A special program by Stefano Locati
The 2024 selection includes four short films from Japan, Myanmar, Singapore, and the Philippines. The four short movies deal with different themes – from friendship to loneliness, from the vacuity of today’s modern media society to the sense of guilt – with a shared intimate approach, almost metaphysical. The actions that unfolds in these short movies are left to the viewer’s free interpretation while navigating through a kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions. The short format allows to experiment with the same sense of rapidity as the one of the stories that are narrated, yet still maintaining the complexity of the characters and their motivations: from satire to parable, a poetic and unfathomable look at the contradictions of human’s souls.
Two of Us (Suigyo no majiwari)
Director: Igarashi Kohei
Giappone/Francia, 20’
Two childhood friends are at the end of a trip near a resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The two start quarreling, while one of their mobile phones keeps ringing. With a self-restrained style, full of ellipses, Igarashi Kohei composes an occult ode to friendship and disillusion. His oneiric-apocalyptic feature film Hold Your Breath Like a Lover (Iki o koroshite, 2014) was presented at Locarno’s Film Festival.
The Altar (Pha-Yar-Sin)
Director: Moe Myat May Zarchi
Myanmar, 11’
A Buddhist tale on guilt, narrated through a whisper, with an experimental style that mixes photography, animation and environmental sounds. The result is an intimate and confessional experience that caresses the senses. Moe Myat May Zarchi is a visual Burmese artist who graduated from the New York Film Accademy in 2016 and founded the organization 3-Act Films, with the aim of propagating experimental cinematographic culture in Myanmar.
Bagasi
Director: Nelson Yeo
Singapore/Indonesia, 15’
A woman drags a bulky bag through the suburban’s night streets. However, the bag is heavy, and every once in a while she needs to take a break. A melancholic story made of silences, dance, and mystery, shot with an intoxicating taste for the surreal. Nelson Yeo won the Golden Leopard prize with Dreaming and Dying (2023), his debut feature movie inspired by his previous short movie Dreaming (2021).
Primetime Mother
Director: Sonny Calvento
Filippine, 15’
An audition for a popular TV program for combative moms becomes an exhausting test of nerves for the contestants. A joyful yet merciless satire on the exploitative nature of show business society and on the perseverance of a mother with nothing left to lose. Sonny Calvento is the director of the fibrillating mind thriller The Decaying (Nabubulok, 2017), his debut feature film. He had already participated in the East Asia Now selection with the exuberant short movie Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss (2019).
