Discoveries from Taiwan World Cinema

A man blackmails a couple who were involved in a hit and run that injured a young child.

Born into a wealthy family, Xiao-wei lives a carefree life with his loving mother's care. He enjoys reading picture books written by his favorite author Kauff, especially those works about mermaids. One day, he accidentally takes the wrong bus, arrives at the seacoast and meets a mermaid, Blue. He believes Blue is the embodiment of the character in those picture books. Since then, Xiao-wei's "normal life," has become not "normal."

In 2012, the Hong Kong International Film Festival invited Tsai Ming-Ling to make the opening short film. Having grown up with Hong Kong's popular culture, Tsai Ming-Liang decided to pay homage by making a "Walker" film, contrasting the Walker's slowness with the frenzied pace of Hong Kong's cosmopolitan life. The film ends with a song by Hong Kong actor and singer Samuel Hui, who was Tsai Ming-Liang's idol during his youth. The film was invited to be the closing short film for the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

Hu Guan-yu is passionate about table tennis. He trains with his best friend Huang Xuan, hoping to make the Olympic national team. When a new coach arrives, the team's atmosphere shifts, and they gradually drift apart. A year later, Guan-yu wins the junior national team qualifier. His opponent in the final: Huang Xuan.

Flamboyant kung-fu stylings and arterial blood-spray are let loose when the fantastic jade sword, a weapon that can kill a man without even touching him, is lost by the very person who was supposed to be keeping it safe. A search quickly reveals a conspiracy involving rogue Shaolin monks, powerful ruling families, and ever mysterious deadly Green Dragon Gang. When the dagger is used in a murder, and an unknown man is found barely alive in a box at the bottom of a river, the questions get more numerous, and trust is something that comes and goes quickly as the wind.

The leader of an underground gang wants to collaborate with the gang in the Northern of Thailand to control the supply of weapon in Hong Kong, but unexpectedly, the game is changed by a newly formed gang led by Melvin Wong

A group of kids (Little Rambo, Little Chuck Norris, Little Jackie Chan, and Little Bruce Lee) trained in martial arts combats gangsters after they kidnap the sister of a girl they have a crush on.

Taiwanese movie

Teenagers Jielong and Tangmi secretly love each other, but Tangmi vanishes after they spend a night out together. Jielong has to turn back to focus on his studies and enter university. Unexpectedly, Tangmi resurfaces with a newborn baby.

Choong's title is secret agent, but in reality, his duties are limited to ferrying and running errands for Hong Kong agents when they come to Taiwan - hardly the stuff of "Mission Impossible". Until one day, when an assignment to help two Hong Kong police officers find a missing girl turns into a wild goose chase for $30 million of loot involving Hong Kong top assassins and Taiwan's most powerful triads.

After her six year old son is kidnapped, a successful fashion designer must work with a detective to clear up the terrifying mystery and get her son back.

Feature debut by notable film critic Wang Wei. The film takes Taipei’s trendy Ximending district, best known for its mix of alternative lifestyles, youth fashion and the antimony of adolescent life, and provides an upbeat story of damaged young people finding their purpose in life. The film’s upbeat tone may appeal to some, but the complexity of the background is obliterated by rom-com stereotypes.

In early Republic of China when Taiwan was still under Japanese occupation, people were oppressed, and their condition was miserable. A Kung Fu coach from China was invited to Taiwan. His name was Wan Chin-san. Mr. Wan established a Kung Fu School in a small village and refused any Japanese to be his student. For this reason, he was assassinated. When his son, Wan Ming-Chieh, heard the terrible news, he came to Taiwan in search of his father.

Ke-Nan is a brainless detective, he is sent to solve a complicated murder case.

A detective and a group of wilderness children try to prevent jewel thieves from plundering Chinese shrines.

Taiwanese movie

Hilarious sequel to the movies 'Yes Sir' and 'Yes Sir 2,' about the Nationalist soldiers of the Taiwan Army. This is equivalent in the US as M*A*S*H 3.

17-year-old Hsiao-nan turned to her best friend, the guitarist Yu-kuang, to help her win the affection of Tzu-Chieh, whom she had a crush on. Together, they participated in a musical audition, and everything seemed to be going smoothly. However, during the audition, Hsiao-nan realized that the person she truly loved was Yu-kuang himself. Despite having beautiful memories together, they missed the chance to be with each other. Now, as time has passed and they are grown-ups, Hsiao-nan is faced with the love of her youth. Will she bury her feelings in memories, or will she muster the courage to listen to her inner voice?

In a world inhabited by cool puppets, brave heroes fight to prevent magic swords from falling into the wrong hands. Stylishly choreographed duels, double-crossings, mystical powers, and cool one-liners…

Hong Kong romance set in wartime

TUAN Wan-lu is a naïve and carefree young woman raised in the family of a professor and doted on by her protective older brother and childhood friend KU Yu-lan. Though Wan-lu is deeply attracted to MENG Chiao, their romance is thwarted by the taunts of MENG Chiao’s mother. At the same time, she discovers she is actually the illegitimate daughter of a club hostess. In the face of this double blow, she decides to marry Yu-lan, the one who has always been there for her. Caught between MENG Chiao’s persistent wooing and her own wavering heart, how will Wan-lu will find her way out?

A satirical comedy about a country bumpkin who goes to the big city, and ends up teaching the cynical city folk a few lessons about basic human decency. The hero leaves home for the first time to go to Shanghai, to collect his lottery prize - a brand new apartment. However, when he arrives, he is told by the developers that his apartment block will take a year and a half to complete. He decides to find a job in Shanghai and wait for his apartment to materialise...

Hsu Zi Qi is a young woman who lives alone in the city. Lee is the autistic son of Zi Qi's landlady, who tries to free himself from his protective mother. Feng is a shy young builder, who struggles with the constant breakdowns of his car.

An ordinary day in an ordinary campus, a girl who was loved by everyone killed herself. Everyone is asking why, but no one knows the truth, except these three: a good student, a bad student, and a weird student. For they know the truth of this incident, they decide to do something unordinary for her, as a revenge. They are the partners in crime. However, with the discovery of the girl’s secret diary, we are about to journey back to our high school lives. As an old saying goes, “High school never ends!”

A troupe of traveling performers stop in a small town. However, the general who controls the town has designs on the group's leading actress. They must figure a way to get out of town before the general has his way with her.

The new police chief (Bruce Li) arrives in a small provincial town. He's been charged with bringing a dangerous gang to justice. But within seconds, the chief provokes a showdown with his lazy deputies. Realizing that they are not up to the job, he enlists the help of some of his prisoners, offering pardons to those who survive the encounter with the gang. These include a widower (Wang Yung Sheng), imprisoned for killing the men who murdered his wife, a knife-throwing expert (Lung Fei) also doing time for the murder of a corrupt magistrate, a pickpocket, and a young orphan girl out to avenge her parents' death. The chief reveals his coldblooded dedication to the mission when he hangs one prisoner for trying to escape. The group - both prisoners and police - ultimately bond together and track down the gang's headquarters to find the leader (Chen Hsing). After a long and bloody melee, everyone lies dead except the chief.

Taiwanese comedy film.

When Yueh Sin's father is brutally murdered, her lover Shao Fung, the #1 samurai ninja warrior of the martial world, seeks revenge on her behalf.

Ah-Zhou, who is about to be honorably discharged from the military service, has a surreal dream. In the dream he sees the dead body of Shing-Shing Chen, a classmate in elementary school from years back. Is this dream implying that Shing-Shing Chen might have died? Soon afterwards, Ah-Zhou gets an unexpected five-day vacation and decides to look for Shing-Shing Chen. Nevertheless, he quickly learns that the special vacation is for him and another soon-to-be-discharged solider, Xiao-Gui, to go after a deserter, Kuen-He, who ran away with weapons two days ago. Both of them are worried about this assignment because they, the old birds, used to pick on Kuen-He, a spring chicken. And Kuen-He is now a deserter, armed and dangerous.

