As many people struggle to make a living in their home country or region, in South-East Asia and many other parts of the world, the flow of migrant workers brings a variety of issues for many cultures. Whereas the economic factor has to be taken into account, the fact that these people at times live a life aside from the society where they found work is quite troublesome, leading to isolation and a growing sense of detachment, which is further emphasized by their relatives still being in their home country. In his short feature “Nia's Door”, Malaysian director Lau Kek-huat tells the story of a Filipino migrant worker, who has taken up a job as a housemaid in a Taiwanese household. The movie, which was nominated for Best Short Film at Taipei Film Festival 2016 and won the Sonje Award at Pusan International Film Festival 2015, tackles the problem of isolation and the pressure of trying to please two sets of expectations.
Nia's Door is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Berlin
Nia (Eliquence B. Young) has traveled all the way from her home in the Philippines, leaving her family behind, to start a job as a maid in a Taiwanese household. While her female employer (Vera Chen) insists on the door of Nia`s room to be open all the time, telling her about a supposedly broken lock, her new housemaid quickly finds out the door works quite well. The fact her new employee locks herself in her room and maintains her privacy is a source of displeasure for her employers, even though they do not confront her openly about the issue. However, when Nia has to fix a problem with the money she sent to her family, and she is forced to take her employer's daughter with her into town, a new kind of conflict arises which might cost Nia her only source of income.
Apart from the door which Nia keeps locked in order to maintain some kind of privacy for herself, she does not have much space that belongs to her, as she is either observed by her employer or judged by her family back home. Eliquence B. Young plays Nia as a woman who seems to be always on the edge of a nervous breakdown, trying to please her employer and her family at the same time, and losing herself while trying to tackle an impossible task, which is even made more difficult when bureaucratic obstacles get in her way. Lau Kek-huat's realist approach to the story, supported by Yeh Ming's cinematography, gives the feature an almost semi-documentary feeling, especially when we see Nia struggle as a result of a variety of issues, with the signs of physical and emotional exhaustion become more and more evident.
In the end, “Nia's Door” is a well-executed short feature and a sobering insight into the kind of isolation and pressure felt by migrant workers such as Nia. Director Lau Kek-huat manages to keep the viewer interested into the story, the characters and their struggle while not diving into melodramatic territory.
