On top of the addition of Series projects this year, the always diverse and inclusive Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) continues to offer the best matching platform to film projects. The competition was again intense this year, with over 200 film project submissions. In the end, a total of 27 projects were selected, of which 22 are brand new projects and 5 have already begun shooting and are looking for post-production funding or other collaboration opportunities. Notably, project submissions being produced by Golden Horse Awards-winning actress LEE Sin-je and Golden Bell Awards-winning actress Ariel LIN both made the final cut. The level of attention garnered by projects from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and many international co-productions has also been just as impressive as that of those from Taiwan.

Hong Kong acquired a total of 3 project selections. Director Adam WONG Sau-ping rose to fame with The Way We Dance, a former selection of the Golden Horse FPP, while its sequel, The Way We Keep Dancing, was recently chosen as the closing film of this year’s Golden Horse Film Festival. His selected FPP project this time is 85 db, a tale with a deaf protagonist. Oliver CHAN Siu-kuen, who took home the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best New Director for Still Human, is directing the new project Her Lullaby, which portrays how the desire to be a “good mother” can become twisted and perverse. Meanwhile, multiple Hong Kong Film Awards nominee LUK Yee-sum will be directing the smell-centric project, Scent of Love.

Four of the Selected Projects feature Malaysian filmmakers. Edmund YEO, a former Best Director winner at the Tokyo International Film Festival, will be directing the fantastical Ravenous Maidens of the South Seas, a tale of Asian explorers. LAU Kek-huat, who earned two nominations at last year’s Golden Horse Awards, returns with Were Tiger, an exploration of how ethnicity and social class can test true friendship. CHONG Keat-aun’s Snow in Midsummer tackles an extremely sensitive subject in Malaysian history — the 13 May Incident. And director Jin ONG, who previously won the Golden Horse FPP Grand Prize for Shuttle Life, will direct ABang ADik, which will be produced by Golden Horse Best Actress winner LEE Sin-je.

Not to be outdone, CHOU Mei-yu’s The Blind Love has invited star actress Ariel LIN, who will be making her producing debut. On the other hand, SHEN Ko-shang hopes to make his feature directorial debut with Deep Quiet Room, set to be produced by CHU Yu-ning. Additionally, HWARNG Wern-ying, a former winner of the Golden Horse Awards for Best Makeup and Costume Design, will be making her directorial debut with Be with Me. Golden Bell Awards Best Director winner LIN Chun-yang and Detention producer Aileen LI will be joining forces to co-direct SARStorm. Fellow Golden Horse Awards winner CHENG Wei-hao will produce and YIN Chen-hao will direct Call of Lobster, in which the protagonist ventures to North Korea to teach lobster farming.

In terms of international co-productions, American History X and Detachment director Tony KAYE will be teaming up with a Taiwanese team to make the feature film Masks. Japanese director TSUTA Tetsuichiro’s new project is the Japan-Taiwan-US co-production Black Cattle, produced by ICHIYAMA Shozo, who has worked with Japanese filmmaker KITANO Takeshi and Taiwanese auteur HOU Hsiao-hsien. David CHUANG, director of the series The Victim’s Game, will be at the helm of Housekeeper, an action-thriller co-produced by Taiwan and the UK. And Frank W. CHEN, who earned a Golden Horse Awards nomination for Late Life: The Chien-ming Wang Story, will be directing his newest sports documentary, C.K. and Rafer: The Two Man United Nations, which aims to unveil the untold stories of the Olympic legend.

Projects from cutting-edge new directors include CHENG Ya-chih’s I’m Sorry; LAI Meng-jie’s Low-End; HUANG Ai-lun and HUANG Jun-jie’s Wild Grandma; LIN Han’s Wild Green; LAI Chun-yu’s The Spirits of Trees; and LIEN Chun-chien’s Time in a Bottle, the only animation project selected this year.

Many of the Selected Projects from the last three editions of the Work-in-Progress (WIP) section of the Golden Horse FPP, which offers a matching platform for projects in production or in post-production, have already been released to great results, including We Are Champions, Nina Wu, Boluomi, The Silent Forest, Heavy Craving, The Painting of Evil, i WEiRDO, Mickey on the Road, and Your Name Engraved Herein. This year’s WIP selections include Salute, directed YAO Hung-i in collaboration with dancer SHEU Fang-yi; Dutch director David VERBEEK’s vampire film Dead & Beautiful, which was shot in Taiwan; new-generation director WANG Chun-hong’s Far Away Eyes; ZHAN Kai-di’s RAYDIO; and underwater filming expert YUAN Hsu-hu’s Blood of the Blue.

These 27 film projects, plus the previously announced 13 Series projects, make up the 40 total projects selected for the 2020 Golden Horse FPP. The official meetings are set to be held in Taipei from November 16 to November 18, with the list of prize winners to be announced on November 18.

Selected Projects of 2020 FPP & WIP