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Three Taiwanese films, Silent Sparks, Eel, and The Trio Hall, along with the Taiwanese international co-production Dreams in Nightmares, have been selected for the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). The Berlinale and the European Film Market (EFM) are set to commence on February 13. The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (Taicca) will host the Taiwan Pavilion at EFM, collaborating with 45 film companies to showcase 99 film titles. Taicca aims to promote Taiwanese films and introduce Taiwan’s production environment and filmmaking resources to international professionals as well as to assist Taiwan’s film industry in expanding its international market. Moreover, on February 15, Taicca will present the Taiwan Spotlight Pitching Session to promote four projects with potential to international professionals, encouraging Taiwanese teams to find opportunities for international collaboration.

Pts Originals’ Silent Sparks is the first feature film by up-and-coming director Ping Chu, starring Shih Ming Shuai (winner of the Golden Horse Award for...

Taiwan is making a strong showing at the Berlin Film Festival with four features in official selection, anchored by queer crime thriller “Silent Sparks” and cross-border pic “Dreams in Nightmares” in the Panorama strand. The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (Taicca) is meanwhile mounting an aggressive market push, bringing 99 titles from 45 companies to the European Film Market (EFM).

“Silent Sparks,” marking helmer Ping Chu’s feature debut, packs serious star wattage with Golden Horse winner Shih Ming Shuai and Golden Bell recipient Akira Huang headlining what’s being billed as a distinctly Taiwanese take on LGBTQ+ crime fare. The Pts Originals production, backed by Taicca development coin, will vie for Berlinale’s Teddy Award alongside “Dreams in Nightmares,” a Taiwan-u.S.-U.K. co-production from producer Pin-Chun Liu that unites Each Other Films, Track Eight Pictures Limited and Verdant Peak Films.

The Forum section adds visual artist Su Hui-Yu’s “The Trio Hall,...

The Berlin Film Festival’s 2025 Panorama section will launch with Welcome Home Baby, a psychological horror film from Austrian director Andreas Prochaska, leading a lineup of 34 films from 28 countries. The section head Michael Stütz unveiled the full program that addresses societal fractures, health systems, and democratic instability on Thursday.

Prochaska’s film reimagines the homeland horror genre as a response to 1950s German-language cinema. The selection continues its genre focus with the Norwegian body horror The Ugly Stepsister, Turkish political thriller Confidante, and Taiwanese gangster narrative Silent Sparks.

German productions hold a significant presence this year with six films. Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay presents the conspiracy thriller Hysteria, while five female directors bring new works. Debut features come from Nele Mueller-Stöfen with Delicious and Sarah Miro Fischer with The Good Sister. Ina Weisse reunites with Nina Hoss for Cicadas.

The documentary selections include Martina Priessner’s The Moelln Letters, examining the 1993 racist arson attacks in Mölln,...