Biography
Lee Kang-sheng (Chinese: 李康生; Pinyin: Lǐ Kāngshēng; b. 1968 in Taipei, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese actor, film director, and screenwriter. He has appeared in all of Tsai Ming-liang's theatrical feature films. Lee's own directorial efforts include The Missing (2003) and Help Me Eros (2007).
Known For
Complete Filmography

Blue Sun Palace
2025
as Cheung
A sudden loss catalyzes an unlikely bond between two migrants in the Chinese community of Queens. Navigating lives far from home and the painstaking l...

Stranger Eyes
2024
as Lao Wu
After the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple receives strange videos and realizes someone has been filming their daily li...

Black Ox
2024
In the Meiji Period, in the 19th century Japan, transitioning towards modernization, BLACK OX explores the relationship between man and ox, inspired b...

Sonata of Wave
2024
as Dongbin
Dong Bin has opened a surfing shop by the sea where Xiao Fang started working. The young man, however, seems to be on the run from himself, not being ...

Abiding Nowhere
2024
The walker with the shaved head and dressed in a red robe is barefoot. He walks slowly but determinedly through the forest, over stones and grassland....

Everything Is Unknown
2023
as Hua Qi
While he was in Macau, Pan Yiming unexpectedly receives a will from his father. They haven't seen each other in 30 years, still father left Pan Yiming...

Absence
2023
as Han Jiangyu
After ten years in prison, Han Jiangyu returns to Hainan Island. Housing construction is booming, his childhood friend is now rich. Searching for trac...

Lost in Forest
2023
as Sheng
Asheng, once a gang member of the Zhongshan District, was sent to jail for 12 years after saving his friend Shaou. He is released and returns to Linse...

Lost in Forest
2023
Executive Producer
Asheng, once a gang member of the Zhongshan District, was sent to jail for 12 years after saving his friend Shaou. He is released and returns to Linse...

Making-of du tournage de Tsai Ming-Liang au Centre Pompidou
2022

Where
2022
as Monk
The ninth opus of his Walker Films series, which was shot at Centre Pompidou.

Fantasy · World
2022
as Tang Shicheng
A cold, hard-nosed lawyer, Zhang, discovers that his past client, Tang, is involved in yet another case of sexual assault. Thirteen years ago, Zhang w...

The Wind Will Say
2022
Chen’s daughter is returning from the UK after her university graduation. On the weekend of her return, Chen accidentally learns her secret when they ...

Hotel Iris
2022
Somewhere on the coast of Taiwan is Hotel Iris, a mouldering seaside establishment run by a cold and thrifty Japanese woman (Nahana) and her lonely ha...

Wandering
2021
This short by Tsai Ming-liang, completed in 2021, was filmed at "the Dune" in Yilan, Taiwan, where the eight films in his Walker series were being sho...

Come and Go
2021
as Xiao Kang
Tourists, foreigners and outcasts converge on the streets of Osaka in this sprawling ensemble drama by Japan-based, Malaysia-born filmmaker Lim Kah Wa...

Grit
2021
as Chief Liu
Croc is a young gangster who goes back to work for his former boss at a city councilor’s office after his release from jail. Croc’s latest task is to ...

Absence
2021
as Han Jiangyu
Short film directed by Lang Wu. In 2021, Absence was nominated for Best Short Film at the 74th Cannes. After ten years in prison, Han Jiangyu returns...

Days
2021
as Kang
Kang lives alone in a big house, Non in a small apartment in town. They meet, and then part, their days flowing on as before.

Abyssal Spider
2020
as Ship's Captain
Rescue member Ajie and his companions rescued a reef tanker in the storm, but met the captain who was stubborn and unwilling to give up. At the same t...

The Rope Curse 2
2020
as Huo-ge
Jia-min, who was born sensitive to the paranormal, tries to summon "Yi-A-Gu" with two streamers. Huo-ge helps Jia-min subdue the spirit when the situa...

Your Face
2018
as Self
Composed of a series of portrait shots of mostly anonymous individuals, filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang's digital experiment turns the human face into a sub...

Sand
2018
as Self
In 2018, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited by the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration to make this film, his eighth in the "Walker...

The Deserted
2018
Tsai Ming-Liang, the artisan of cinematography approaches virtual reality, pushing the boundaries of VR film. The Deserted stripped away traditional f...

