The 11th installment in Tsai Ming-liang’s ‘Walker’ series, Dust begins with a passage from the Diamond Sutra: “The Tathāgata (Thus-come One) has no place from whence he comes, and no place to go. Therefore he is called ‘Thus-come.’” This is both a bit of advice Tsai offers to the audience about to watch the series as well as a reminder to himself. A warning that you will end up losing track of the ‘Thus-come One’ before your eyes if you focus on Tsai’s cinematic style, capturing a monk in red robes, the extremely restrained movement of his slow steps against backdrops of places around the world, and the sudden closeups of faces, and follow the conventional interpretation of the series as an experience of time. Or perhaps it is his own resolution not to confine his films within such definitions. The title ‘Dust’ recalls another quote from the Diamond Sutra: “…dust is not really dust. Therefore it is called dust.” In other words, the ‘Walker’ series cannot be reduced to the definitions imposed upon it, and precisely because of that it can be called the ‘Walker’ series.
Tsai Ming-liang is a Malaysian-born Taiwanese filmmaker and artist. His major films include Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003), The Wayward Cloud (2005), and Days (2020). Since 2012, he has worked on the Walker series through various forms, including feature and short films, installations, and performances. The series explores time and bodily movement across different cities and spaces, and has been showcased at international film festivals and art museums. Set in San Sebastian, Spain, Dust is the eleventh installment in the Walker series and was selected for the non-competition section of the Venice Film Festival.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
