple production companies, “Dust” continues Tsai’s exploration of cinema’s possibilities beyond narrative storytelling. The director positions the film as evidence of his ongoing creative evolution rather than artistic departure, noting that he has continuously pursued new cinematic expressions throughout his career.
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Originally reported by Variety →
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