12 Films you shouldn’t miss at the Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival 2022

By Asian Film Festival on April 9, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )

These are twelve films you shouldn’t miss at the Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival 2022 which is taking place from April 8 – 17, 2022 in Taipei, Taiwan.

– Selected Films –

**Freaks Out** by Gabriele Mainetti – Italy, Belgium | 2021 – 141 minutes
**Section**: Fantasy of the Year

Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Mario form a family in the circus where they work as ‘freaks’ in 1943 Nazi-occupied Rome. Israel, the owner and putative father, disappears in an attempt to find an escape route overseas for them all. The four friends are in disarray. Without anyone looking after them but, above all, without the circus, they lose their womb and feel lost as rudderless sideshow attractions in a city at war. (GHFFF 2022)

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**Killing the eunuch KHAN** by Abed Abest – Iran | 2021 – 110 minutes
**Section**: Fantasy of the Year

Thrown back into a dusty 1980s and the height of the Iran/Iraq war, the film is a meditation on the cycles of violence and war and their infectious qualities. The serial killer intends to slaughter so much that the blood spills over the ditches of the city. To reach his target, he designs a plan in which victims kill more victims. (GHFFF 2022)

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**Maanaadu** by Venkat Prabhu – India | 2021 – 146 minutes
**Section**: Surprise Film

Abdul Khaliq lands in Coimbatore from Dubai to help his friend for an elopement. Right after that, Khaliq is forced to murder the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in a public conference. He is hunted by a policeman for the crime, yet he survives by getting stuck in a time loop. In each loop, he discovers more details behind the complexed political and religious conspiracy, but how this could possibly end would be the ultimate problem. (GHFFF 2022)

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**Monstrous** by Chris Sivertson – USA | 2022 – 89 minutes
**Section**: Fantasy of the Year

In this supernatural thriller, Laura, traumatized by an abusive relationship, finally runs away from her former husband with her seven-year-old son Cody. But in their new, idyllic and remote sanctuary, they find they have another, bigger and more terrifying monster to deal with… one that will test both their mental health issues to the limit. (GHFFF 2022)

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**POPRAN** by Ueda Shinichiro – Japan | 2022 – 97 minutes
**Section**: Nippon Cha Cha Cha

An unidentifiable object zips through the sky with a mysterious sound. A suspicious looking man holding a net suddenly appears, trying to catch the thing that ran away from him. Tagami, a once successful manager of a manga distribution, has run out of luck and now he must catch a high-speed “thing” within six days or he will lose it forever. To gain it back, Tagami starts to visit his estranged friends and family, which turns into an unexpected journey. (GHFFF 2022)

Screening Dates:
April 11, 2022 | Monday | Vie Show Hsin Yi 9 | 17:30 pm

Trailer:

**Rhino** by Oleh Sentsov – Ukraine, Poland, Germany | 2021 – 99 minutes
**Section**: Fantasy of the Year

In an industrial provincial town in 1990’s Ukraine we meet a young man nicknamed “Rhino” – an aggressive delinquent during his childhood and now turned violent criminal, and we watch him grow against the backdrop of the trials and tribulations of his family and love life. Navigating through post-Soviet times in a cutthroat society, Rhino quickly rises through the ranks in a local criminal gang, but his rise to leadership is not without devastating sacrifices to his life and his loved ones. (GHFFF 2022)

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**Samuel’s Travels** by Aik Karapetian – Latvia | 2021 – 85 minutes
**Section**: Fantasy of the Year

Lost in remote Eastern Europe, on the edges of a mythical forest, Sam, a foreigner far from home, is looking for his father. When a road accident leads to a chance meeting with a girl named Kirke, Sam’s priorities must change if he wants to survive. Her kind hospitality is a smoke screen to capturing him and making him a slave on the farm. Alone, unable to speak the language and chained up with the pigs, he learns to adapt and starts gaining the confidence that might lead to freedom and true love. (GHFFF 2022)

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**The Cursed Sanctuary X** by Irie Yu – Japan | 2021 – 114 minutes
**Section**: Nippon Cha Cha Cha

Sick of her marriage life and decides to divorce her husband, Kaname travels to South Korea to visit her brother Teruo, a novelist-wanna-be living in the villa left by their father. One day, they see a man on the street who looks extremely like Kaname’s husband, but something is off. To find out who the mysterious man is, they follow him to a restaurant and accidentally enter the Cursed Sanctuary X… (GHFFF 2022)

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**The Good Boss** by Fernando León de Aranoa – Spain | 2021 – 120 minutes
**Section**: Ain’t no Cure for fun

Blanco, the charismatic owner of a family-run factory, is under pressure as he covets a local award for business excellence. Everything needs to be perfect! But the veneer of the perfect company cracks as Blanco has to deal with a vengeful fired worker, a depressed supervisor, and an infatuated ambitious intern. (GHFFF 2022)

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**The House of the Lost on the Cape** by Kawatsura Shinya – Japan | 2021 – 105 minutes
**Section**: Nippon Cha Cha Cha

17-year-old run-away Yui and 8-year-old Hiyori, who lost her family and her voice, have no place to go when they run into Kiwa, a strange old lady. She offers them a place to stay, in a slightly banged-up old house overlooking the sea, a Mayoiga. Despite joining Kiwa on a whim, the two girls find comfort in the Mayoiga, a legendary house said to look after lost travelers, and the warm hospitality of Kiwa. Both girls’ damaged hearts begin to heal little by little as time passes. Until one day, a variety of strange beings which Kiwa calls “Fushigitto” begin popping up around the house… (GHFFF 2022)

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**The Last 10 Years** by Fujii Michihito – Japan | 2022 – 124 minutes
**Section**: Ain’t no cure for love

Twenty-year-old Takabayashi Matsuri learns that she only has ten years to live due to an incurable disease. She decides to not dwell on her life and not to fall in love, but she meets Manabe Kazuto at a school reunion. Matsuri hides the fact of her illness from Kazuto, but as they make more memories together, the time left is decreasing… Which path will they choose when the time of destiny comes…? (GHFFF 2022)

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**The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji – FINAL** by Miike Takashi – Japan | 2021 – 129 minutes
**Section**: Nippon Cha Cha Cha

Welcome back to The Mole Song’s world, once again loaded with delicious madness. Reiji Kikukawa is suddenly appointed to act as an undercover agent, again. His mission is to infiltrate the biggest yakuza organization in Japan and approach Shuho Todoroki, the head of the organization. Reiji’s final mission is to prevent the smuggling of a drug shipment with a .4 billion street value, with much of the action unfolding on a luxury cruise ship. It is a cocktail that smashes together slapstick comedy, farcical fantasy and puppet animation. (GHFFF 2022)

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