NINA WU
After being offered the role of a lifetime, an aspiring actress slowly descends into madness when confronted by the rampant sexual abuse within the film industry.
Co-written by its lead actress, Wu Ke-Xi, and her longtime collaborator, filmmaker Midi Z, Nina Wu is a merciless condemnation of a lucrative institution whose shiny exterior belies a nefarious underbelly of exploitation. The shy Nina spends her evenings cooped up in her small Taipei apartment coyly posing for unseen spectators on the Internet and dreaming of becoming a movie star. Her wishes come true when she accepts, despite numerous red flags, the nameless role of a female hero in a hotshot director’s newest film. The moment Nina finds herself on set, Midi Z and Wu begin to construct a harrowing labyrinth of scenes in which repressed trauma, hallucinations, and the film-within-a-film become increasingly difficult to parse. Known for gritty, naturalistic films exploring society’s fringes, Midi Z indulges in hyper stylization to construct a visually striking, sadly relevant nightmare. Yet, it is Wu who steals the film, balancing stone-faced aloofness and heartbreaking, empathetic moments of raw emotion. Certain to stir conversation, Nina Wu is a harsh but welcome depiction of a reality that many face, in the entertainment industry and beyond.
CAST: WU KE-XI, VIVIAN SUNG, KIMI HSIA, SHIH MING-SHUAI
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