ACF
Asian Cinema Fund
Script Development Fund
2012 Script Development Fund
LIST The Road to Mandalay (aka. Lian-Qing, a Burmese Girl).jpg)
| Category | Asian Project |
|---|---|
| Project | The Road to Mandalay (aka. Lian-Qing, a Burmese Girl) |
| Director | Midi Z |
| Country | Taiwan, Myanmar |
| Director's Profile | Midi Z (1982) was born and raised in Myanmar, but trained as an artist in Taiwan. His graduation short PALOMA BLANCA was screened in numerous film festivals. In 2009, he was selected to be the leading director in the Taipei Golden Horse Film Academy organized by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Produced by Hou, Midi Z made a short film named HUA-XING INCIDENT. In 2011, his debut feature film RETURN TO BURMA has been invited by many international film festivals. His second feature film POOR FOLK has also been selected by BIFF and VIFF. |
- Synopsis
- This is a story about a Burmese girl who sneaks into Thailand in search for a better life. Traveling through the dense forests in Burma, Lian-Qing and a group of young people sneak across the border into a village in Thailand. Lian-Qing is not content with a wage of four dollars a day and the life trapped in the countryside. She wants to go to Bangkok. Although Lian-Qing has been working day and night, her savings are still not enough to buy herself the papers required to go to Bangkok. Like Lian-Qing, countless illegal immigrants are trapped in the deep mountains in Thailand after they have escaped from Burma. They are like the birds kept in the cage; they thought they had freed themselves, but in fact the outside world is just cage, a bigger one. But Lian-Qing hasn’t given up just yet; she fights to free herself.
- Director's Note
-
There are around 3.5 million illegal Burmese labourers in Thailand. Although elections have been held since 2010, the stream of illegal immigrants never stops flowing into Thailand. Lian-Qing is an epitome of these young people.
Lian-Qing a Burmese Girl is a story of people who are forced to leave their hometown to search for a better life. It’s also a story about people who pursue the sense of security. In that harsh environment and a tradition, which values men more than women, the female illegal immigrants face even tougher challenges. Lian-Qing’s life is destined to end in tragedy.
The desolate fields on the border are the embodiments of burning mysteries. People tend to show their contradictory nature and the grudges against one another under cruel circumstance. Is man by nature good or evil?
- Festivals
-
2016 Busan International Film Festival - A Window on Asian Cinema
2016 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival - Closing Film
2016 Venice International Film Festival - Fedora Award Best Film
2016 Toronto International Film Festival
2016 TOKYO FILMeX International Film Festival
2017 Hong Kong Film Awards
2017 Taipei Film Festival
2018 Asia Pacific International Film Festival - Best Director
- Still Cut