We present a list of twenty 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:

37 Seconds by Hikari – Japan | 2019 – 116 minutes
Section: Nippon Selection

Yuma, a naive, yet talented comic book artist is forced to ghostwrite for her best friend to hide her cerebral palsy from an unsympathetic culture. Answering a want ad for an erotic comic magazine leads Yuma on an unexpected course of sexual discovery, also puts her in direct conflict with her protective, yet overbearing mother. When Yuma learns of a family secret, she takes a trip to confront her painful, but ultimately liberating truth.

Screenings:
November 7th (Thursday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 16:20 pm
November 17th (Sunday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 10:40 am
November 19th (Tuesday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 18:20 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

A Girl Missing by Fukada Koji – Japan | 2019 – 111 minutes
Section: Nippon Selection

Ichiko works as a private nurse for a family she has almost become a part of. While Ichiko cares for the grandmother, she is also a confidant to Motoko, the eldest sister. But one day, Motoko’s younger sister disappears. And the media soon reveal the kidnapper to be Ichiko’s own nephew…

Screenings:
November 11th (Monday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 21:20 pm (With Q&A)
November 12th (Tuesday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 18:30 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

A Sun by Chung Mong-hong – Taiwan | 2019 – 156 minutes
Section: Golden Horse Awards

The story is about an ordinary family of four. The father, A-Wen, is a driving instructor; the mother, Qin, is a hairdresser; the older brother, A-Hao, is a high school senior following his father’s expectations, preparing for retaking his medical school entrance exams; the only member who seems problematic is the younger brother A-Ho, who has been “different” since he was a child.

Screenings:
November 13th (Wednesday) | in89 Digital Cinemax LUXE | 18:50 pm

Trailer:

Boluomi by Lau Kek-huat & Vera Chen – Taiwan | 2019 – 108 minutes
Section: Golden Horse Awards

Over the decades, the Malayan Communist Party fought a guerrilla war in the jungle for independence. During the war, they sent the babies out of the jungle to ensure their survival. Boluomi is one of them. The past remains unknown until today. Yifan is a young Malaysian who left his country due to racial discrimination, and slowly he discovers his connection with Boluomi.

Screenings:
November 13th (Wednesday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 10:50 am
November 18th (Monday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 18:40 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

BulBul Can Sing by Rima Das – India | 2018 – 95 minutes
Section: Windows on Asia

Bulbul is an exuberant young woman living in a village in Assam, India. As she and her two friends Bonny and Sumu begin to define their own identities, they find themselves increasingly clashing with the age-old rules set down by the village. The film sees her fight her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is.

Screenings:
November 17th (Sunday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 14 | 14:30 pm
November 21st (Thursday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 14 | 14:10 pm

Trailer:

Detention by John Hsu – Taiwan | 2019 – 103 minutes
Section: Golden Horse Awards

In 1962, Taiwanese government declares martial law. Longing for freedom, Zhang organises an underground book club with his fellow teachers and students, who all put their lives at risk. One night, two students, Fang and Wei, wake up in a storm and find themselves trapped in the school. While struggling to look for the way out, they unveil mysteries, which slowly reveal the dark past of the school.

Screenings:
November 20th (Wednesday) | Vie Show Taipei Sun 1 | 21:20 pm

Trailer:

Heavy Craving by Hsieh Pei-ju – Taiwan | 2019 – 89 minutes
Section: Golden Horse Awards

30-year-old Ying-Juan, who weights up to 105 kg, works at her mother’s childcare centre and has a hard time until she meets Wu, a deliveryman who bears a checkered past underneath his radiant smile. Encouraged by Wu, Ying-Juan finally decides to lose weight. Just when things are getting on the right track, devastatingly, Ying-Juan’s passion for cooking seems to be fading due to her over-aggressive diet…

Screenings:
November 20th (Wednesday) | in89 Digital Cinemax 2 | 19:20 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

Krabi 2562 by Anocha Suwichakornpong – Thailand, UK | 2019 – 93 minutes
Section: Another View

Krabi, 2562 explores the landscape and stories within the community of Krabi, Southern Thailand. The filmmakers want to capture the town in this specific moment where the pre-historic, the more recent past and the contemporary world collide, sometimes uneasily. Shot on super16 film in static compositions, with occasional subtle camera movements, the film lingers on shots, taking its time to observe the movements of people, light, and animals.

Screenings:
November 8th (Friday) | in89 Digital Cinemax 2 | 16:40 pm
November 9th (Saturday) | in89 Digital Cinemax 2 | 12:20 pm

Trailer:

Motel Acacia by Bradley Liew – Philippines, Slovenia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand | 2019 – 88 minutes
Section: Windows on Asia

JC, a young Filipino man, is forced to take over the family business set by his estranged tyrant father, a lonesome motel in the remote wilderness, providing shelter to illegal immigrants on behalf of the government. But as JC and the guests soon discover, Motel Acacia is home to a dark and ancient spirit trapped in a bed, which devours men and impregnates women…

Screenings:
November 17th (Sunday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 14 | 21:40 pm (With Q&A)
November 18th (Monday) | Vie Show Taipei Hsin Yi 14 | 14:00 pm (With Q&A)

Trailer:

One Child Nation by Wang Nanfu & Zhang Jialing – USA | 2019 – 85 minutes
Section: Windows on Asia

China’s One Child Policy, the extreme population control measure that made it illegal for couples to have more than one child, may have ended in 2015, but the process of dealing with the trauma of its brutal enforcement is only just beginning. From award-winning documentarian Wang Nanfu and Zhang Jialing, One Child Nation explores the ripple effect of this devastating social experiment, uncovering one shocking human rights violation after another.

Screenings:
November 11th (Monday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 16:10 pm
November 16th (Saturday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 10:30 am
November 18th (Monday) | Shin Kong Cinemas 1 | 17:00 pm

Trailer:

To see the second part of this article please go here: PART 2

For more information about the programme please visit the official website of the festival: Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival