A new prize structure will be introduced at this year’s Pitching showcase at Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF).
This year’s Pitching section features 70 projects, 44 of which are in the Project section, reflecting the continued growth of cross-border collaboration within Asia and beyond.
The event runs from November 6-9 and spans feature film, series, animation, documentary, and diverse formats such as literary works and comics.
A major change this year sees each of the four main pitching sessions – features, series, animation and documentary – offer a prize worth at least $30,000, replacing the previous structure centred on a single top award across all sessions. Together, the sponsored awards bring the total prize pool to more than NT10m (~$307,000).
The titles highlighted here spotlight five debut features from across the selection.
Build To Order (Sing-Japan-Tai)
Feature Film
Dir. Huang Junxiang
Prod. Macarius Chia, Chiu Ping Yu
Prodco. Clover Films, Throne Inc, Dropkick in association with Matlock Stone, JT Audio House, WWWIND Studio, Karavan Pictures
Budget $950,000 ($750,000 raised)
This black comedy follows two property agents hoping to trade up from their public housing flat to a private condo. With the new home outside their financial means, the couple are met with an indecent but tempting proposal from a wealthy individual: $10,000 for said patron to suck the wife’s toes for an hour. Fuelled by desperation, they accept the offer, only to soon find themselves giving away more than they’d bargained for.
For his debut feature, Huang says he drew on his own experience in the Singaporean property market.
“When I was looking to buy my first home, every property agent I met warned me that making the wrong decision would cost me financially in the long haul,” says Huang. “In an expensive society like Singapore, I feel that many decisions are made rationally, at the cost of our identities and our relationships.”
Drawing cinematic inspiration from Park Chan-wook, David Fincher and Brian De Palma, Huang hopes the film will strike a balance between entertaining genre moments and making audiences reflect on the choices they make in the name of bettering their lives.
Huang has worked as a producer for many years, including with 12 Storeys director Eric Khoo on films such as In The Room and Ramen Shop, and Apprentice director Boo Junfeng on his upcoming drama Trinity.
Selected for the upcoming Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, Build To Order recently completed principal photography.
Contact: Macarius Chia
Parachute Kids (Tai-US)
Documentary
Dir. S. Leo Chiang
Prod. Hui-Chen Huang, Yvonne Welbon
Prodco. Walking Iris Media, Your Sister Films
Budget $510,000 ($290,000 raised)
Following Oscar-nominated short Island In Between, Chiang makes his feature debut with a deeply personal documentary drawing on his own experience as a “parachute kid,” a term to describe children sent by their parents in East Asia to live independently in the US.
At 15, Chiang was sent from Taiwan to San Jose with his two younger siblings. Shot three decades later, this first-person documentary follows his journey to reconcile with his father and repair the fractured bonds with his siblings.
“The film asks what home, family, and belonging mean, and how we reconcile sacrifice with the hope of a better future,” says Chiang. “I hope audiences come away with a more nuanced picture of immigration than a story of either hardship or success, and that other former parachute kids will feel seen.”
He has assembled a 110-minute rough cut of interviews, narration, and archival material including personal footage of Chiang’s teen years. Scripted and stylised sequences, including a thread featuring Chinese Buddhist goddess Guanyin as a guardian figure, are also planned for filming and inclusion in the completed film.
The film is produced by Your Sister Films, founded by producer and director Huang Hui-chen who won the Teddy Award at Berlinale in 2017 for her debut feature documentary Small Talk.
Set for completion by the end of 2027, the film has also been selected for the upcoming Golden Horse Film Project Promotion.
Contact: Walking Iris Media
Slaughterground (Indo)
Feature Film: From IP to Cinema Selection
Dir. Sidharta Tata
Prods. Ajish Dibyo, Pramudya Andika
Co-Prods. Annisa Adjam, Sunny Gho
Prodco. Aftersun Creative
Budget $846,000
Adapted from Iskandar Salim’s Indonesian comic Locust, this genre project follows a mother and her stepson trapped in cursed territory where every rainfall unleashes a deadly swarm of locusts controlled by a vengeful spirit. With the next rainfall due, they must escape while confronting both the supernatural and human dangers that surround them.
