What Time Is It There? begins with a mysterious encounter: the Chinese woman Shiang-chyi is planning to go to Paris and seeks a watch with two different dials that will show her the time from home. The young street vendor Hsiao-Kang (Lee Kang-sheng) happens to own such a watch. Although he initially refuses to sell it, his thoughts of Shiang-chyi become so intense that he starts setting all the clocks in Taipei to Parisian time in an attempt to feel closer to her. In Paris, Shiang-chyi experiences strange events as well, in this quiet film-poem about time, presence, and absence. Through the juxtaposition of "Taipei" and "Paris," a subtle humor emerges in cinematic interactions across geographical distances. The two main characters are also connected through their own references to Truffaut’s Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959). A film that, in its peculiar quiet way, hints at a harmonious connection that spans the globe (Walter Ruggle).

Loan of the film print with kind support of HfG Karlsruhe.

Children are observed secretly while watching a play. Attention is centred on a three-year-old on his first visit to a theatre performance. His face seems to reflect all that is to be expected in life: joy, fear, despair, fascination. The film is uncut, a role of 35-mm film. At the end of filming, the boy was ten minutes older, as is the viewer after the screening.