Filmart 2024: buzz drama series from Taiwan

The Cleaner
Dir Chen Da-pu
Duration 10 x 46mins
Rhydian Vaughan (Net­flix series Light The Night) and Vivian Sung (Memory Eclipse) star in a drama centring on a former underworld crime boss who now runs a company that cleans up death scenes, which requires him and his assistant to visit accident sites and witness the many facets of human life. Things becomes complicated when his daughter returns to their hometown. The production received 2022 Domestic TV Programme Production Fund support from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture.
Contact Claire Liu, Fertile Entertainment

Fragrance Of The First Flower (season two)
Dir Wang Yi-Ling
Duration 12 x 25mins
Building on the success of the first season, this lesbian drama will return with an expanded second season that doubles the number of episodes to 12 and features original cast members Lin Zai Zai and Lyan Cheng. The new season sees the two protagonists having parted ways, until fate brings them back together. The Golden Bell award-winning first season sold to South Korea, which included a theatrical release, and played at more than 10 international film festivals, including Tokyo. The drama is produced by GagaOOLala, a global LGBTQ+ and BL (boys’ love) streaming platform launched in 2017 by Taiwan-based Portico Media.
Contact Katie Chou, Portico Media

M Mission
Dir Wu Chien Hsin
Duration 10 x 45mins
Billed as Taiwan’s first female-centric action comedy, the series revolves around a former secret service agent, now a housewife. She is forced to make a comeback and team up with two seemingly ordinary mothers when her spy husband is abducted by a Thai crime syndicate. The cast features Sonia Sui, Pets Tseng, Sunny Wang and Yo Yang. It is produced by LouLou Film Studio, which was founded by producer Hsu Kuo Lun and director Kao Pin-Chuan (The Gangs, The Oscars And The Walking Dead).
Contact Eric Chou, LouLou Film Studio

Three Tears In Borneo
Dir Sun Chieh-heng
Duration 5 x 60mins
This historical war drama is set to be the first Taiwanese series to run in the International Panorama competition of this month’s Series Mania, the largest TV festival in Europe. It follows three young brothers from Taiwan who are enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army to guard its prisoners of war in the tropical forests of Borneo. It is a poignant story about the horror of war and loss of innocence, giving a new perspective on the Second World War in Southeast Asia. It is co-produced by Unseen Film Studio and Sweet Tongue Production, with Inch Lin, director Sun and Phil Tang as producers.
Contact Public Television Service (PTS)

Trade War
Dir Hung Tzu-peng
Duration 7 x 45mins
This business-themed drama is set in the 1950s amid Taiwan’s most severe inflation in history. It is inspired by Lin Teng, a first-generation entrepreneur who navigates the uncertain sociopolitical situation to turn adversity into advantage. The cast includes Fu Meng-po, Lego Lee and Hayato Ichihara, with a rare mix of dialogue in Taiwanese Hokkien, Japanese and Mandarin. Since its launch on February 17, Trade War has topped the ratings for both TV and VoD drama series. Free-TV operator FTV and cable TV operator Sanli Channel broadcast the series, marking their first co-broadcast of the same title. It is also screening on Chunghwa Telecom’s IPTV service MOD.
Contact Wang Sin, Activator

Urban Horror
Dirs Li Jun-Hong, Chen Bao-Zhong, Huang Dan-Chi
Duration 34 episodes
This horror anthology series comprises 34 short episodes themed on the mysterious, the unexplained and the disturbed, and looks to ride the popularity of short-form video. The series plays out across six modern city scenes, and can be repackaged as six longer episodes. It features award-winning actors, pop stars and internet celebrities including Austin Lin (Marry My Dead Body), Ann Hsu (The Victims’ Game), Fu Meng-Po (Taiwan Crime Stories) and Esther Liu (Light The Night). A special version was premiered at Kaoshiung Film Festival last October and a theatrical release by Catchplay is scheduled in Taiwan for the summer.
Contact Haylie Chung, Screenworks Asia

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