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.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS