as his fourth feature film, "the boys from fengkuei" (1983) featured the beginnings of what hou would later consider tenets of his cinematic style, which include more of a naturalistic style and focusing more on youth and provincial/rural life. the film starred now-director doze niu as ah-ching, as a member of a gang of young boys who have finished school in their island fishing village of fengkuei and spend most of their days fighting and drinking. they decide to go to the port city of kaohsiung to look for work, where ah-ching falls in love with a girlfriend of a neighbor. the film is also about how the teenagers face the realities of urban life as they come of age. the film won the golden montgolfiere award (tied with "wanderers of the desert" (1984)) at the 1984 nantes three continents festival. it was also nominated for best feature film, best director, best cinematography (kun hao chen), and best film editing (ching-song liao) awards at the 1984 golden horse film festival.