With the ongoing Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), which runs till November 11, under the banner of Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), Screen profiles six buzz titles from Taiwan that are due to open in local theatres or have their world premieres at the upcoming Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.
Big
Dir. Wei Te-sheng
The latest film from Taiwan’s most bankable director Wei (Cape No.7, Seediq Bale Part 1: Sun Flag) is a heartwarming drama about a group of children warriors who fight for their lives in a cancer ward at the hospital, while their families clash with one another but eventually find strength through mutual support. Umin Boya (Seediq Bale), Van Fan and Chie Tanaka, both from Cape No.7, head the ensemble cast. It is produced by Wei’s Storyage Pictures and executive produced by Hsu Kuo-Lun (Netflix’s hit series The Victims’ Game). A local release is scheduled for December 1 through distributor Hope Content Marketing.
Contact: Storyage Pictures
Breaking And Re-Entering
Dir. Leo Wang
Scheduled for a 2024 Chinese New Year release through Warner Bros Pictures Taiwan, this rare action heist comedy follows a group of bank robbers who attempt to pull off a reverse heist by putting the one billion dollars they’ve stolen back to the bank vault. Chen Bolin (Treat Or Trick) and Cecilia Choi (Detention) head the cast along with Frederick Lee, Kent Tsai and JC Lin. It is produced by Wow Momentum, a joint venture between Mandarin Vision and Full Power, with Yeh Jufeng and Alain Hao as producers. Breaking And Re-Entering is the second feature film of director Wang, following 2019’s The 9th Precinct.
Contact: Mandarin Vision
Fish Memories
Dir. Chen Hung-i
This romantic thriller centres on two men, 30 years of age apart, who meet in parallel universes and get tangled in each other’s lives until a gunshot puts a stop to their absurdity and debauchery. The cast includes Frederick Lee (Taiwan Crime Stories series) and newcomers Lavinia Chen and Hank Wang. The film has received a nomination for best cinematography at the upcoming Golden Horse Awards (November 25) for female DoP Yu Jing-pin who previously shot Derek Tsang’s Oscar-nominated Better Days. Director Chen’s credits include The Last Painting and As We Like it, both premiered in Rotterdam’s Big Screen competition.
Contact: Swallow Wings Films
Future Shock - The End of Eternity
Dir. Su Hui-yu
Inspired by American futurist Alvin Tofflerʼs 1970 book, Future Shock, contemporary art artist Su made a three-channel video short of the same name in 2019. Pursuing the creative concept of re-shooting, now Lee has directed a feature version told in 10 chapters about the endless road trip of the last survivor on Earth. This feature debut will have its world premiere at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, which starts on November 9. A trio of Su’s short films - Super Taboo, The Glamorous Boys of Tang and The Women’s Revenge – previously competed at Rotterdam’s Tiger short films competition.
Contact: Jing Moving Image
Out Of Nowhere
Dir. Julian Lee
With elements of fantasy and mystery, director Lee’s new film follows a passionate film lover who travels through time and space to fulfil his childhood dreams of making a horror film, only to find that the film company is soon to be bankrupt. The project will be showcased in the work-in-progress section of the upcoming Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) co-production platform (November 20-22). Lee has previously directed Cotton Fleece based on a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan.
Contact: Askafilm Production Vivian Chiang
To Meet to Forget
Dir. Shih Yu-lun
This documentary focuses on a death-row inmate who upon being acquitted at long last, wants to meet the child that he met 14 years ago when he was led by the police to pay respects to the child’s father at the morgue. The film will world premiere at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. Since 2014, director Shih has been working closely with Taiwan Innocence Project on making documentaries about the miscarriage of justice. His documentary feature debut Crossing’s End screened in Busan’s Wide Angle strand in 2021.
Contact: Shih Yu-lun
No comments yet