“Coo-Coo 043,” a family drama set in the world of racing pigeons, has been set as the opening film of the 2022 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. The closing film is comedy “Marry My Dead Body.” 

“Coo-Coo 043” is the second film directed by Chan Ching-lin (“The Island That All Flow By”) and stars Golden Bell Awards winners Yu An-shun and Yang Li-yin, along with Golden Harvest Awards best new performer Hu Jhih-ciang and emerging new talent Rimong Ihwar.

Chan was previously nominated for Golden Horse Awards best short film for “A Breath From the Bottom,” and as best new director with his feature debut “The Island That All Flow By.” As a work in progress, “Coo-Coo 043” previously participated in the 2021 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion.

The story revolves around a poor family dependent on its racing pigeons which is shaken by economic pressures, restless youth and the disappearance of their son. The arrival of another drifting youngster brings changes to their lives. But also heralds an approaching storm.

In “Marry My Dead Body,” director Cheng Wei-hao brings together Austin Lin and Greg Han, as a couple that transcends the boundaries of life, death and gender. Cheng’s previous “The Tag-Along” was selected as the closing film of the 2015 edition of the festival.

“Both films are rooted in the concept of family, but display a remarkable diversity of Taiwan cinema in between realism and fantasy,” said the festival organizers. The festival runs Nov. 2-20, 2022 and its closing weekend includes the Golden Horse Film Awards, generally regarded as the most prestigious prizes for Chinese-language films.

The awards’ standing, however, has taken a knock since 2019 when mainland Chinese authorities organized a boycott and is promoting its own festivals instead. The boycott, sparked by a prize winner who gave a speech advocating independence for democratically-run Taiwan, has been largely followed by establishment members of the Hong Kong film industry.

As recent political tensions between the U.S. and mainland China have underlined, China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and says that it will ensure reunification by use of military force if necessary.

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