The film Nina Wu (灼人祕密) by Taiwanese independent director Chao Te-yin (趙德胤), better known as Midi Z, has been selected for screening at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival to be held from May 14 to 25 in France.
Nina Wu, a psychological thriller based on a screenplay by actress Patty Wu (吳可熙), and starring Wu, Vivian Sung (宋芸樺) and Kimi Hsia (夏于喬), was shortlisted for the film selection called Un Certain Regard, according to an announcement posted on the festival’s Web site on Thursday.
“Tears bursting out immediately, OMG #cannes !!!” Wu wrote on Facebook shortly after the announcement.
Un Certain Regard, literally meaning “a certain glance,” but understood by French speakers to mean “from another point of view,” is a section that celebrates films with visions and styles telling their stories in non-traditional ways.
Nina Wu was inspired by the 2017 Harvey Weinstein scandal, involving allegations of sexual harassment against the film mogul, and the subsequent #MeToo movement that sprang up against sexual harassment and sexual assault, Wu wrote on Facebook.
The film portrays “an aspiring actress named Nina, who is “humiliated by a director, abandoned by her agent and hampered by an assistant,” the US entertainment Web site Variety said.
In the story, Nina is confronted with “a series of mysterious incidents which seem to be connected to another actress whom she beat to a film role,” according to the article published last year, when Chao started post-production.
“Nina’s story is more than an actress’ experience of working in the film industry, but broadly reflects many difficult situations that countless women face in their work environment,” Chao said in an interview with film magazine Screen International.
Nina Wu won the 2019 Excellent Screenplay Award, hosted by the Ministry of Culture to honor talented screenwriters in the nation’s film industry.
It is Chao’s first feature made in Taiwan after the production of Return to Burma (歸來的人), Road to Mandalay (再見瓦城), and 14 Apples (十四顆蘋果).
Chao was born in Myanmar, but is now a Republic of China citizen.
His 2016 film The Road To Mandalay, about two illegal Burmese workers in Thailand, won the Fedeora Award for Best Film at the 73rd Venice Film Festival.
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