The Road to Mandalay

This sober, subtly told tale paints an exquisite, heart-wrenching portrait of vulnerable and marginalized characters, at odds with their surroundings and even each other as they strive to succeed. Lianqing and Guo (Kai Ko, You Are the Apple of My Eye) meet on the small truck that smuggles them over the Burmese border into Thailand. A romance quietly develops in Bangkok, where they struggle to survive as illegal refugees. Lianqing is determined to start life anew while still sending money back home, but Guo makes overtures of returning to Burma and getting married. Desperate to get the papers she needs to work legally and avoid the threat of deportation, or worse, Lianqing makes a decision that may seal her fate. The striking poetry of his mise en scène brings a masterful contrast to the film’s stark realist milieu, marking director Midi Z in this fourth feature as a major talent.

Presented with the support of the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York