Golden Horse Film Finance Market Expands to Record 63 Projects
(variety.com)
A total of 44 film projects, including one executive produced by the Oscar-winning Cate Blanchett, have been selected shortlisted for this year’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, organizers announced on Monday. The Chinese-language project market takes place on the sidelines of the prestigious Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan.
Among the selections, 37 are works in development. Seven are works-in-progress that are still searching for finishing funds or partners for co-production. Together with the 19 TV series projects announced earlier, this year’s Golden Horse FPP boasts a total of 63 projects. Last year, the FPP counted 40. In pre-COVID 2019, it counted 39 development projects and 8 works in progress.
The majority of the projects originate from Taiwan and there are plenty of big names attached. Drama “I Feel You” directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan is executive produced by Hou Hsiao-hsien and Osaka Fumiko. “The Ancient Tree” is the latest narrative feature offering from multiple Golden Horse Award nominee Singing Chen, who is known for her highly stylized approach to documentaries and features. “Q & I” is a new romance from Yang Ya-che, director of the Golden Horse nominated “The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful” and hit TV series “The Magician on the Skywalk.”
Seven projects hail from Hong Kong, including drama “Peaches,” written and directed by Jenny Suen and executive produced by Blanchett and Andrew Upton. “Today…Tomorrow…” is Ray Yeung’s follow-up to “Suk Suk,” his acclaimed feature about the life of elderly gay men in the city. Yan Yan Mak’s latest drama “Chungking Rosemary” is executive produced by award-winning auteur Stanley Kwan.
Six projects come from Singapore and Malaysia, including Yeo Siew-hua’s new offering “Stranger Eyes” following his 2018 Locarno-winner “A Land Imagined.” “A Good Child” by the Golden Horse-winning Ong Kuo Sin takes a plunge into the world of drag queens. The selection also features several international co-productions such as “My Madonna’s Night,” a Taiwan-France co-production by Kuo Cheng-chui (“Forêt Debussy”), and “A Year of Cold,” which revolves around a group of resilient women in the Himalayas. It is made by Nepalese director Min Bahadur Bham and backed by a Taiwan crew.
The Golden Horse FPP will take place from Nov. 22 to 24, 2021. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on November 24. The Golden Horse Film Festival runs Nov. 11-28.
By: Vivienne Chow
Continue Reading at variety.com
