An animated horror, psychological drama, gangster romance and “coming-of-old age” comedy are among the hottest upcoming titles in Taiwan.
* Features are selected for the work-in-progress section of Golden Horse Project Promotion (November 17-19)
A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts*
Dirs. Su Chun-hsu, Spencer Ooi
This animated horror anthology follows a phantom chef who hosts a banquet for the damned. Through four iconic dishes, four interconnected tales unfold over decades that see four debts pull the living into karmic reckoning. The Singapore-Taiwan-Malaysia-Ireland project, which is in production, won a prize at last year’s TCCF Pitching and has secured funding from TAICCA’s Creative Content Development Programme and from Singapore’s IMDA. Singapore-based Robot Playground Media’s Ervin Han, whose The Violinist won the top Cristal prize at Annecy this year, is executive producer and co-writer, while Mason Yao of Taiwan-based Xanthus Animation Studio is producer.
Contact: Gulshan David, Toonz Media Group
All Things Passing And Coming
Dir. Xiao Yuru
This documentary tracks the everyday lives of a group of elderly people living in cramped basement rooms converted from an old traditional market. Through long-term observation and close engagement, it captures a micro-community hidden from the bustling city above where the residents struggle with government inspections, declining health, poverty and isolation. The project has participated in various labs and markets such as TCCF Pitching, Docs by the Sea, Tokyo Docs and Doc Square at Busan’s ACFM. Taiwan-based Hong Kong producer Kathy Wong Kei-Yiu is producing. Director Xiao’s short We Live Underground won first prize at the 2023 New Taipei City Documentary Awards.
Contact: Good Things Film
Anthill
Dir. Liu Bang Yao
This psychological drama stars Roy Chiu (Man In Love, Girl) and Alice Ko (Someday Or One Day) as a married couple who are in financial trouble and purchase a bargain property, unaware that it is a trap involving dark forces. It is produced by veteran Yeh Jufeng (A Foggy Tale, Girl) and Wow Momentum, which was behind 2024’s Breaking And Re-entering, is the production company. Liu is an award-winning commercial director who made his feature debut with 2022’s Minxiong Haunted House. His 2010 animated short Deadline – made while studying at Savannah College of Art and Design – was selected for the Student Academy Awards.
Contact: Mandarin Vision
Grannies Heist
Dir. Hsieh Pei-Ju
Veterans Grace Guei, Wang Man-Chiao and Lu Yi-Ching star in this coming-of-old age comedy about three grandmothers who team up to steal back a prized crystal and reclaim their dignity despite aching joints and failing eyesight. Producers are Estela Valdivieso Chen and Hazel Wu, whose recent credits include Girlfriends. The film has received production grants from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture and the Taoyuan City Government. Hsieh’s 2019 feature debut Heavy Craving played at Busan while More Than Blue: The Series won best directing for a miniseries or television Film at the 2022 Golden Bell Awards. She also directed HBO Asia comedy series The Accidental Influencer.
Contact: Serendipity Films
The Last Hunter
Dir. Umin Boya
Set amid the Indigenous rights movement in 1990s Taiwan, this drama follows a young man of the Paiwan tribe who is an illegal hunter and an army deserter. Being hunted by a mountain patrol and a poacher, a fateful encounter with a sacred black bear forces them to reflect on their sense of belonging. The cast is led by musician Baobu Badulu, Rosen (Pierce) and newcomer Malivan Kawru. The film, which recently premiered at Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Film Festival, is backed by the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation and produced by acclaimed filmmaker Wei Te-Sheng (director of Warriors Of The Rainbow: Seediq Bale), who produced actor Umin’s 2014 directing feature debut Kano.
