Day Off

Source: MandarinVision

‘Day Off’

Taiwan-based sales agent MandarinVision is launching Xiao Xiao, starring More Than Blue’s Ivy Chen, and Day Off, the first film of veteran actress Lu Hsiao-fen in 20 years, at Busan’s ACFM.

Produced by Yeh Jufeng of Oscar-shortlisted A Sun, Xiao Xiao marks the feature directorial debut Chin Chia-hua and is a family drama about a young girl whose world starts to fall apart when she discovers that her mother is having an affair with a teacher in her school.

The cast is led by Chen from pan-Asian box office hit More Than Blue, Audrey Lin (American Girl) and Hong Kong actor Terrance Lau Chum-him (Beyond The Dream).

Fu Tien-yu’s Day Off marks the big screen return of award-winning Taiwanese actress Lu, best known for 1983’s A Flower In The Rainy Night and 1987’s Osmanthus Alley. She plays a hairdresser who embarks on a long journey to cut the hair for an old customer when he is too sick to travel. Fu Meng-po (Detention) co-stars. Director Fu previously directed Somewhere I Have Never Travelled and My Egg Boy.

Both films are in post-production for release in the first half of 2023.

“ACFM is my first physical market since Berlin 2020,” says Desmond Yang, international sales director of MandarinVision. “I am excited but also nervous. My meeting schedule is really full so I can’t wait to find out what and how everyone has been doing. It’ll also be interesting to see what the future holds for film sales and distribution.”

During the pandemic, MandarinVision closed a Japanese remake deal for Chen Yu-Hsun’s My Missing Valentine with Bitters End. Produced by Yuji Sadai, executive producer of Oscar-winner Drive My Car, the Japanese adaptation stars Masaki Okada (Drive My Car) and Kaya Kiyohara (In The Wake) and is scheduled for a summer release in 2023.