Single Belief
2016
Ximending was once the trendiest area in Taipei, and it's also where Kang-sheng Lee's first film was shot. Twenty years ago, director Ming-liang Tsai ...

Single Belief
2016
Director
Ximending was once the trendiest area in Taipei, and it's also where Kang-sheng Lee's first film was shot. Twenty years ago, director Ming-liang Tsai ...

One & Zero
2016
Tsai Ming-liang has been living in an abandoned house in the mountains since 2014. Around the same time, his persona, actor Lee Kang-sheng, wanted to ...

Autumn Days
2016
A documentary about Nogami Teruyo, who for nearly half a century stood by Akira Kurosawa as a screenwriting collaborator, a script supervisor, and a c...

The Tenants Downstairs
2016
as Guo Li
A loafer inherits an apartment block and lets out the place to a group of tenants, including a lusty gymnastics teacher, a geeky college student, a si...
Xiao Kang
2015
as Xiao Kang
Viennale-Trailer 2015: Two-minute homage to Lee Kang-sheng, Xiao Kang.

Afternoon
2015
as Self
Lush jungle and a building in ruins are the ideal stage for a film-confession that defies storytelling and goes beyond conversation on cinema. Tsai Mi...

Sashimi
2015
as Chen-ming
A Japanese porno actor, HIV positive, commits suicide. Natsumi, a popular porno actress who has often worked with him, learns that she is also HIV pos...

No No Sleep
2015
as Monk
In 2015, Tsai Ming-Liang was once again invited by the Hong Kong International Film Festival to make the opening short film. This time, he selected Sh...

Journey to the West
2014
as Monk
In 2014, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited to make a film for the MarseilleFID, Marseille International Film Festival. Since he was not familiar with Marsei...

Stray Dogs
2014
as Father
An alcoholic man and his two young children barely survive in Taipei. They cross paths with a lonely grocery clerk who might help them make a better l...

Stray Dogs
2014
Producer
An alcoholic man and his two young children barely survive in Taipei. They cross paths with a lonely grocery clerk who might help them make a better l...
Walking on Water
2013
In 2013, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited by Malaysian filmmaker Tan Chui Mui to make a short film for an anthology film, "Letters from the South". Tsai Mi...

Letters from the South
2013
as Xiao Kang (segment "Walking on Water")
Six filmmakers present six short films about the experiences of Chinese immigrants. Shot across Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar, the antholo...

Past Present
2013
as Self
A contemplative trip down memory lane with one of the leading voices of the Second New Wave of Taiwanese Cinema. Saw Tiong Guan clearly established a ...

Walker
2012
as Monk
In 2012, the Hong Kong International Film Festival invited Tsai Ming-Ling to make the opening short film. Having grown up with Hong Kong's popular cul...

Diamond Sutra
2012
In 2012, Taiwanese architects Michael Lin and Liao Wei-li invited Tsai Ming-Liang to create moving visuals for their exhibit at the Venise Architectur...

Sleepwalk
2012
A continuation of Tsai Ming-Liang's Walker series, featuring Lee Kang-Sheng as a barefoot monk who walks very slowly.

No Form
2012
In 2011, Tsai Ming-Liang staged a play, "Only You", for Taiwan's National Theater and Concert Hall. In it, there was a powerfully moving scene where m...

Beautiful 2012
2012
A collection of shorts by four East Asian directors: Ann Hui on a male-to-female sex change, Kim Tae-yong on an emotional imposture, Gu Changwei on pr...

Transformation
2012
as Himself
In order to recreate a photograph, two actors undergo a transformation.

Taipei 24H
2009
Director, Writer
Taipei 24H divides 24 hours in Taipei into 8 shorts. It opens with Cheng Fen-fen's upbeat and comedic "Share the Morning", and ends with Lee Kang-shen...

Face
2009
as Kang / The Director
Hsiao-Kang, a Taiwanese film director, travels to the Louvre in Paris, France, to shoot a film that explores the Salomé myth.
Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water
2009
as Self / Hsiao Kang - the director / St. John Baptist
The title of the François Lunel film is the Buddhist proverb concluding by: "all is but illusion". His movie draws the Tsai Ming-Liang's face during t...

Sleeping on Dark Waters
2008
A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Ming-liang Tsai’s I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone.

