Amid the flurry of new international originals announced by Netflix this week comes word of its first Chinese-language series. Hailing from Taiwan and director Sam Quah, Bardo is billed as a jailbreak thriller with a karmic dimension. The eight-episode project is in the shooting prep stage, and when completed will be made available for streaming globally. Last April, Netflix finally unlocked a gateway into China via a licensing deal with iQiyi.
　　Singapore-HQ’d IFA Media, whose recent credits include Taiwanese series The Teenage Psychic, is producing Bardo. Quah is a Malaysian-born filmmaker who has long resided in Taipei. His The Free Man was shortlisted for a Live Action Short Oscar in 2015. He is also writing Bardo which has been developed with Taiwanese lead writer, Lily Chen.
　　Bardo follows the journey of Ah Quan, a good man who has descended into crime and now awaits execution in prison. An encounter with a mysterious inmate causes him to experience events from alternative timelines. Learning that his son is in danger, Ah Quan escapes to protect his family only to discover he is a pawn in a much larger game. Blending Taiwanese aboriginal mysticism and karmic destiny, Bardo — which describes state of existence between life and death — is Ah Quan’s search for redemption.