"goodbye south, goodbye", hou's twelfth film, was set in rural taiwan and concerned the lives of taipei petty criminals played by giong lim, shih-huang chen, vicky wei, jack kao, annie shizukah inoh (the latter two actors who hou reunited with from "good men, good women" (1995)). the film was nominated for the palme d'or at the 1996 cannes film festival and also won a best original film song award (for composer/lyricist/performer giong lim and his song "self-destruction") at the 1996 golden horse film festival and awards.