PETALING JAYA, April 19 — A Malaysian co-production inspired by the #MeToo movement made it to the official selection of France’s celebrated Cannes Film Festival next month.
Nina Wu, or its Chinese title Zhuo Ren Mi Mi, is a psychological thriller inspired by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been selected for “Un Certain Regard” section, a section of the festival that recognises innovative and daring storytelling.
The film is presented by Taiwan’s Seashore Image Productions and is an international co-production between Malaysian film production company Jazzy Pictures, Taiwan’s Harvest 9 Road Entertainment, Myanmar Montage Film and Germany’s River Flow Studio.
The Official Selection for this year’s Cannes Film Festival was announced at a press conference in France yesterday.
Directed by Myanmar-born Taiwanese filmmaker Midi Z, the Mandarin-language film tells the story of an aspiring actress who moves to the city to chase her dreams only to be struck a series of mysterious events connected to another actress vying for the same role.
Z’s previous credits include The Road to Mandalay and Ice Poison. Nina Wu marks the 36-year-old indie filmmaker’s first Taiwan-made feature film.
Nina Wu is written by Taiwanese actress Wu Ke-xi who also plays the lead, starring alongside Vivian Sung and Kimi Hsia.
Jazzy Pictures managing director Joanne Goh served as executive producer of the film, which was made with a budget of US$2 million (RM8.3 million), according to a statement by Jazzy Pictures.
The film also features emerging Malaysian actor Fabian Loo who plays a production assistant.
Nina Wu spent one year in pre-production and was shot in Taiwan for two months. Filming wrapped up in November and is currently in post-production and final editing.
Goh along with director Z will be attending the festival which runs from May 14 to 25.
