With the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) starting on September 7th, two films with Taiwan’s participation, The Settlers and The Human Surge 3, have been selected for TIFF, the key fixture on the Autumn festival calendar. Following last year’s positive results, Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) has again set up the Taiwan Pavilion at TIFF Industry to fly the flag for films and projects from Taiwan.

Among over 200 official selections, The Settlers will screen in the festival’s Centerpiece section while The Human Surge 3 heads to the Wavelengths section. The Settlers is supported by TAICCA’s International Co-funding Program (TICP) with Taiwan’s Volos Films as the co-producer, Tu Duu-Chih and Tu Tse Kang as sound directors. After bagging the Fipresci Prize at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, it will be Chile’s submission to the Academy Award for International Feature. Also supported by TICP and co-produced by Volos Films, The Human Surge 3 was shot in Taiwan and had its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival’s international competition.

TAICCA sees Chile’s official submission of The Settlers to the Academy Award for International Feature as testimony to how TICP works successfully to connect Taiwan’s film talent to international markets. TAICCA will continue pushing relevant schemes and to create more opportunities for international collaboration with Taiwanese talent and production strength, showing Taiwan as the best partner in Asia for the international film community.

TAICCA’s Taiwan Pavilion at TIFF Industry will promote 53 Taiwan films and projects to North America. Lost in Perfection is a live action crime thriller currently in post production from Sung Hsin-yin whose debut animation On Happiness Road made a splash on the festival circuit. Animated feature Grandma and Her Ghosts 2: Baby Power is the long awaited sequel to Grandma and Her Ghosts (1998) which has gained popularity with new audiences throughout its long life.

Box office hit, Marry My Dead Body, is one of the completed features being presented at Taiwan Cinema booth. Just announced as Taiwan’s official submission to the Academy Award for International feature, the box office hit, has already landed in Netflix’s global top 10 (non-English) rankings in its first week. Other films to be discovered at Taiwan Cinema Booth during TIFF Industry includes: Taipei Film Festival closing film After School. Notable documentaries include: Golden Horse Awards Best Documentary And Miles to Go Before I Sleep by Tsai Tsung-Lung; and Taipei Film Awards Grand Prize winning documentary Diamond Marine World, Busan competition documentary On the Train; new animation, A Night with Moosia; and the short film, The Last Shot, which racked up a million views online.

This year’s TIFF is expected to be affected by the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes but with the festival long regarded as the fall launching pad for films gearing up to the awards season, it remains one of the most important events on the festival calendar and is well attended by international professionals and audiences alike.