Shu Qi Flows into Taipei: Hou Hsiao-Hsien Set to Begin Production on “Shulan River”

Thanks to the interwebs, we learn that master filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien is finally set to begin pre-production on the long gestating Shulan River. Unsurprisingly he is set to reteam with his Millennium Mambo, Three Times and The Assassin muse in actress Shu Qi – who’ll topline the project next month. And the good news comes in spades. The septuagenarian is already looking to the future and is setting up another feature project featuring Chang Chen — who was a memorable presence in Three Times. We’ll be looking for more info over the weeks to come and there’ll likely be some international sales update during the Cannes Film Festival. The current fantasy-esque logline says this takes place in modern-day Taipei, and focuses on a lonely river goddess whose waterways have now been covered by modern roadways. This is based on Hsieh Hai-meng’s novel.