"The Road to Mandalay (再見瓦城)” is the first Taiwanese film to be named best international feature at the Amiens International Film Festival in 24 years.
Produced by Taiwan-based Burmese director Midi Z (趙德胤), the film details a romance between two illegal immigrants starting a new life in Bangkok. However, both labor and life are cheap in Bangkok's unofficial economy.
"The Road to Mandalay” overtook six other entries to win the international competition at Amiens. The previous winning entry by a Taiwanese director was "Pushing Hands (推手)” by Ang Lee (李安) in 1992.
It features Taiwanese actor Kai Ko (柯震東), who made his acting debut in rom-com "You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩),” and actress Wu Ke-xi (吳可熙), a regular in Midi Z films since 2012.
The darkness of human trafficking, civil war, and dehumanized workers are set to a haunting soundtrack by Lim Giong (林強).
Midi Z, of "Poor Folk (窮人。榴槤。麻藥。偷渡客)” and "Ice Poison (冰毒)” fame, has been earmarked for bringing forth the third wave of New Taiwanese Cinema.
Films by the 33-year-old contain elements such as sparse mise-en-scenes evocative of mentor Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) and the philosophical narrative of Edward Yang (楊德昌).