14 Apples

Forum 2018

Wang Shin-hong is suffering from insomnia. A fortune teller advises the Mandalay businessman, whose car and bulging wallet suggest that business is going pretty well, to spend 14 days in a monastery, living life as a monk and eating an apple a day. Such a thing is possible in Burma today.
Wang Shin-hong arrives at the rural monastery, has his head shaved and dons a red robe, in which he instantly becomes an authority. During the welcome procession, the village women, their poverty clear from their clothing and the huts in the background, put more than they have in his alms bowl. During his fleeting role as their advisor, Wang Shin-hong soon learns of the villagers’ attempts to survive and make a living as legal or illegal migrants in China, Thailand or Malaysia. He also finds out how the other monks try to generate profit and additional income. 14 Apples is a disturbing documentary about the seductive power of a Buddhism whose ideals are not merely humanist in this era of globalisation.

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by Midi Z Taiwan / Myanmar 2018 Burmese 84’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director	Midi Z
Screenplay	Wu Pei-chi, Midi Z, Lin Sheng-wen
Cinematography	Midi Z
Editing	Wu Pei-chi, Midi Z, Lin Sheng-wen
Sound Design	Chou Cheng
Sound	Li Tsung-tse
Producers	Midi Z, Isabella Ho, Lin Sheng-wen, Wang Shin-hong

World Sales

Seashore Image Productions

Produced by

Seashore Image Productions

Photos

Midi Z

Born in Lashio, Burma, in 1982. He studied at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology in Taipei.

Filmography

2006 Bai ge (Paloma Blanca); 14 min. 2008 Mo tuo che fu (Motorcycle Driver); 28 min. 2009 Hua xin jie ji shi (Hua-xin Incident); 24 min. · Jia xiang lai de ren (The Man From Hometown); 16 min. 2010 Cai cai wo shi shui (Guess Who I Am?); 15 min. 2011 Gui lai de ren (Return to Burma); 84 min. 2012 Qiong ren liu lian ma yao tou du ke (Poor Folk); 115 min. 2013 Che mo pi hu (Silent Asylum); 15 min. 2014 Hai shang huang gong (The Palace on the Sea); 16 min. · Bing du (Ice Poison); 95 min., Panorama 2014 2015 Wa yu shi de ren (Jade Miners); 104 min. 2016 Fei cui zhi cheng (City of Jade); 99 min., Forum 2016 · Zai jian wa cheng (The Road to Mandalay); 108 min. 2018 14 Apples

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018