Asian film collective Maboroshi has secured its first title for international distribution, acquiring Taiwanese filmmaker Tsao Shih-Han’s “Before the Bright Day,” which is set to make its world premiere in the New Directors Competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

The acquisition was unveiled at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market.

Set against the backdrop of the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, the coming-of-age drama centers on Chou, a teenager struggling with family tensions exacerbated by the political turmoil’s impact on his household’s finances. Seeking both independence and income, he finds work at a billiard hall where he befriends Button, a gang leader whose subsequent military enlistment becomes one of several challenges the protagonist faces. The film tracks

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