SYNOPSIS

After eight years toiling in bit-parts, aspiring actress Nina Wu finally gets her big break with a leading role in a spy thriller set in the 1960s. The part is challenging, not least because it calls for full nudity and explicit sex scenes, and the film’s director is often hard on her. But both the industry and the press are confident that the results are sensationally good. On the brink of triumph, though, Nina’s psychological resolve begins to crack. She rushes back to her family home to deal with two crises: her father’s business has gone bankrupt and her mother has suffered a heart attack. She dreams of rekindling a close relationship with her childhood friend Kiki but is haunted by paranoid fantasies that a mysterious woman is stalking and attacking her. As Nina clings to memories of happier times, it seems that there is one crucial memory that she is repressing…

English Title: Zhuo Ren Mi Mi English Title: Nina Wu Country: Taiwan, Malaysia, Myanmar Language: Mandarin Production year: 2019 Length: 103 minutes

CAST

WU Ke-xi, SUNG Yu-hua, HSIA Yu-chiao, SHIH Ming-shuai

CREW

Director: Midi Z Screenwriter: WU Ke-xi, Midi Z DOP: Florian J. E. ZINKE (BVK) Editor: Matthieu Laclau, TSAI Yann-shan Music: LIM Giong Sound Design: LI Den Feng, CHOU Cheng Production Design: KUO Chih-da Costume Design: Jelly CHUNG, CHAN Cheuk-ming Executive Producers: Midi Z, KO Yao-zong, Joanne Goh Producers: LIN Sheng-wen, Molly FANG, Claudia TSENG, Andi LIM Coproducers : Leonard TEE, Jessica CHAI, WANG Shin-hong, Isabella HO World sales: Luxbox

FESTIVALS

Malaysia International Film Festival
International Competition : Audience Award

Cannes Film Festival
Un Certain Regard

Taiwan Film Festival
Opening Film

Sitges Catalonian International Film Festival New Visions Award - Special Mention

Busan International Film Festival Window on Asian Cinema

Stockholm Film Festival Open Zone

Sydney Taiwanese Film Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival
IndieBo Film Festival
Transatlantyk Film Festival Bergen International Film Festival Geneve Film Festival
Prague International Film Festival

MIDI Z

Director/Screenwriter

Born in Myanmar, Midi Z arrived in Taiwan at the age of sixteen. He studied Design and Art before obtaining a master’s degree from the National Taiwan University of Technology and Science. In 2006, his graduation film, Paloma Blanca, was invited to several international film festivals such as Busan and Gothenburg. In 2011, Return to Burma, his debut feature, was nominated for the Busan New Currents and Rotterdam Tiger Competitions. In 2014, Ice Poison won Best International Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival and represented Taiwan at Foreign Language Oscars. In 2016, The Road to Mandalay won Best Feature Film FEDEORA Award at the Venice Film Festival. Midi’s latest feature, Nina Wu, is selected for the Un Certain Regard at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

In addition, Midi has made three documentaries, including Jade Miners (2015), which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, City of Jade (2016) and 14 Apples (2018), which was invited to the 2018 Berlinale. Notably, City of Jade, which world premiered at the 2016 Berlinale, was nominated for Best Documentary at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards as well as the Taipei Golden Horse Awards in 2016 and won the Special mention award at the 2017 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.

Filmography

2019, Nina Wu

2018, 14 Apples (Documentary)

2016, City of Jade (Documentary)

2016, The Road to Mandalay

2015, Jade Miners (Documentary)

2014, Ice Poison

2014, The Palace on the Sea (Short film)

2013, Silent Asylum (Short film)

2012, Poor Folk

2011, Return to Burma

2009, Hua-xin Incident (Short film)

2008, Motorcycle Driver (Short film)

2006, Paloma Blanca (Short film)