The 2025 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival has unveiled its opening and closing night selections, with Chen Yu-hsun’s “A Foggy Tale” getting its world premiere bow and Mariko Tetsuya’s “Dear Stranger” starring Hidetoshi Nishijima and Gwei Lun-mei closing the fest.
Chen Yu-hsun, the multi-Golden Horse Award winner behind “My Missing Valentine,” returns with “A Foggy Tale,” set against Taiwan’s White Terror era. The film follows a girl from Chiayi who travels north to retrieve her brother’s remains. The cast includes Caitlin Fang (“American Girl”), Will Or (“Drifting”), singer 9m88 and Tseng Jing-hua.
“When I was a little boy, I was always thrilled to see the opening of department stores, where everything seemed so bright and cheerful. And that becomes a little wish for me,” Chen said. “Now my dreams have come true to have my film opening the Golden Horse Film Festival, I’m deeply happy and truly honored.”
Executive producer Yeh Jufeng described the story as “their reminiscence and review of that era, as well as their firm belief in genuine friendship and human nature.” Executive producer Lee Lieh added that while they “would not dare to boast about being the very best,” they “rigidly believe in this film and hope this genuineness and sincerity will be delivered to every viewer.”
The closing film “Dear Stranger” reunites Japanese director Mariko with the Golden Horse audience following his previous fest entries “Destruction Babies” and “Miyamoto.” The thriller stars Nishijima and Gwei as a married couple in New York whose seemingly happy life unravels after their son is kidnapped, exposing hidden pasts and suppressed emotions.
“I’m truly grateful to participate in this film. It leads me back to the starting point of acting and opens a new door to artistic creation for me,” Gwei said. “I appreciate Golden Horse for inviting this film, and I am honored to share it with you, hoping that it will accompany and resonate with you to move on in the next journey of your life.”
The festival is also presenting a Nishijima Hidetoshi retrospective featuring three of his key performances: Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s “License to Live” (1998), which earned him best actor at the Japanese Professional Movie Awards; Amir Naderi’s “Cut” (2011); and Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Drive My Car” (2021), for which he won best actor at the National Society of Film Critics Awards and the Japan Academy Film Prize.
The festival runs Nov. 6-23.
variety.com
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