Nina Wu

Direct from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, The Road to Mandalay (MIFF 2017) director Midi Z returns with something very different from his celebrated ultra-low budget projects: a stylish, riveting thriller about a young actress losing control.

Nina (regular Midi Z collaborator Wu Ke-xi, who also wrote the script) is struggling to break out of bit parts and longs to achieve some measure of success. But when she is finally given the chance to become a breakout star, it’s via a role that results in degradation both on and off camera. Barely holding on to her sanity and sense of self, Nina enters the spotlight with every emotional crack glaring and threatening to break.

A twisted, technicolour descent into terror, Nina Wu was inspired by the Weinstein news but is much more than a #MeToo adjacent narrative. With star and writer Wu channelling her own personal experiences as a working actor in an industry where all too many women are treated as expendable products, this is a top-tier psychological thriller from some of Taiwanese cinema’s greatest current talents.

“A vividly disorientating #metoo themed drama … which gives a powerful account of the post-traumatic stress suffered by the victims of powerful and unscrupulous industry insiders.” – Screen International

Contains sexual violence