Born in Myanmar, Midi Z arrived in Taiwan at the age of sixteen. He studied Design and Art before obtaining a master’s degree from the National Taiwan University of Technology and Science. In 2006, his graduation film, Paloma Blanca, was invited to several international film festivals such as Busan and Gothenburg. In 2011, Return to Burma, his debut feature, was nominated for the Busan New Currents and Rotterdam Tiger competitions. In 2014, Ice Poison won Best International Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival and represented Taiwan for Best Foreign Language Film in the Oscars. In 2016, The Road to Mandalay won the Best Feature Film FEDEORA Award at the Venice Film Festival. Midi’s latest feature, Nina Wu, was selected for Un Certain Regard at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
In addition, Midi has made three documentaries, including Jade Miners (2015), which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, City of Jade (2016) and 14 Apples (2018), which was invited to the 2018 Berlinale. Notably, City of Jade, which world premiered at the 2016 Berlinale, was nominated for Best Documentary Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards as well as the Taipei Golden Horse Awards in 2016 and won the Special Mention award at the 2017 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and emerging. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
