The directors and the main actors of both movies, Tsai Chen-nan and Cheng Yi-nong for “Tears” and Japanese star Joe Odagiri for “The Wolf and the Warrior” were on hand for news conferences and for the showings.

The Taiwanese movie tells the story of a hardworking police detective who causes trouble for both his relatives and his colleagues as he gets caught into his investigation into a drugs-related death. His care for a “betelnut beauty” leads to the discovery of a long-hidden crime of his own. The policeman, played by Tsai, has to reconcile his own past with his present investigation into a different crime. Tsai, a veteran of Taiwan’s movie scene, is accompanied in the movie by some of its younger generation actors playing against type.

“The Warrior and the Wolf” is an epic set in the imperial China of 2,000 years ago. Apart from Odagiri, the movie also stars Vietnamese-American star Maggie Q, who originally became known through her work in Hong Kong movies, and only recently broke through in Hollywood by starring in blockbuster sequels such as “Mission: Impossible III” and the fourth “Die Hard” movie with Bruce Willis.

The cast of Tian’s movie also includes Taiwanese actor Tuo Tsung-hua as a military officer stationed on the border of the Chinese empire.

Coincidentally, Tian said he first got the idea to make the movie after he received the original short story by Japanese author Yasushi Inoue from Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien, now chairing the Golden Horse Film Festival.

The festival lasts until November 26, but several of the top attractions were already sold out before the start, organizers said. One of those is the winner of the top prize at this year’s Cannes festival, “The White Ribbon” by Michael Haneke, which shows a number of mysterious and violent events in a small German town in the run-up to the First World War.

Other top sellers were “New York, I Love You,” made by no fewer than 11 international directors with the help of as many major stars, and Australian director Jane Campion’s “Bright Star.”