The 2009 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (Nov 5-26) will open with local filmmaker Cheng Wen-tang’s Tears and Tian Zhuangzhuang’s Warrior And The Wolf.

The festival will close with Sundance and Toronto winner Precious, and the recipient of this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or, Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon.

Starring Tsai Chen-nan, Enno Cheng, Serena Fang and Tsai Jian-wei, Tears is a story about an old detective who takes on the case of a girl who dies of a drugs overdose, and accidentally reveals a hidden crime he committed years ago.

The festival will screen more than 200 films in eight categories. Other highlights include Berlin 2009 winner Katalin Varga, directed by Peter Strickland, Yasmin Ahmad’s Muallaf, in memory of the late Malaysian filmmaker, and Deepa Mehta’s Heaven On Earth.

The festival will feature six retrospective sections to showcase the works of actress Isabelle Huppert, Mark Lee Pin-bin (Hou Hsiao-hsien’s regular DoP), Bollywoood composer A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and three deceased filmmakers: Japan’s Jun Ichikawa, John Cassavetes and Taiwanese actress Wen Ying.

The festival will also screen a series of digitally re-mastered classic films including Easy Rider, Pierrot Le Fou, The Red Shoes and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 1989 Golden Lion winner Cityof Sadness.   

In previous years, ticket sales for the Golden Horse festival amounted to around $312,000 (NT$10m), accounting for around one third of the festival’s financial resources.

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