To Each His Own Cinema
2007
as (segment: It’s A Dream)
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmak...

Help Me, Eros
2007
as Ah Jie
Having lost all his money in the stock market, a depressed man falls in love with a woman over a suicide helpline.

Help Me, Eros
2007
Director, Writer
Having lost all his money in the stock market, a depressed man falls in love with a woman over a suicide helpline.

It's a Dream
2007
A man remembers bonding with his family and the small audience at a theatre in Kuala Lumpur.

I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
2006
as Hsiao-Kang
Rawang, an immigrant from Bangladesh living in awful conditions, takes pity on a Chinese man, Hsiao-kang, who is beaten up and left in the street. Raw...

The Wayward Cloud
2005
as Taiwanese Porn Actor
Hsiao-Kang, now working as an adult movie actor, meets Shiang-chyi once again. Meanwhile, the city of Taipei faces a water shortage that makes the sal...

My Stinking Kid
2004
Director, Screenplay
Drama about a young boy who suffers from a rare deficiency disease. The medicine he has to take every day has the side effect of making him reek of am...

Goodbye, Dragon Inn
2003
as Projectionist
On a dark and rainy night, a historic and regal Taipei cinema sees its final film: 1967 martial arts feature "Dragon Inn".

The Missing
2003
Director, Writer
A grandmother is looking for her grandson, a teenager for his grandfather.

The Skywalk Is Gone
2002
as Hsiao-Kang
A young woman wandering around meets a young man going to a casting call for a pornographic film.

Looking for Tsai
2002
as Himself
Human shortcomings in the pursuit of an idol. Two film school students travel to interview Taiwanese film director Tsai Ming-liang and actor Lee Kang-...

A Way We Go
2002
as 阿輝
For the past forty years, Ah Long has headed up a traditional Chinese musical troupe. But times are changing, and the troupe members leaving one by on...

What Time Is It There?
2001
as Hsiao-Kang
A street vendor with a grim home-life forges a connection with a young woman on her way to Paris.

What Time Is It There?
2001
Producer
A street vendor with a grim home-life forges a connection with a young woman on her way to Paris.

A Conversation with God
2001
Assistant Director
The original subject intended for this film was a spiritual medium who was unbelievably accurate. Tsai Ming-liang jumped on his 50cc motorbike, equipp...
The Moon is Gone
2001
Tsai Ming-liang directed in 2001 this episode of the popular Taiwanese TV children show Fruit Pie (《水果冰淇淋》), although it rarely appears on Tsai’s film...

Sunny Doll
2000
Hsin-He, a high school sophomore who can get along just fine on her own, lives with her father. At school, the days pass slowly by, until one day, she...

Ordinary Heroes
1999
as Lee Siu Tung
Ordinary Heroes is a narration about the life stories of an advocate, a prostitute, a social worker, and a priest during the social movements from 197...

The Hole
1999
as The Man Upstairs
In the final days of the year 1999, almost everyone in Taiwan has died from a strange plague that ravished the island. As rain pours down relentlessly...

The River
1997
as Hsiao-Kang
A young man develops severe neck pain after swimming in a polluted river for a movie shoot, but nobody can provide him any relief.

Sweet Degeneration
1997
as Chun-sheng
With a singular voice that distinguishes him from his New Taiwan Cinema contemporaries, Lin Cheng-sheng adds to his brief, but already remarkable, fil...

A Drifting Life
1996
as Ku-cheng
After his wife dies during childbirth, Ku-cheng leaves his children behind in their rural village while he finds work on a construction site in the ci...

Vive L'Amour
1995
as Hsiao-kang
Three lonely young denizens of Taipei unknowingly share an apartment: May, a real estate agent who uses it for her sexual affairs; Ah-jung, her curren...

My New Friends
1995
Tsai interrupted his pre-production for The River to make this pioneering documentary for Taiwan's nascent AIDS-awareness campaign. Ignoring instructi...

Rebels of the Neon God
1994
as Hsiao-kang
In Taipei, revenge and love twist the paths of wayward youths.

Boys
1991
A junior-high student bullies and blackmails a younger boy, then receives the same treatment at the hands of some older students.

Sichuan Culinary Chronicles: In Four Chapters
N/A
The film continues to blend myths, legends, literature and folktales to further expand his narrative of history and weird tales. The story, set in Sic...