20 Films you cannot miss at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (Part 2)

By Asian Film Festival on November 7, 2019 • ( Leave a comment )

We continue with our list of films you shouldn’t miss at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival which will take place from November 7th – 24th (2019) in Taipei, Taiwan.

About the festival:
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (TGHFF) is the largest film festival in Taiwan. Starting in 1980 as a non-competitive showcase, TGHFF aims at introducing prominent cinema from around the world, in order to promote cinema as an art form and to enhance intercultural understanding through cinema.

Critically acclaimed filmmakers who have visited TGHFF throughout the years include Abbas Kiarostami, Hal Hartley, Atom Egoyan, Olivier Assayas, François Ozon, Theo Angelopoulos, Krzysztof Zanussi, Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, Nicolas Winding Refn, Cristian Mungiu, Denis Villeneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Leos Carax. Renowned Asian filmmakers such as Nagisa Oshima, Morita Yoshimitsu, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Yasmin Ahmad, Shunji Iwai, Kim Ki-duk, Lee Chang-dong, Hirokazu Koreeda, Brillante Mendoza, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul also have attended the festival.

Selected Films:

Synapses by Chang Tso-chi – Taiwan | 2019 – 116 minutes
Section: Opening Film

There are many problems in the Zhang family, but one eventful summer changes many things. Zhang Junxiong is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and his condition weighs heavily on his wife Wang Feng and the rest of the family. His daughter Xiao Meng is released on parole from a long prison term and struggles to reconnect with her illegitimate son Ah Chuan and her loose-cannon ex-boyfriend Ah Wen.

Screenings:
November 7th (Thursday) | in89 Digital Cinemax LUXE | 19:00 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tom Lin Shu-yu – Malaysia | 2019 – 120 minutes
Section: Closing Film

Embittered by the atrocities of the World War II in Malaya, Teoh Yun Ling seeks solace in the Cameron Highlands, where she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya and its mysterious owner Nakamura Aritomo. He reluctantly accepts her as an apprentice so she can build a garden for her sister who perished in a labour camp. Later Yun Ling and Aritomo begin a forbidden love affair.

Screenings:
November 21st (Thursday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 13 | 19:00 pm (With Q&A)
November 21st (Thursday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 14 | 19:00 pm

Trailer:

The Kingmaker by Lauren Greenfield – USA | 2019 – 100 minutes
Section: Windows on Asia

Centred on the indomitable character of Imelda Marcos, [The Kingmaker] examines, with unprecedented access, the Marcos family’s improbable return to power in the Philippines. The film explores the disturbing legacy of the Marcos regime and chronicles Imelda’s present-day push to help her son win the vice-presidency. To this end, Imelda confidently rewrites her family’s history of corruption, replacing it with a narrative of a matriarch’s extravagant love for her country.

Trailer:

The Promised Land by Zeze Takahisa – Japan | 2019 – 129 minutes
Section: Nippon Selection

An elementary school student is abducted at a Y intersection in the middle of rice paddies. Neither she nor her abductor are found. 12 years later, on the day of the local festival, another girl vanishes from the same Y intersection and the townspeople suspect Takeshi, the town’s loner, who lives with his mom and refurbishes used items for a living.

Screenings:
November 10th (Sunday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 21:00 pm (With Q&A)
November 11th (Monday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 18:20 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

The Tree Remembers by Lau Kek-huat – Taiwan | 2019 – 88 minutes
Section: Golden Horse Awards

Derived from the proverb, “What the axe forgets, the tree remembers”, the film presents the current situation in Malaysia. For fifty years, the racial conflicts in the 13 May Incident remains a taboo in Malaysia. It marks the beginning of the racial discrimination policies and practice whereas victims are forced to be silenced. This film tackles the origin of racism in Malaysia and the taboo of the racial riot in 1969.

Screenings:
November 13th (Wednesday) | in90 Digital Cinemax 2 | 11:40 am (With Q&A)

Trailer:

Verdict by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez – Philippines, France | 2019 – 126 minutes
Section: Beyond the Verdict

Joy and her six-year-old daughter Angel live in Manila, with her husband, Dante, a small-time criminal. As so often in the past, Dante comes home drunk at night and beats Joy brutally. This time, he also hurts Angel. Joy grabs her daughter and flees to the local police post to finally get him sent to jail. Justice, Joy learns, takes time at best and is impossible to get at worst.

Screenings:
November 10th (Sunday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 13 | 15:50 pm (With Q&A)
November 19th (Tuesday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 21:20 pm

Trailer:

We Are Champions by Chang Jung-chi – Taiwan | 2019 – 118 minutes
Sections: Golden Horse Awards

From a single-parent family, two brothers are discovered after a video of their street basketball game goes viral. The younger brother is recruited by basketball powerhouse Yuying High School, while the older brother leads the underdog Kuangcheng High School to compete in the HBL tournament. Eventually, they meet again in the HBL championship and realise that there are more important things in life than winning.

Screenings:
November 18th (Monday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 13 | 16:40 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

Wet Season by Anthony Chen – Singapore, Taiwan | 2019 – 103 minutes
Section: Golden Horse Award

It is Monsoon season in Singapore and the city is pouring with rain. Wet Season follows the plight of 40-year-old Ling, a Chinese language teacher from Malaysia, whose marriage and school life are fraying apart because she is unable to bear a child. But an unlikely friendship with a student helps her reaffirm her identity as a woman.

Trailer:

Where we belong by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee – Thailand, South Korea | 2019 – 130 minutes
Section: Windows on Asia

It’s the last week in her hometown of Chantaburi for Sue, before she goes aboard to study on a scholarship; which she accepted without telling her father, and over which they argued so badly that they haven’t talked since. With the help of her friend Belle, Sue makes a list of things she has to do before leaving. Here are some of the things on her checklist.

Trailer:

Your Face by Tsai Ming-liang – Taiwan | 2018 – 78 minutes
Section: Golden Horse Award

“After I made a VR film last year, I really longed to do close-ups and decided to make a film composed of only close-ups. Of course, Kang will be in it, and then in the street, I found another ten faces or so. Later I ran into Sakamoto Ryuichi and asked him if he’d be interested to write the music and he agreed. Finally, I’ve found music for my films in two decades.” – Tsai Ming-liang

Screenings:
November 12th (Tuesday) | in89 Digitla Cinemax 2 | 21:50 pm

Trailer: