ANNA

When Nic comes to Anna‘s apartment to dispose of Anna's dead body, he finds that Anna's body has disappeared. At this moment, the police detective Mark arrives at Anna's apartment.

ANNA is a suspense film about the oppression of ordinary people by the power of capital in today's society.

When the writer, Nian Li, writes the script, she references the recent suicides of South Korean female celebrities and China's rising Internet influencers' culture. The story is about when a girl finally dares to stand up to the forces of capitalism, the cruelties seem to tell her how stupid and futile she was. The story takes place at night. The influencer Anna is asked to be the barmaid again by her boss Nic, but Anna refuses. Enraged by the rejection, Nic breaks into Anna's apartment and rapes her. During the painful sex action, Anna lost consciousness. Nic thinks he has killed Anna and runs out of the house in terror. The following day, Nic calms down and returns to Anna's room. When Nic attempts to destroy the evidence, he finds Anna's body has disappeared. The room looked as if no one had lived in it. At this moment, Police detective Mark arrives at Anna's apartment. Pressed by Mark, Nic reveals the details of how he killed Anna last night and bribs Mark to keep this secret. Mark pretends to agree about his idea but instead brings a glass of water with poison in it. After Nic drinks it，he gets a call from his assistant, who tells him Mark is not a detective. It turns out that Anna was not killed by Nic last night. It is a brief loss of consciousness. Anna waked up feeling desperate and decided to commit suicide. Mark was too late to arrive at Anna's apartment, so Mark decided to kill Nic.

In the end, though, the writer, Nian Li, avenges Anna by Nic's death. However, Anna can not be revived. She was still with the despair of the world left in the end, so the story is still a tragedy. Meanwhile, who Mark is and why he wants to avenge Anna are hidden in the details of the film.

  • Nian Li
    Director
  • Nian Li
    Writer
  • Eddie Zhao
    Producer
  • Kai Lu
    DOP
  • Yawen Lu
    Key Cast
    "Anna"
  • Peter Pu
    Key Cast
    "Nic"
  • Gavin Yang
    Key Cast
    "Mark"
  • Helen Peng
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Student
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 29 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 25, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Sydney Summer School in Shanghai Jiaotong University
  • Shanghai Jiaotong University Screening
    Shanghai
    China
    July 29, 2021
    Shanghai Jiaotong University Screening
    SJTU Academic Award for Best Actor
Director Biography - Nian Li

Nian Li was born in an ordinary family in China. Although her parents are both engineers, she resolutely embarked on the path of art since the period of primary school. From acting to the art of broadcasting and hosting, then now film art, Nian Li has been exploring the possibility of her artistic ability on the road of life.

During the two years of undergraduate study at UNSW, Nian not only tried a variety of media forms on campus, including film, animation, and game production but also had an internship in Mango TV who is the leader in China's film and television industry. In this process, Nian is more determined about the blueprint of her future career.

Hence, according to her own career planning, Nian enrolled at the University of Sydney for postgraduate study. During the postgraduate studies, Nian's creating style gradually shifted to reflect social realities, such as COVID-19 and wars.

Nian Li always believes that theory and practice are inseparable. And that is what she has been always following.

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Director Statement

As a director and screenwriter, I want my film can contains reflection on the social reality. I hope to draw the audience's attention to the unfair things happening on the earth through my works so that the vulnerable groups can be protected.