Senior talent manager Le-Fu and commercial director Po-En have been in love for years. Due to their age gap and traumas from original families, neither has been willing to commit to the relationship, until a big surprise hits Love on her 45-year-old birthday and both of them are forced to decide on what their future will be.

Growing up without parents, Ma Sha has always worked as a lookout in a red-light district. When he is imprisoned for manslaughter following a customer's death, he breaks out of jail but is soon caught again and sent to a correctional institution on Orchid Island. Guided by his former elementary classmate, who is now a penal officer, Ma finally repents his wild past, writing down his stories and eventually publishing them.

Young Jojo suddenly comes into a stack of casino chips worth a million and decides to pay off her runaway father’s debt, asking the down-on-his-luck debt collector Hua to gamble on her behalf. In Macau’s chaotic casinos, they form an unlikely alliance, navigating wins, losses, and life’s challenges together. When the final bet arrives, fate cruelly tests them, stripping them of everything, yet revealing the true gift life has been offering. I Blew Out the Candle Before Making a Wish explores money, family, and responsibility, capturing the shadows and resilience of human nature.

Yang Yang's mother marries her track coach, who then becomes Yang Yang's stepfather, with his daughter Xiao-Ru becoming Yang Yang's stepsister. The two girls seem close, but their relationship possesses a hidden and ultimately damaging jealousy. Xiao-Ru’s boyfriend Shawn has a desire for Yang Yang and she bears some attraction in return.

Taiwanese war film based on a small-scale battle between the invading People's Liberation Army and the resisting Republic of China Armed Forces on a few small islands (including Dadan Island) in the Taiwan Strait in late July 1950.

A comedy about the advertisement business, set in modern Taiwan.

A corrupt mayor of a town in Szechuan province allies himself with a group of bandits to gain control of the region by cutting off all supply routes to the town. Two police men both expert kickers are deployed to put an end to the mayors evil plot.

Haunted by trauma and trapped in sex work, Light meets Shuo, an undercover cop who offers him shelter. But healing isn’t easy—can Light choose a new path?

A boy lives with his Grandma and Mr. Lin, the tenant who looks after him and Grandma. But when Grandma passes away, the boy's uncle returns to Taiwan and discovers that ownership of the apartment was transferred to other people.

8-year-old Ah Keat sets off in search of the mythical nightmare-eating creature in the forest, hoping it will bring his father back to life.

An American in Hong Kong battles mobsters.

This film takes place during Japan's occupation of China during World War 2. A downed U.S. fighter pilot George forms an uneasy alliance with a group of Chinese freedom fighter Guerillas, Wang Lung, Wang Fung, Fa Par Chi and Shi Gin Don as they oppose the Japanese soldiers who have been destroying the countryside with the help from a crazy Nazi.

Ah-Zhou, who is about to be honorably discharged from the military service, has a surreal dream. In the dream he sees the dead body of Shing-Shing Chen, a classmate in elementary school from years back. Is this dream implying that Shing-Shing Chen might have died? Soon afterwards, Ah-Zhou gets an unexpected five-day vacation and decides to look for Shing-Shing Chen. Nevertheless, he quickly learns that the special vacation is for him and another soon-to-be-discharged solider, Xiao-Gui, to go after a deserter, Kuen-He, who ran away with weapons two days ago. Both of them are worried about this assignment because they, the old birds, used to pick on Kuen-He, a spring chicken. And Kuen-He is now a deserter, armed and dangerous.

Three flatmates share a luxury flat. A philandering hairdresser meets his match. A young stockbroker meets his boss's soon-to-be-ex-wife. A pregnant lady unsure over the identity of the baby's father.

