EFM’s Taiwanese films include the story of an underdog baseball team, a supernatural comedy and the latest from a Berlinale award-winner.
Deadline
Dir. Kiwi Chow
This suspense drama is set at an elite high school where academic excellence rules. When a note about an impending suicide is found a week before the high-pressure final exam, the school is turned upside down, afraid of triggering a scandal. Allison Lin, Jimmy Liu and Hong Kong’s Anthony Wong head the cast, with Lin Peiyi and Frankie Chung as producers. Hong Kong director Chow’s credits include 2019’s Beyond The Dream and 2021 documentary Revolution Of Our Times, which premiered in Cannes. Deadline was shot in Taiwan, and made its international premiere at Rotterdam.
Contact: Benchmark Films
A Ghost In The Market
Dir. Chin Chia-hua
This supernatural film combines elements of monsters and zombies to reinterpret the strength of marginalised women. The ghost of the title is a timid woman who is beaten to death by her abusive gambler husband, but comes back to life to dutifully resume her daily chores, even after her body has begun to decay. It is produced by Citizen’s Pictures and Geppetto Film Studio. Producer Eva Wang collaborated with Chin on his 2023 feature debut Trouble Girl, which received several nominations at the Golden Horse Awards, winning best actress for Audrey Lin.
Contact: Aurora Lee, Creative Century Entertainment
Hero! Hito!
Dir. Lungnan Isak Fangas
This sports documentary tracks the remarkable journey of baseball team Chinese Taipei over 11 years, from being an underdog in the 2013 World Baseball Classic to clinching a historic world championship at the Premier12 tournament in 2024. The film smashed several box-office records — including the highest opening day ever (on January 1) for a documentary, with takings of $274,000 (nt$8.64m) — and is the second biggest Taiwanese documentary of all time with $2.6m (nt$82m). Activator is both the local distributor and international sales agent. Director Fangas focuses on documentary storytelling and previous features include 2004’s Ocean Fever and 2019’s Ga-Tau Chang.
Contact: Activator
Kiss Me My Ghost Friend
Dir. Chen Ta-pu
This supernatural comedy follows a young director who finds his biggest obstacle in reviving a forgotten traditional Taiwanese opera performance at a crumbling theatre is not the leaky roof, but the sharp-tongued ghost of a diva actress. They somehow form a bond to pull the show together until the final curtain call. The cast includes Shao Yu-wei, Chu Meng-hsuan and Megan Lai, with Tsai Yi-chin as producer. It was released in Taiwan on January 23. Director Chen began his career as a cinematographer, winning best cinematography at the Taipei Film Awards in 2020 for We Are Champions. His directing credits include 2017’s Turn Around and 2021’s Grit.
Contact: MM Square Film
Lomá
Dir. Huang Hui-chen
Some 18 years in the making, director Huang’s second feature documentary explores identity politics and the cost of idealism. The protagonist is a journalist who quits his job to join an Indigenous tribe’s struggle for their land, until he is labelled an outsider by the people he fought for once victory is won. Still in production, it is one of five projects selected for the Berlinale’s Taiwan spotlight pitching session. Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien serves as executive producer, following their collaboration on Huang’s feature documentary debut Small Talk, which won the Teddy Award in Berlin for best documentary in 2017.
Contact: Your Sister Films
The Rope Curse 4: Kuntilanak
Dir. Liao Shih-han
Director Liao reteams with producer Jeff Tsou on the fourth instalment of the successful Rope Curse horror franchise. This chapter is set outside Taiwan for the first time, having filmed mostly in Indonesia with a Taiwanese and Indonesian cast including Wilson Hsu, Vera Chen, Chen Bor-Jeng and Ferry Salim. The standalone story follows a young man who returns his mother’s ashes from Taiwan to Indonesia after she falls victim to a mysterious curse, only to be plunged into supernatural violence wrought by the vengeful Kuntilanak spirit. The film is scheduled to open in Taiwan this August. The Rope Curse trilogy has grossed $6.6m (nt$208.1m), with the third instalment being the second-biggest local film of 2023.
Contact: Wowing Entertainment Group
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