Before the Bright Day

In 1996, while Taiwan is preparing to hold its first presidential election by direct ballot, China launches large-scale military exercises intended to influence the outcome. Fifteen-year-old Chou, a sensitive teenager, harbours thoughts of rebellion. He is secretly in love with a girl. Due to the Taiwan Strait crisis, the dark events surrounding everyday life cause a stock market crash, jeopardize his father's property development prospects and mean the atmosphere at home is just as stifling. Chou secretly accepts a job at a billiard hall without telling his family; there, he becomes friends with delinquents and starts smoking, skipping school and withdrawing into himself, which only deepens the gap between him and his father. That year, characterized by the threat of war, electoral upheavals and time slipping by unnoticed, gently shapes their days and future. - 'Through this film, I aimed at bringing back the memories of the generation born in the 1980s. They experienced authoritarianism while firmly believing in the beauty of freedom.' Tsao Shih-han