A Chinese drama

A simple organic fruit farmer Rong Guang (Wu Kang-Ren) is raising his son Feng (Chen Yu-Cheng) alone in a small rural community, although with poor harvests and little money, their lifestyle is meagre. Elsewhere Feng’s mother Yi Ying (Alice Tzeng), now a successful businesswoman is being pressured by her husband Chung Hao (Tang Guo-Zhong) to have children something she strongly resists. Ying reveals that she already has a son, feng, and that he may be Chung Hao’s after all, so they begin proceedings to take feng back for themselves which Rong Guang refuses to let happen. Chung Hao demands a DNA test but before this can happen, Rong Guang collapses and is taken to hospital, forcing him to make some drastic decisions for Feng’s welfare.

A newlywed couple’s relationship turns into a nightmare when they start to witness paranormal activity. A “spiritualist” is hired to investigate the strange phenomenon, and discovers a deep, dark secret within the marriage that’s bringing back a vengeful spirit. A South Korean remake released under the title Fury of Soul (영노) in 1976 of the 1975 Hong Kong movie The Possessed (靈魔). Many actors from the original movie also appear in the movie.

Shaw Brothers star Wang Yu plays Ho Gang, a competent swordsman who takes a job as a hired assassin. Though reluctant he ends up becoming highly successful, but he is wary as one of his targets is killed before he can fulfill the contract, leading him to suspect that he is being double crossed.

Taiwanese romance film.

A gang of tough swordswomen take over a fort in a small city. These women terrorise everyone, killing indiscriminately. Two heroes, one clad in white, one in black, are sought out by an aging hero and brought in to fight the swordswomen.

A cartoonist accidentally killed his best friend, and came out with a creative way to dispose the body. He soon found that his best friend was sleeping with his girlfriend, and drawn the attention of a serial killer.

Sun Ya-fang, a freshman from college, is wooed by her schoolmates Chen, a boastful and frivolous playboy, and Yang, an introvert, who is simple and honest. Yang's sister teaches him to adopt a more aggressive approach towards Sun. Perturbed by his advances, Sun deflects Yang's attention towards her classmate, Sung. Meanwhile, Sun's cousin, George, returns from abroad and further complicates the situation. Sun falls for George, who is more interested in Sung.

The Four Brothers of Huan Nan is a charismatic gang known for its vibrant presence. Amid the bustle of Taipei's traditional food market, two of the youths face familial opposition to their forbidden love, while the only female member grapples with her unspoken feelings for the enigmatic fourth member.

A Chinese doctor's assistant fights the morphine-dealing criminals who run a Japanese nightclub.

Black Butterfly tells the story of a female assassin who is sent to Taiwan to clear the way so a gang from Hong Kong can take over the territory. Problems arise when she breaks the cardinal rule of an assassin -- never develop friends -- and she cannot complete the job. Now hunted by both camps, the killer must turn into a savior as she tries to help her friends.

This is a short film about women with a great influence in a Chinese family. In this mother-and-daughter relationship hides a cycle of love, life and hurting each other.

A businessman and his sister-in-law are targeted for assassination by a band of evil ninjas and their vicious leader (Yasuaki Kurata). The ninjas are committing bizarre murders all over the city, and the police can't seem to pick up their trail -- so they call in ninja hunter and Kendo master Mr. Chow. To take down the silent killers, Mr. Chow will have to fight against incredible odds in this campy ninja classic.

It's the year 1898 and government reformists are aggressively sought out and publicly executed by the Ching Dynasty officials. Master Wang, a leader of the reformist party, enlists the help of skilled fighters for reinforcements, including Cheong San, a longtime enemy of the treacherous Lord Wing. With the help of Lela Wong, Cheong San's betrothed, Cheong San and Master Wnag battle their nemesis to further their cause. What Cheong San's enemies believe to be his weak point they soon discover to be his source of power. He is most lethal when intoxicated, lending him the name of Drunken San. This is another must-see for classic kung fu combat fans.