S’porean director Nelicia Low’s debut feature film Pierce to compete at prestigious Czech festival

SINGAPORE – Singaporean director Nelicia Low’s debut feature film, Pierce, has been invited to compete at the upcoming 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

The Mandarin-language movie is a thriller set in Taiwan. It stars Taiwanese actor Liu Hsiu-fu as Zijie, a teenage fencer who reconnects with his brother (Taiwanese actor Tsao Yu-ning) after the latter ends a seven-year stint in juvenile prison.

Zijie is initially convinced that his brother is innocent of the crime he was convicted for – killing an opponent during a fencing competition – but begins to question this belief. 

Low, 33, will be attending the festival, which takes place in the north-western Czech city of Karlovy Vary from June 28 to July 6. She will be joined by select producers, along with the Taiwanese cast, which also includes Golden Horse Award-winning Taiwanese actress Ding Ning as Zijie’s mother.

Low says she is excited for Pierce to have its world premiere there, as it is one of a select group of festivals certified by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

“Pierce was selected for the Crystal Globe competition almost immediately as the selection committee really loved it, and it will be the first time in the festival’s history that a Singapore film competes,” she tells The Straits Times.

Past winners of the Crystal Globe, the festival’s top prize, include Amelie (2001) by French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Pierce will be having its North American premiere very soon, says Low. “The North American market is something that matters a lot to our world sales agent Magnify, and it is very motivated to secure the best distribution deal in the United States.”

Magnify is the sales arm of Magnolia Pictures, an American distribution company that also distributed Oscar-winning South Korean film-maker Bong Joon-ho’s movies in the US.

Pierce was produced by Singapore production companies Potocol and Elysium Cine, in partnership with Taiwan’s Flash Forward Entertainment and Poland’s Harine Films, with support from Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency and the Polish Film Institute.

Pierce’s producers are in talks with local distributors for a Singapore release date, but declined to provide further details.

Low drew on her own experiences when she began writing Pierce in 2015, taking particular inspiration from her relationship with her older brother, who has autism. 

“I used to idealise him to be a loving, caring older brother, but as I grew up, I realised that our entire relationship was made up in my head. Accepting that I would never know if my brother actually reciprocated my love has been a painful journey for me, and is the same one that Zijie takes in Pierce,” she says.

For the former national fencer – who competed in the Asian Games in 2010 – writing her erstwhile sport into Pierce was also a natural choice.

“The older brother in the film is someone who is hyper intelligent, manipulative; an enigma. And fencing is actually very much like chess played with swords: Strategy is everything. Thus, it made a lot of sense for the script.

“The younger brother is always wondering what his older brother is really thinking. ‘Does he really care about me? Did he really kill someone on purpose or was it an accident?’” she says.