Directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Yao Hongyi and produced by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Hometown Boy looks into the practice of the accomplished Chinese painter. In this film, Liu returns to his hometown of Jincheng in Liaoning Province to spend three months painting his family and childhood friends while documenting the experience through diary entries, sketches and
photographs. The film offers a panoramic view of Liu’s Jincheng memories, beginning with when he left as an aspiring 17-yearold art student. Jincheng was a bustling little town that revolved around the paper mill at the time. Three decades later, the physical, social, and economic landscape has changed drastically. Years of environmental degradation have taken their toll.
