Coo-Coo 043

FESTIVALS: ‘Coo-Coo 043’, ‘Marry My Dead Body’ to bookend Taipei Golden Horse

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Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (TGHFF) has announced that Coo-Coo 043, directed by Chan Ching-lin, will open this year’s edition of the festival, while Cheng Wei-hao’s Marry My Dead Body will close the event (November 2-20).
 
Coo-Coo 043 revolves around a family that makes a living through racing pigeons, but has been badly affected by economic pressures and the disappearance of a son. The cast is headed by Golden Bell award-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 is known for award-winning CTV movie, The Island That All Flow By, which won five prizes including best mini-series/TV movie at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards in 2016.
 
Marry My Dead Body is a comedy about a policeman who is forced into marrying a gay ghost who died of injustice. In a statement, TGHFF said that both films are rooted in the concept of “family”, but display the diversity of Taiwanese cinema as it straddles realism and fantasy.
 
Cheng Wei-hao’s horror film The Tag-Along was selected as TGHFF’s closing film in 2015, since when he has also directed crime thriller Who Killed Cock Robin (2017), The Tag-Along 2 (2017) and sci-fi mystery The Soul (2021).

The festival previously announced that late Japanese master Juzo Itami has been selected as a ‘Director in Focus’. Ten of Itami’s films, with 4K digital restorations and newly translated subtitles, will be presented at the festival, with the cooperation of his wife and actress Nobuko Miyamoto, Nihon Eiga Broadcasting Corp and Taiwan-based distributor Distribution Workshop.