To adapt the comic into a feature, the story and characters have been reworked while weaving Indonesia’s political turmoil of 1966 into this tale of a family’s fight for survival.
The film’s creature design and supernatural elements will draw inspiration from genre films such as A Quiet Place and Exhuma, combining tension and an unsettling atmosphere with Indonesian folklore and cultural elements.
“At its heart, the film is about a family fighting to survive against forces beyond their control,” says Tata. “For me, the spectacle is only meaningful when there is something human at stake. By combining large-scale horror sequences with the intimate struggle of a family fighting to survive, I hope to create a cinematic experience that feels rooted in Indonesia while connecting with audiences around the world.”
Tata is known for genre-driven films. His debut feature, supernatural folk horror Waktu Maghrib, recorded more than 2.4 million admissions at the Indonesian box office in 2023.
Produced by Jakarta-based Aftersun Creative and now in production, the film was introduced at 2026 Marché du Film in Cannes, where it was selected as part of the Cannes Fantastic 7 showcase. It has also been selected for the JAFF Project Market, which takes place at the end of November in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Contact: Annisa Adjam, Aftersun Creative
UFO Club (Japan)
Feature Film
Dir. Milena Kaneko
Prods. Daiju Koide, Miyuki Fukuma
Prodco. K2 Pictures
Budget $1m ($800,000 raised)
Set in a rural Japanese high school community where old superstitions and local legends linger, this fantasy coming-of-age film follows Hina, who struggles with a sense of alienation and loneliness, failing to understand and be understood by others. Hoping to expand her world, she turns her gaze to the stars in search of UFOs, eventually meeting a boy who claims to be an alien. As their worlds collide, Hina begins to experience the emotions of others, discovering the small beauties of life she had never noticed before.
Attempting to blend the rural atmosphere of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist with the sci-fi wonder of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, the film looks at contemporary society through the eyes of young people still finding their place in the world.
Kaneko previously worked as a creative assistant on Hirokazu Koreeda’s Netflix series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House and Cannes features Monster and A Pale View of Hills.
The film is produced by Daiju Koide of K2 Pictures and Miyuki Fukuma of Bunbuku, both long-time collaborators of Koreeda. Their credits together and individually include The Truth, Broker and Look Back, Koreeda’s latest film, which premiered at Venice.
Contact: Yoshino Shigemitsu, K2 Pictures
Wilderness of the Greenriver (Fr)
Animation
Dir. Ellis Kayin Chan
Prods. Stella Ramsden, Nicolas de Rosanbo
Prodco. Eddy Cinema
Budget $4.3m
Set in a world where technology allows humans to selectively erase painful memories, a man with no recollection of his past discovers that one of his patients is his long-lost sister. This opens the door to his forgotten childhood, forcing him to choose between preserving order and embracing his humanity.
For Barcelona-based Hongkonger Ellis Kayin Chan, the story is deeply personal, shaped by grief following the death of his sister.
“Pain is not the enemy of being human — forgetting is,” he says. “The poignant reunion of this loving brother and sister against the odds gives a message of hope, for their deep bond allows Arin to transcend his condition and embrace a humanist vision for the future.”
Created using digital 2D animation, the film will feature rich, painterly backgrounds inspired by contemporary modernist buildings in Europe, softened by abundant vegetation and greenery.
Chan’s co-directed animated short Monsoon Blue won best animated short at the Golden Horse Film Festival in 2023.
The film is produced by Eddy Cinéma, whose recent feature Iron Boy, directed by Louis Clichy, won the Un Certain Regard special jury prize at this year’s Cannes.
Currently at script stage, Wilderness Of The Greenriver won the grand prize at last year’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion and was selected for the Mifa Pitches at this year’s Annecy.
Contact: Stella Ramsden, Eddy Cinema
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