“Meili” first appearance was at 2018 FIRST International Film Festival at Xining, where the film was nominated for three awards, including Best Feature, and Chi Yun took home Best Performer Award for her powerful and gut-wrenching performance. The film then was selected to 2018 Thessaloniki International Film Festival for International Competition, alongside with Sundance Audience Award winner “The Guilty (Gustav Möller, 2018)” and Cannes Palme d'Or winner “Shoplifters (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2018)”. To date, “Meili” had been to film festivals includes 2018 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (festival screening), 2018 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (New Talent Competition), 2019 Göteborg Film Festival (New Voices Selection), and 2019 Osaka Asian Film Festival (Main Competition), where it had its Japanese premiere in March 2019.
Synopsis
The film focuses on Meili (Chi Yun), a 22-year-old young girl who was abandoned by her parents and was raised by her elder sister, who is infertile. Meili was set up and raped by her brother-in-law before giving birth to a daughter in secret. Later Meili runs away with her lover, but soon her lover abandons her and her sister, a victim of domestic violence, comes to her for help. When her brother-in-law finds her, Meili resigns herself to the dire reality.
Director
Zhou Zhou was born in Anhui, China in 1984. He graduated in Radio and Television Journalism from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2006. He has been a critic and editor for many years. He currently serves as a script consultant for Jiaying Film and Television Group. “Meili” is Zhou Zhou's first feature film, it got three nominations and one Award at the 12th Xining IFF (Best Performer).
“Meili” is his first feature film. In his statement, he mentioned: “The film explores the traits of human selfishness through the story of the main protagonist Meili. Meili's struggles and efforts never seem to be resolved or rewarded. I used a realistic lens to reveal the sad existence of the characters. The key to connecting reality and drama was the performance of the main actress. That was our biggest challenge. I feel very fortunate I met Chi Yun, an outstanding young talent. Her brilliant interpretation has brought life to the film.”
Actress and creenwriter Chi Yun was born in Changchun, China in 1990. She started her acting career while she was studying in Beijing Film Academy. In 2016, she had her first screen appearance in the film “My Heart Leaps Up” and romance thriller “Hell Memory”. In 2017, she was the leading actress in the horror film “Evil Intentions”. In the same year, she met director Zhou Zhou and begun their collaboration on “Meili”'s screenplay together. “Meili” was selected to the Main Competition at FIRST Youth Film Festival in 2018 and Chi Yun received Best Performer Award with her gut-wrenching performance
Echelon Studios is a Los Angeles and New York-based production, international sales, and distribution company. “Meili” is one of Echelon Studios' new award-winning acquisition films and scheduled to be released in North America soon.
