hou's tenth film, and second film in his "taiwanese history trilogy" was "the puppetmaster" (1993), a sprawling half-documentary, half-narrative film hybrid that told the story of li tian-lu, the most celebrated puppeteer in taiwan. the film won the jury prize at the 1993 cannes film festival, where it was nominated for the palme d'or. the film was also another masterpiece listed in the 2012 british film institute sight & sound poll, with three directors and seven film critics declaring it as "one of the greatest films ever made."