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Actors Turn Directors at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Project Market

The producing debuts of two actors are among the 27 film projects selected for the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion. The project market is attached to the Golden Horse Film Festival, held annually in Taiwan.

The selections comprise 22 efforts still at project stage and five which are works in progress. They include Taiwanese productions and co-productions with the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. They were whittled down from more than 200 applications.

Former Golden Horse Award-winning actress Lee Sinje (“The Eye”) is set as the executive producer of the Malaysian title “ABang ADik” directed by Jin Ong, a previous winner of the Golden Horse FPP Grand Prize. Ariel Lin (“A Choo”), two-time winner of Golden Bell best actress, is the producer of Chou Mei-yu’s “The Blind Love,” a Taiwan project.

Other Taiwan projects include “Detention” producer Aileen Li teaming up with Lin Chun-yang, Golden Bell best director winner, to co-direct “SARStorm”; “Call of Lobster,” a quirky tale about the protagonist’s adventure in North Korea to teach lobster farming directed by Yin Chen-hao and produced by fellow Golden Horse winner Chen Wei-hao; documentary director Shen Ko-shang (“Baseball Boys,” “A Rolling Stone”) presents his feature directorial debut “Deep Quiet Room”; and Golden Horse best makeup and costume designer winner Hwarng Wern-ying will make her directorial debut with “Be with Me.”

The four Malaysian projects also include “Ravenous Maidens of the South Seas,” a fantastical tale of Asian explorers by Edmund Yeo, winner of best director at the Tokyo International Film Festival (for “We, The Dead”). Also selected are social drama “Were Tiger” by Malaysian director Lau Kek-huat and Chong Keat-sun’s “Snow in Midsummer,” which deals with the 13 May Incident, the 1969 racial riots that changed the course of Malaysia’s history.

Hong Kong director Adam Wong brings new drama “85 db” to FPP. Wong’s “The Way We Keep Dancing,” the sequel to “The Way We Dance” has been selected as the closing film of this year’s Golden Horse Film Festival.

Oliver Chan presents “Her Lullaby,” a new project exploring the notion of being a good mother following her successful directorial debut “Still Human.” “Scent of Love,” a drama that plays around the sense of smell by Luk Yee-sum, is also among the selection.

International co-productions selected include “Masks” by Tony Kaye (“American History X,” “Detachment”), who will be working with a Taiwanese team; Taiwan-UK action-thriller “Housekeeper” by David Chuang; and “Black Cattle,” a Japan-Taiwan-US co-production by Tsuta Tetsuichiro (“The Tale of Iya”).

The Golden Horse FPP also includes 13 series projects, including Hong Kong sci-fi thriller “The Midnight After” co-produced by Amy Chin and Fruit Chan, who directed the film version based on the book of the same name in 2014.

Meetings of the 40 film and series selected projects will take place in Taipei from November 16-18. Winners will be announced on the last day of the meeting.

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