Golden Horse FPP

Source: Golden Horse FPP

‘On The Seesaw’ director Nell Wang receives the FPP Grand Prize

On The Seesaw, the upcoming feature debut of Taiwan’s Nell Wang, has won the NT$1m ($30,700) grand prize at the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) project market.

The top award was handed out by a jury comprising Chen Yu-hsun, Yeo Yann Yann and Jacky Pang. The project, which also received the Judicial Creative Film Award, follows two mental health patients who fall in love and get married, only to face challenges testing their bond to the limits. Executive producers are Shen Ko-shang and Anne Wu.

Aoharu Point, the latest project from Café·Waiting·Love director Chiang Chin-lin, won a hat-trick of prizes, including the Dawning Jade Entertainment Film Award, Hakka Creative Award and More Future Award.

The adaptation of a Japanese novel of the same name is about a fantastical campus romance. Japan’s Kadokawa Corporation is among the backers. It is executive produced by Gavin Lin and written by Hermes Lu, the creative team behind massive hit More Than Blue.

Some 17 awards were presented at the closing ceremony of FPP, which ran from November 18-20 at the Grand Hyatt Taipei. A record 1,740 meetings were scheduled for a lineup of 63 projects, including 38 in-development feature projects, 13 work-in-progress features and 12 in-development series.

International projects were also recognised. Wake Me Up When The Mourning Ends, a Malaysia-Hong Kong project directed by Lau Kok-rui, Golden Horse Awards’ best new director winner for Best New Director for The Sunny Side of the Street, took the More Future Award.

One Day In The Future, a work-in-progress documentary about a lesbian couple from mainland China by directors Jiang Xuannian and Ji Hang, won the Activator Market Potential Award; and Survival Guide For Doomsday Kids, a UK-Taiwan-Hong Kong series project by Hong Kong director Kiwi Chow and the team behind Beyond The Dream, received the Catchplay International Spotlight Award.

Separately, Hong Kong director Oliver Chan’s Montages Of A Modern Motherhood, which premiered at Busan’s News Currents competition and Tokyo’s Women’s Empowerment strand, won the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award, while Happyend by Japan-US director Neo Sora received the Observation Missions for Asian Cinema Award at the ongoing Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.