Short Films

Amarta: Gadis dan Air (Amarta: the Girl and the Water) by Bambang Kuntara Murti, Indonesia
After a big Boss occupies the city and forces the people to work and buy water from him, Amarta, the Water Goddess, disappears. In the midst of misery and despair, a girl appears and tries to help free the people from the Boss’s cruelty.

Ang Paglilinis (The Cleansing) by Aldrich Alarilla, Philippines
Mt. Banahaw is not only a holy site for Folk Catholicism in the Southern Tagalog region of the Philippines, but also one of the country’s most important biodiversity hot spots. When pilgrims gather on the Mountain during Holy Week and leave their trash behind, problems start for the community as well as the natural resources in the area.

Culture Shot by Zhen Yee Khor, Malaysia
A multiracial group of friends brought together by the love of music.

Dermaga (The Wharf) by Zaihadi Zainudin, Malaysia
Agus has been living alone for a long time near the sea, before his daughter Mira took him back with her to the city. Despite Mira’s well-meaning actions, Agus still develops melancholia for what has been lost and will never come back again.

Dreams of Cambodia by Cyntheara Tham, Cambodia, USA
A short video diary of the filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery as she visits Cambodia.

Fell in Cemetery by Jakkrapan Sriwichai, Thailand
Mag, a Muslim Thai, travels to the north of Thailand to see Boy, his Buddhist friend, but strange things start happening after they visit the cemetery.

The Filipino Picture Show by Shalemar Coloma, Philippines, USA
This anthology of films pays homage to Filipino culture and the people who have so much pride in it. The “Double Feature” of films includes a retelling of a Filipino origin myth about how pineapples were created and the second is a visual poem about two Filipinx girls in love.

From Leonard to Leona: Ah Kua No More by Larry Tung, Singapore, USA
This documentary is about the life and work of Leona Lo, a transgender Singaporean artist and activist, as she navigates a society that is still coming to terms with its transgendered people and other sexual minorities.

Home Away from Phteah by Peter Prom, Cambodia, USA
A refugee shares her stories about Cambodia and hopes to pass cultural traditions to her family. She walks her grandson through her transition of Khmer Rouge influence, worshipping Buddhism, and her experience as an immigrant assimilating to the United States.

Kitorang Basudara (Far Away Home) by Ninndi Raras, Indonesia
Berto joins his older brother, Rony, in Yogyakarta to go to college. He soon realizes things aren’t as easy for Papuans like them living in Java. Berto tries to adapt to a new city, and tries to understand his brother’s job as a debt collector.

Listen by Min Min Hein, Myanmar, USA
Exiled from her homeland of Myanmar, revolutionary artist Chaw Ei Then uses visually striking and emotionally unsettling performance art and artwork as a means of dissent, both to express her political views and to give voice to her victimized experience and inner struggles.

Menuju Batas (Toward the Limit) by Jeffri Harianja, Indonesia
A farmer in Entikong, Saiful, decided to work again as illegal worker in Malaysia. Together with his friend, Parman, and the other five illegal workers, they walked through the Indonesia-Malaysia border to get better future in Malaysia.

Nandito naman Tayo para sa isa’t isa, ‘di ba? (Aren’t We Here For Each Other?) by Gilb Baldoza, Philippines
A gay drug-dealing couple celebrates their anniversary amidst the country’s war on drugs

New Guitar Strings by May Oo Tha, Myanmar, USA
A young Burmese woman living in America searches for her passion in life, drawing upon inspiration from her musician father, while dealing with uncertainties about the future.

Nước (Water/Homeland) by Quyên Nguyen Le, Vietnam
Set in the California Drought, Nước (Water/Homeland) is an experimental narrative short film about a queer Vietnamese American teen who attempts to piece together and understand their mom’s experience as a Vietnam War refugee.

Queer Transnational Love in the time of Social Media and Globalization by Adrian Alarilla, Philippines, USA, Singapore, UAE
In this video study, the filmmaker analyzes the possibilities and unsustainability of queer, transnational love for hybridized Filipino/American subjects. Using found footage, he retraces the story of his love with the research subject in an effort to work through the trauma of ending a relationship, all the while revealing the larger socio-political structures in place that are keeping them from one another.

Samurai Ndeso (Villager Samurai) by Alvin Aprilianto Tan, Indonesia
Putra, a boy who lives in a remote village wants to eat at a Japanese restaurant in the city.

Singh in The Lion City by Upneet Kaur-Nagpal, Singapore
‘Singh In The Lion City’ is a documentary about a Singaporean Sikh man’s personal quest to decode his cultural identity. This sets him on journey of self-discovery along a shared heritage trail – which he encapsulates and celebrates via the creation of an app. This film touches on wider topics of home, migration and diaspora.

So-Khin by Chaweng Chaiyawan, Thailand, Myanmar
So and Khin, a married couple from Myanmar, work at a rubber plantation within southern Thailand, where they are exploited by the owner. Their harrowing situation is staged in the midst of political unrest between the three southern Thai provinces.

The String by Sani Febriani, Indonesia
The string between idols and their fans is something that will always appear as a circle. It is a circle of affection, attachment, rejection, and redemption. It begins with loads of affection. Tingling from toe to the top of your head. Then it grows. You feel like protecting your idols from the overflowing affection from others. That is when the attachment comes on surface. Unfortunately, sometimes your affection and all those protecting actions mean harm to the idols. Then it comes to the point you will realize that they are not yours alone. That the overflowing affection from others is what they live for. They can handle it. But you can’t. You feel rejected. Your world is fall apart. You loose hope. You get back to the beginning without even realize that you enter the same circle. Over and over again.

Tari Batik (The Journey to Batik) by Sabine Bolk, Indonesia, Netherlands
The Tari Batik, ‘Batik Dance’, performed by Dwi Anggraeni, visualizes the process of Batik making.

Umbilical by Wesley Leon Aroozoo, Singapore
With innocent intentions, a pair of unborn twins argue over the decision of leaving their mother’s womb three months early to cheer her up.

Vietnam 4D Experience by Juan Poveda, Vietnam, Spain
Year 2179, our atmosphere is destroyed and our way of life has been drastically changed.

Where The Wind Stops By by Dimas Romadhon, Indonesia, USA
In this short travelogue, the filmmaker documents the journey to Gili Mandangin island, the “island where the wind stops by,” designated as one of the leper islands during Dutch colonization. Today, because of the enduring stigma, the island continues to be underdeveloped.