Berlin 2024: The buzz titles from Taiwan

Taiwan has started the year on a positive note, with both S Leo Chiang’s Island In Between and Sean Wang’s Nai Nai & Wai Po in the running for best documentary short at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Here in Berlin, Island In Between is one of several titles being showcased at EFM’s Taiwan Pavilion. More than 50 Taiwanese sales and acquisition executives will be in town to promote their slates and hunt the hottest titles. A further 20 Taiwanese filmmakers and cast will head to the Berlinale, including filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, who will host a masterclass and present Abiding Nowhere in Berlinale Special. 

Festival

Abiding Nowhere

Dir. Tsai Ming-liang
Playing in Berlinale Special, the 10th film in Tsai’s ‘Walker’ series follows the separate journeys of two lonely souls in Washington DC, played by Lee Kang-Sheng (again dressed as a Buddhist monk) and Lao actor Anong Houngheuangsy (Days). Malaysia-born Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai is a Berlinale favourite, having premiered three films in Competition: 1997’s The River, 2020’s Days and 2005’s The Wayward Cloud, which will screen again at this year’s festival in a 4K restored version.
Contact: Claude Wang, Homegreen Films 

Market 

Deep Quiet Room

Dir. Shen Ko-Shang
Ariel Lin (Be With Me), Joseph Chang (Netflix series The Victims’ Game) and Chin Shih-Chieh star in Shen’s narrative feature debut about a man who unravels the painful truth of his pregnant wife’s suicide. Arthur Chu, Sylvia Shih and Patrick Mao Huang are among the producers of this Taiwan-Italy-Poland collaboration. It will be presented at EFM during the Taiwan Spotlight pitching session before taking part in the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum work-in-progress programme at Filmart in March. Shen is an acclaimed documentarian whose works include 2012’s A Rolling Stone and 2018’s Love Talk. 
Contact: Brendan Huang, Flash Forward Entertainment

In Search Of A Mixed Identity

Dirs. Huang Ming-Cheng, Lien Chen-Hui
Huang again explores Taiwanese identity, following 2015’s Wansei Back Home, which was a Golden Horse best documentary nominee and a box-office success in Taiwan and Japan. Co-directed by Lien, documentary In Search Of A Mixed Identity centres on Thng Tek-chiong, an important historical figure in Taiwan who was born during the Japanese colonial era. The history of the Thng family reflects the pursuit of Taiwanese identity during those times, and serves as a cautionary tale for people living in Taiwan now.
Contact: Hope Content Marketing

Island In Between

Dir. S Leo Chiang
Nominated for best documentary short at the upcoming Oscars, Taiwan-born US filmmaker Chiang’s film explores the uneasy peace and uncertain future of Taiwan amid tensions with mainland China. The ‘island’ of the title refers to Kinmen, located just two miles off the coast of China. The film is produced by CNEX, Professor Jean May Tsiang Foundation and The New York Times’ Op-Docs. Chiang’s credits include Emmy-nominated Our Time Machine and Peabody-winning PBS series Asian Americans.
Contact: CNEX 

A Journey In Spring

Dirs. Peng Tzu-hui, Wang Ping-wen
Peng and Wang won San Sebastian’s Silver Shell for best director with this feature debut, which also won best performance for Yang Kuei-Mei and best screenplay at Singapore International Film Festival last December. Shot on 16mm, the family drama is about an old man who keeps his wife in a freezer after she dies, before starting a journey over one damp spring season to face his life regrets.
Contact: Diversion

Road’s End In Taiwan

Dir. Maria Nicollier
The first official Taiwan-Switzerland co-production is a road movie shot on location in Taiwan. It follows two half-brothers who overcome language and cultural barriers as they travel across the island to track down the missing heirs of their late father. The cast features Pierre-Antoine Dubey (Let Me Go) and Rhydian Vaughan (Monga). It is produced by Swiss director Nicollier’s Rec Production and Taiwan’s Serendipity Films, with Philippe Calame and Estela Valdivieso Chen as producers.
Contact: Estela Valdivieso Chen, Serendipity Films

Suffocating Love

Dir. Liao Ming-yi
Director Liao reunites with Austin Lin and Nikki Hsieh — the stars of his hit comedy I WeirDO — on this romantic fantasy, which is once again shot on iPhones. The story follows a man who falls in love with a control freak until another girl makes him realise love can be liberating. The cast also features rising star Chloe Xiang. Producer is Olive Ting from Third Man Entertainment.
Contact: Chang Sanling, Third Man Entertainment

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