Season 7: Polyphonic Asia

The diversity found in the languages, religious practices, and histories of Southeast Asia defy any understandings of a united region. Likewise, films from these countries, the focus of this season of Asia and the Pacific Screens, often turn to the surreal to express the complexities of modern life. Where textual explanations fail, these films limn ineffable existence through a montage of sound and colour. This season does not attempt to define or capture Southeast Asia, but offers a kaleidoscope of recent cinema from a variety of locations and in many languages; audiences can experience the innovative filmmaking talent and startling array of narrative technique found in our neighbouring countries. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
04
Apr
2018

The Other Option: Australian Punk and Hardcore in South East Asia

The only Australian film to be screened in this series, The Other Option follows the history of Australian bands performing in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore from 1998 to the present.

The Other Option

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06
Sep
2017

Homostratus (Căn phòng của mẹ)

This mesmerizing montage offers numerous perspectives on urban Vietnam. Her second film, Siu Pham’s Homostratus is both an experimental foray into film and a reflection on contemporary life, posing many questions but rarely giving answers. Its meandering psychedelic style garnered "Best Unique Vison" at New York’s "Queens World Film Festival" in 2014.

Homostratus

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04
Oct
2017

Conq

Although originally presented as a freely available series of shorts on YouTube, the series Conq has been quite controversial in Indonesia, and has been voluntarily removed from YouTube by its producers. The series is no longer openly accessible on the Internet in Indonesia, but can still be found by those eager to watch it.

Conq series still

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25
Oct
2017

Sweet Medicine

First Vita Plus is an extremely successful Filipino corporation selling natural health drinks that consumers claim have cured everything from minor ailments to different kinds of cancer. Through a multi-level marketing strategy, First Vita Plus has sold impressive quantities of drink sachets around the Philippines and now around the world.

Factory scene

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06
Dec
2017

The Wings of the Takasago Giyutai 高砂的翅膀

The Amis tribe of east coast Taiwan have a traditional belief that the spirits of their dead return home by adopting the wings of a bird. During World War II, many indigenous Taiwanese lost their lives fighting for Japan in the Pacific, and their spirits often struggled to return.

The Wings of the Takasago Giyutai

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14
Feb
2018

Bid'ah Cinta

Bid'ah Cinta is the third in Nurman Hakim’s trilogy of films concerning Islam in contemporary Indonesia. The first of the trilogy, Pesantren: 3 Wishes 3 Loves (3 Doa 3 CInta), concerned three friends arrested after 9/11 on suspicion of terrorism, was shown on SBS Australia shortly after its 2008 release. The second, Khalifah, examined the controversies surrounding the niqab in 2011.

Bid'ah Cinta still

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07
Mar
2018

Short films for International Womens' Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2018, Asia Pacific Screens presents a series of short documentaries made by or focused upon women from Southeast Asia.

Women of the Forest: The Hidden Burden of Climate Change

Stills from the short films

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Updated:  6 October 2016/Responsible Officer:  Director/Page Contact:  CAP Web Team