Overview

• The Taiwanese actor makes her feature directing debut with Nuhai (Girl), which screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday.
• Shu Qi says she based the story on her difficult upbringing with an alcoholic father and completed the long-gestating script after serving on Venice’s jury in 2023.
• Set during Taiwan’s late-1980s transformation, the film follows Hsiao-lee (Bai Xiao-Ying) and features 9m88 as her mother Chuan and Roy Chiu as a violent father figure.
• Critics praise the movie’s ambition and genre-blending approach while noting its blunt portrayal of abuse, with others faulting its lack of subtlety and one-note male antagonists.
• Following its Venice bow, the film is seeking U.S. distribution, as coverage situates Shu Qi’s debut within a gradual rise in visibility for women directors in Asia.