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The Road to Mandalay
Film poster
Chinese	再見瓦城
Hanyu Pinyin	Zài Jiàn Wǎ Chéng
Directed by	Midi Z
Written by	Midi Z
Produced by	Patrick Mao Huang Midi Z
Starring	Kai Ko Wu Ke-xi
Cinematography	Tom Fan
Edited by	Matthieu Laclau
Music by	Lim Giong
Distributed by	Vie Vision Pictures
Release dates	5 September 2016 (2016-09-05) (Venice) 9 December 2016 (2016-12-09) (Taiwan)
Running time	108 minutes
Countries	Taiwan Myanmar France Germany
Languages	Southwestern Mandarin Burmese Thai
Box office	NT$7.1 million

The Road to Mandalay is a 2016 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Midi Z. The film premiered at the 73rd edition of the Venice Film Festival in the Venice Days section, in which it was awarded the Fedeora Award for Best Film. It was also screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot

A Young Burmese girl, Lien Ching (Wu Ke-xi), smuggles herself in a truck heading for Bangkok, Thailand, aiming to pursue a better life, and eventually even go to Taiwan for better opportunities. In Bangkok she meets A-kuo (Kai Ko), a boy from the same Burmese hometown Lashio, who was less ambitious but pragmatic and had a crush on her.

Lacking proper identification, Liang struggles to find legitimate work and gets arrested as an illegal immigrant by the Thai authorities. She is fined and has to rely on A-kuo's help. Lien Ching becomes desperate to obtain legal paperwork, even if it is fraudulent.

After several failed attempts on the papers and losing money, she finally accepts a solution offered by a drug dealer who requires a huge sum of money. In order to collect the amount, Lien Ching prostitutes herself. This act enrages A-kuo, who has been supporting her.

Lien Ching makes enough money to gain passage into Taiwan, while A-kuo remains left behind. One night shortly before her planned departure, A-kuo jealously murders Lien Ching, and then himself.

Cast

• Kai Ko as A-kuo
• Wu Ke-xi as Lien Ching

Awards and nominations

References

1. "TFI-國家電影中心 Taiwan Film Institute - 電影票房資訊-每月票房公告". www.tfi.org.tw. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
2. "Midi Z's 'Road To Mandalay' secures German co-producer". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
3. Vittoria Scarpa (9 September 2016). "The Venice Days Award goes to The War Show". CinEuropa. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
4. "Toronto unveils City To City, World Cinema, Masters line-ups". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
5. "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
6. Frater, Patrick (8 February 2017). "Indies, Newcomers Dominate Hong Kong Film Award Nominations". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
7. "2017 Taipei Film Festival - News - Latest News - 2017List of Taipei Film Awards Winners". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
8. autori, Giornate degli. "Full list of prizes awarded to Venice Days films". venice-days.com. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
9. "柯震東再見瓦城 青年電影手冊男演員獎 - 娛樂 - 中央社即時新聞 CNA NEWS". 20 March 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.

External links

• The Road to Mandalay at IMDb

• 2016 films
• 2016 drama films
• Taiwanese drama films
• French drama films
• German drama films
• 2010s Mandarin-language films
• 2010s Burmese-language films
• Films directed by Midi Z
• Myanmar–Thailand relations
• Burmese diaspora
• Immigration to Thailand
• Burmese drama films
• 2016 multilingual films
• Taiwanese multilingual films
• French multilingual films
• German multilingual films
• 2010s French films
• 2010s German films
• Films scored by Lim Giong