“Mongrel” – produced by DVS Professor Elizabeth Wijaya and Lai Weijie – set to appear at the International Film Festival Rotterdam

“Mongrel” – a film produced by DVS professors Elizabeth Wijaya and Lai Weijie – will appear at the upcoming International Film Festival Rotterdam as a work in progress. The film – directed by Singaporean director Chiang Wei Liang – features an exciting cast which includes Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad (“Eternity,” “Manta Ray”) alongside Taiwanese female actor Lu Yi-ching (“The River”, “Stray Dogs”) and rapper Hong Yu-hong (“Bad Education”, “Miss Shampoo”) from Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One. Atchara Suwan (“By the Time It Gets Dark”) wll also appear in the film as will Guo Shu-wei in his debut role.

The film follows Rungkumjad’s character – an undocumented migrant and on-demand caregiver for rural families – who struggles to maintain his humanity while caring for the elderly and disabled. 

Weijie and Wijaya (from E&W Films) are joined by producers Lynn Chen and Chu Yun-ting for Taiwan’s Le Petit Jardin, and Marie Dubas from France’s Deuxième Ligne Films (“Taste,” “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”). Executive producers include Taiwan New Wave vanguards Hou Hsiao-hsien and Liao Ching-sung. 

Competition is anticipated in the second or third quarter or 2024. 

Director Wei Liang had this to say about the project: “Drawing from my own experiences and the stories of countless others from the Southeast Asian community I have encountered over the past decade in Taiwan, ‘Mongrel’ is a continuation of my concern for the precarious lives in the liminal spaces of Taiwanese society. It weaves together two things that are deeply personal to me: the physical and emotional toll that palliative care extracts from the caregiver, and the paradox of hired help that is both depended upon and distrusted,”