Contact: Storyage Pictures
Most Wanted
Dir. Chapman To
After making 2017 directorial debut Empty Hands, Hong Kong-born actor-turned-director To follows up with this gangster romance as his first made-in-Taiwan feature. Set in the 1980s, the story follows a notorious hitman who is finally putting down his gun for the sake of love, only to become embroiled in revenge and redemption. The cast includes Fandy Fan (We Are Champions), Patricia Lin and Akira Huang with a special appearance from Hong Kong’s Anthony Wong. Executive producer Cheng Hsin-Mei and producer Lin Shih-Ken are both behind series Zero Day Attack. It is set for release on February 4 for the Lunar New Year period in Taiwan.
Contact: Ina Taiwan Film Production Company
One More Good Day*
Dir. Natasha K. Sung
Johnny Kou and Grace Guei star in this comedy about a nearly blind reclusive physicist who is forced to share a double room in the hospital with an eccentric photographer suffering from dementia. Together, the two lonely characters escape in search of one more good day. It marks the feature debut of director Sung, co-writer of 2021’s Terrorizers and is also the first feature produced by House On Fire International with a Taiwanese director. France-based executive producer Vincent Wang is behind Abderrahmane Sissako’s Berlinale competitor Black Tea and Konstantin Bojanov’s Cannes winner The Shameless.
Contact: House On Fire International
Sali Maku*
Dir. Laha Mebow
This light-hearted fantasy deals with family and land as a young man from the Tayal tribe returns home to save his late grandmother’s camping site, only to find mysterious ancestral spirits begin to show their presence. It is backed by the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation (IPCF) and Taiwan Indigenous Television (TITV) with indigenous TV producers Elreng Ladholoa and Spiqan Bulan as executive producers. Laha is Taiwan’s first female Indigenous film director dedicated to Indigenous themes and culture. Her 2022 feature Gaga won best director at the Golden Horse Awards, while her 2024 short Tayal Forest Club won the international jury special mention award at Clermont-Ferrand.
Contact: IPCF
Sayang
Dir. Tang Hsiang-Chu
Produced by veteran Yeh Jufeng (A Foggy Tale, Girl) and Abang Adik director Jin Ong, this Malaysian-Taiwan production marks the directing feature debut of Tang, who is known as an award-winning sound designer and documentarian. Set on the east coast of Malaysia, the drama centres on three families and their three children from a sign-language school as they overcome challenges through love and courage. The film has received five Golden Horse Awards nominations including best original screenplay for Tang and two acting nods for Mhia Firdaus and newcomer Nandagopall Mohan, both from Malaysia.
Contact: Applause Entertainment Taiwan
Snake In The Dreamscapes
Dir. Lou Yi-An
Goddamned Asura director Lou’s latest film is partly a multi-timeline reincarnation mystery and partly a historical trauma reframed as psychological surrealism. Linked by a recurring dream of a red snake, three women bear the weight of what the previous generation chose to bury until the truth finally emerges from one underdeveloped roll of film. The cast includes Lin Yi-Ting, who won best actress at the Taipei Film Awards for A Dance With Rainbows, Michael Chang (Deadline) and Bai Xiao-Ying (Girl). Singing Chen, a two-time Venice Immersive competition winner, serves as co-executive producer, and Kao Chun-Ting and Angel Wen Chen as producers.
Contact: Hope Content Marketing
Syzygy of Love*
Dir. Chen Hung-I
Austin Lin from box office hits Marry My Dead Body and 96 Minutes leads the cast of this LGBTQ+ fantasy romance where lies masquerade as love until a joke blows up on April Fools’ Day. Award-winning actresses Alexia Kao (Family Matters) and Lin Zaizai (series Fragrance Of The First Flower) co-star. Gene Yao (Snow In Midsummer) serves as producer, with Yu Jing-Pin (Oscar-nominated Better Days) as cinematographer. The film is backed by the Ministry of Culture through the Next Film Subsidy and Feature Film Guidance Fund. Chen’s previous films The Last Painting (2017) and As We Like It (2021) played at Rotterdam.
Contact: Swallow Wings Films
No comments yet