This post was originally published on here
While Taiwan has just one official selection in the 2026 Berlinale lineup — Zhuang Rong Zuo’s short “Tutti” in the Generation Kplus strand — the island nation sports a significant presence at the European Film Market with a diverse slate.
The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) is spearheading the territory’s EFM activities with its Taiwan Pavilion and Taiwan Spotlight Pitching Session, while production companies Flash Forward Entertainment, GrX Studio and Pegasus Entertainment are marketing titles ranging from action blockbusters to single-take horror and cross-cultural romance.
Flash Forward Entertainment, the Taipei-based production and sales outfit led by veteran producer Patrick Mao Huang, arrives with its most ambitious slate to date, positioning itself as a key bridge between Asian creativity and European financing. Leading the lineup is action-drama “A Dance With Rainbows,” which recently opened to critical acclaim and strong box office in Taiwan. Directed by Lee Yi-shan, the gritty coming-of-age boxing story stars rising talent Lin Yi-ting alongside veterans Tsai Chen-nan and You An-shun. The film won the Golden Horse Award for best action choreography, with Hong Kong rights already acquired by Golden Scene.
Popular on Variety
The company is also behind “Bliss: Beyond the Edge of Time,” a sci-fi anthology comprising six distinct animated shorts by different directors exploring futuristic concepts through Eastern philosophy. VR animation-documentary hybrid “The Island of Shells” delves into Taiwan’s White Terror era on Green Island, inspired by political prisoner Fred Chin’s testimony.
Selected for the 2026 Berlinale Co-Production Market is Flash Forward’s “Lotus Feet,” the sophomore feature from Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu, whose debut, “Tiger Stripes,” won the Grand Prix at Cannes Critics’ Week. The body-horror project is a Malaysia-Germany-Indonesia-Taiwan co-production that has secured support from the Hubert Bals Fund and Golden Horse Film Project Promotion.
Also seeking partners are “The Daughter,” a horror film directed by Tian Guan, whose short “The Poison Cat” was selected for Venice. “Blok 62” unites Croatia, Serbia, Estonia, Lithuania and Taiwan in a dystopian thriller directed by Vanja Vascarac.
In development is “Millennium Town,” an eight-episode sci-fi series created by François Chang, a La Fémis graduate. The time loop story set in 1999 features Hugo and Nebula Award winner Ken Liu — consultant for Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” — as script consultant.
GrX Studio — the outfit behind Netflix hit “Copycat Killer” and “The Tag-Along” horror franchise — is shopping “The Photo From 1977,” a period romance directed by Frank Cheng and Tang Sheng-Jung. The cross-cultural love story stars Korean hallyu sensation Jung Jin-Young opposite Taiwanese star Moon Lee. Set in 1977 Zhongli City, the film follows a Hakka photographer who falls for a Korean taekwondo coach, with their romance unfolding against the backdrop of Korea’s student movement.
Pegasus Entertainment is marketing three completed features across diverse genres. “Suffocation” is a horror film shot as a single 99-minute take. The film centers on a mysterious suicide at a high school swimming pool that triggers a deadly campus curse, exploring themes of teacher-student romance and peer bullying. The film stars Yao Ai Ning and Wang Yu Ping. “Summer Blue Hour,” a romantic drama adapted from a novel, features an original theme song by famous Taiwanese singer Cheer Chen. The film stars Shih Bo-Yu, Cheng Yu-xi and Lin Zi-hong.
Pegasus is also marketing “Secret Lover (Theatrical Version),” a re-edited 120-minute theatrical cut of the BL series adapted from Japanese manga artist Komeoka Sig’s “How Could It Possibly End After Just Reaching Climax?” that premiered worldwide in 2025.
The Taiwan Spotlight Pitching Session features five projects in development. Etsen Chen’s “No Money No Honey,” an LGBTQ-themed project from Flash Forward Entertainment and A House Film Production, arrives from the DANAFF Project Market and KVIFF Industry Days. Other projects include Huang Hui-chen’s “Lomá,” a social justice frontier drama from Your Sister Films; Su I-Hsuan’s “Burning Blossoms,” a romantic historical thriller from Suz Creative Studio; Angel Teng I-han’s “The Lovers Untitled,” a sci-fi LGBTQ romance from Long Moment Films; and Tsao Shih-han’s crime romance “Girl, Boy, the World’s End” from Life Scenery Films.
The Taiwan Pavilion presents completed features and works-in-progress. Tracy Choi’s “Girlfriends,” from Serendipity Films, arrives from Busan’s Vision section. It was developed through the 2023 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion and Torino Film Lab. Su Ta’s “Oh My Ghost! Oh My God!” from Sky Films Entertainment features Japanese comedy star Naomi Watanabe alongside Jasper Liu. Tsai Yin-chuan’s “That Burning House” from the Movie Bird Films premiered at Tallinn Black Nights’ after development at Locarno Pro and winning the Taipei Golden Creativity Award. Kiwi Chow’s “Deadline” from Benchmark Films screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam, while Lee Chun-i’s XR project “The Time Machine” from Pan Da Planet received grants from both Kaohsiung Film Archive and the Ministry of Culture. Toe Yuen’s animated feature “A Mighty Adventure,” produced by Zero One Film and FlyStudio, claimed the Sky Animation Award at the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.
TAICCA presents three significant restorations. Yang Li-kuo’s “The Dull-Ice Flower,” which won a Berlinale prize in 1990 and received a UNESCO Special Prize for Humanitarian Affairs, returns in 2K. Wan Jen’s “Connection by Fate,” a 1998 Venice competition title, also screens in 2K. Tsai Ming-liang’s 1994 Venice Golden Lion winner “Vive L’Amour” will be presented in 4K. Kiki Liu’s novel “Girl in an Odd City,” described as adolescent coming-of-age magical realism, is being showcased in the Books at Berlinale program.
“As the first major international film market of the year, the EFM is not only a vital indicator of global cinema trends but also a gateway for Taiwanese content to engage with the world,” says TAICCA chair Sue Wang. “Through our participation, we aim to bridge the gap between the international community and Taiwan’s creative industries. We also want to showcase Taiwan’s proactive commitment to international co-productions and investments, leveraging our multicultural advantages to foster more exceptional collaborative projects on a global scale.”
