Awards and festivals

Film description

Linaqing and Guo meet at the Burmese border which they both crossed illegally looking for a better life in Thailand. The reality of illegal immigrants' life is not the perfect setting for building a relationship, but the protagonists, busy looking for work and trying to get a residence permit, begin to grow close. Yet, their visions for the future are fundamentally different: the ambitious Lianquing wants to reach higher, while Guo's only goal is to earn some money and return home.

Midi Z returns to feature films after two documentaries and installations devoted to the Burmese working in jade mines. In his new film, he intertwines documentary with fiction in his own, characteristic way, creating an extremely powerful, authentic picture. He does not pity his protagonists – the frank, genuine record of their emotional and geographical journey is closed in long, perfectly framed shots, which find the hypnotic beauty in the least expected spaces. The melancholic soundtrack highlights their alienation from the place, at the same time creating an atmosphere of an unnamed suspense.

The leading roles are played by Midi Z's favorite actress, awarded at many festivals, Wu Ke-xi (both of them were the guests of the 7th edition of Five Flavours), and Ko Kai, a popular Taiwanese actor (known from romantic comedies, such as "Tiny Times"), who gladly sheds off his celebrity aura in the role of a factory worker. The independent Burmese filmmaker made "Road to Madalay" on a budget much larger than usual, which accounts for the high production quality of the film, but doesn't make it any less fresh and direct. The picture is a strong, auteur voice, a proof of the artistic maturity of its maker.

Jagoda Murczyńska