TCCF PITCHING Attracts a Record-Breaking Number of Entries with Cash Prizes Exceeding $150,000 USD

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Media OutReach - 21 September 2023 - Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) 2023 kicks off its largest edition to date this November 7th and, for the first time, the festival organized by Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) welcomes international works into its PITCHING section.

Of the record -breaking 539 submitted projects from 29 regions such as Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Iran, France and USA, 53 have been officially selected to participate in PITCHING. The event will take place between November 7-10 and is divided into two sub-sections, Project to Screen, featuring high-quality film and TV proposals and Story to Screen, focusing on Taiwanese IPs with great adaptability potential. Projects from both programs are eligible for a significant number of cash prizes and awards, with a total combined value exceeding $150,000 USD.

Considered the largest pitching session in Asia, TCCF PITCHING arrives with an exciting international roster of projects ready to be showcased to investors traveling to Taipei this fall. Given the large number of entries this year, the Project to Screen section will be split into four sessions: Feature Films, Series, Animation Features and Series and Documentary Features and Series. The Feature Films session introduces Golden Lion nominee and Un Certain Regard winning Japanese director Koji Fukada's new project. In his upcoming film, Nagi Note, he will pay tribute to one of his inspirations, legendary French filmmaker Éric Rohmer. The Shadows by Japanese horror producer Takashige Ichise and Taiwanese director Lingo Hsieh (The Bride, Green Door) will mark Hsieh’s first foray into the English-speaking market. On Series, Malaysian director Edmund Yeo adapts Yoko Tawada's dystopian novel The Last Children of Tokyo on an international co-production between Betula Films and Flash Forward Entertainment (Taiwan), and NHK (Japan). Director Teng I-Hang, creator of one of the most internationally recognized Taiwanese dramas, Fragrance of the First Flower, will also present her new project So May We Start, a coming of age story with the Taiwanese indie rock music scene as background.

TCCF PITCHING also introduces Animation and, for the first time, Documentary sessions given the increased popularity of these two formats in the region. In the Animation Features and Series session, French director Denis Do, recipient of the Grand Jury Prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, weaves an emotional tale in SORYA, following a young Cambodian woman seeking freedom in the city. Lastly, the Cannes Docs-in-Progress Award winner Island of the Winds, documenting 20 years of history of the Losheng Sanatorium, and PALIMPSEST: traces of a name by Éric Rohmer's frequent collaborator, editor and director Mary Stephen, will both be present at the Documentary Features and Series sessions. All projects in the Project to Screen program are eligible to the $30,000 USD TCCF Award: Best Project in addition to prizes from local and international partners such as the Motion Picture Association, Udine Far East Film Festival or Series Mania. If they fulfill all other prerequisites, this year's selections for the Project to Screen section will also be eligible for TAICCA’s “Creative Content Development Program - Development Fund” (CCDP) and “Taiwan’s International Co-funding Program” (TICP) with up to $300,000 USD available in funding.

In addition, the single-session Story to Screen will introduce some of the most exciting upcoming Taiwanese IPs to international buyers. Story features projects from some of the most well-known IP holders in Asia such as Kadokawa Taiwan Corporation, Mirror Fiction Inc. and NAVER Webtoon. Three projects will receive the TCCF Award: Best Story with a cash prize of $100,000 NTD, and all selected entries are eligible to other awards from collaborators such as the Taiwanese broadcaster Sanlih.

Project to Screen projects were chosen by 15 international jurors with Paperheart producer and mylab curator Lorna Tee, and former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras among them. Meanwhile, Story to Screen’s jury was formed by 5 Taiwanese industry leaders such as Jayde Lin, chairwoman of KOKO Entertainment, the production behind political drama Wave Makers. Producers and/or directors behind each project will also attend pitching workshops organized by TCCF between October and November. Besides showcasing their projects on stage in front of local and international buyers during TCCF, they will also have the chance to meet one on one with key players looking to invest in each of the IPs.

2023 TCCF PITCHING

Date: November 7-10
Place: Taipei New Horizon 6F, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park

Complete list of selected entries: tccf.tw/en/pitching-selected-entries

Complete list of award partners: tccf.tw/en/pitching-awards

Hashtag: #TAICCA

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