Taiwanese Films in the New York Film Festival 2020

Dear Loneliness | 致親愛的孤獨者

A three-pronged drama of innocence and experience, Dear Loneliness tracks the paths of three young women on the brink of adult life, as they teeter and tangle with disconnection.

Detention | 返校

Two high school students find themselves trapped in a supernatural realm of vengeful spirits and demonic creatures in 1960s Taiwan. As they anxiously walk the haunted halls of their eerily empty school, in search for their missing teacher and a way out, we hear both the dark rumble of the well-crafted B movie and the chilly whispers of a refined psychological horror piece.

Heavy Craving | 大餓

*Limited seating

Ying-Juan is spunky, smart… and 230 pounds. She cooks at a preschool where the kids call her Ms. Dinosaur. Even her mom, who’s also her boss, constantly fat-shames her. But she just doesn’t give a damn… until an unwanted membership to a weight loss program and an encounter with two misfits prompt her to change and put her on an uphill path to self-acceptance, paved with crash diets and boot camp workouts.

IWeirDo | 怪胎

*No screening in California and Hawaii

Eerily timely in its focus on formalized paranoia as a lifestyle, the film follows the prudent footsteps of Po-Ching and Chen Ching, two young oddballs cursed with germaphobia and OCD, as they walk through life clad in personal protective equipment.

Miss Andy | 迷失安狄

*Available only on Aug. 29 at 7pm EST

Miss Evon, a.k.a. Andy, has paid a steep price to don a dress and finally be herself, at age 55. Having lost her job and family, and been faced with daily indignities, it’s a crushing blow when she learns her best friend has died. But then she meets illegal immigrant Sophie and her son, and her generous acts of humanity help restore hopes for a brighter future, albeit briefly.

Gangs, Oscars, & The Walking Dead

Movie genres madly mix and mash up in this no-holds-barred, no-brow comedy about two young aspiring directors, BS (Roy Chiu, of Dear Ex fame) and Wenxi (Huang Di-yang). Sick of indulging in the stuff and fluff of pipe dreams, they decide to turn fantasy into reality and make a real zombie flick.