( Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival) features two award winning feature films — Midi Z’s THE ROAD TO MANDALAY (Venice Film Festival, World Premiere and Best Director at Goldenhorse Film Awards) and SMALL TALK (Berlinale, Teddy Award Winner).
Midi Z, like his predecessor Tsai Ming-liang, is an immigrant to Taiwan, hailing from Myanmar. His films are about the transmigration of people in the region, specifically in Southeast Asia along the Chinese-Myanmar border. In THE ROAD TO MANDALAY, he focuses on Burmese migrants who work illegally in Bangkok. The film world premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year and also garnered a Best Director win at the Goldenhorse Film Awards in Taipei.
SMALL TALK from Hui-Chen Huang, is another award winning film, where it won the Teddy Award at the recent edition of the Berlinale. A personal story, the director sets off on a journey into the past with her mother, confronting her with questions that have tormented the director for many years about her mother and their family’s violent history of spousal abuse against her by her abusive father. By digging deeper, especially in regards to her mother’s sexuality, the film paints a picture of the changing lives and conditions for women in Taiwan.
The screening schedule of the two films mentioned above is as follows:
THE ROAD TO MANDALAY再見瓦城
SUNDAY, APRIL 30
6:30 PM
CGV Cinemas, Theater 3
SMALL TALK日常對話
TUESDAY, MAY 2
7:00 PM
Downtown Independent