''The Road to Mandalay'' is a 2016 internationally co-produced

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Midi Z Zhao Te-yin (; born 18 December 1982), also known as Midi Z, is a Myanmar-born Taiwanese film director. His 2014 film ''Ice Poison'' was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. On November 7, ...

. The film premiered at the 73rd edition of the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

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 The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

Plot

A Young Burmese girl, Lien Ching ( Wu Ke-xi), smuggles herself in a truck heading for

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, aiming to pursue a better life, and eventually even go to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

for better opportunities. In Bangkok she meets A-kuo (

Kai Ko Kai Ko Chen-tung (; born Ko Chia-kai on 18 June 1991) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and film director. Ko won Best New Actor at the 48th Golden Horse Awards and the 12th Chinese Film Media Awards for his starring role in the film '' You Are th ...

), a boy from the same Burmese hometown

Lashio Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hills, is located ...

, 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 Thailand, while A-kuo remains short. One night shortly before her planned departure, A-kuo jealously murders Lien Ching.

Cast

as A-kuo * Wu Ke-xi as Lien Ching

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Road To Mandalay, The 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