Thrilled to announce that MY PLASTIC MOTHER, by Amar Haikal, has been selected to be screened at the 20th edition of Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, which will be held on November 29, 2025 – December 6, 2025.
Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival ( JAFF ) is a premier Asian film festival in Indonesia focusing on the development of Asian cinema. This festival not only contributes to introducing Asian cinema to a wider public in Indonesia, but it also provides a space for the intersection of many sectors such as arts, culture, and tourism.
Since its inception, JAFF has worked closely with NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema), a worldwide organization of 30 member countries. Headquartered in Colombo Srilanka, NETPAC is a pan-Asian film and cultural organization involving critics, filmmakers, festival organizes and curators, distributors and exhibitors, as well as educators. It is considered a leading authority in Asian cinema.
JAFF presents several awards to the best films in Asia such as Golden Hanoman Award, Silver Hanoman Award, NETPAC Award, Blencong Award, Geber Award, Jogja Students Film Award, JAFF-Indonesian Screen Awards to express the deepest appreciation for Asian cinema.
The screening will be at the spectacular Empire XXI Cinema.
MY PLASTIC MOTHER, aka ANAK MACAN, was premiered worldwide last week in the official competition of two film events qualifying for the Hollywood Oscars:
- Leeds International Film Festival, UK
- Beirut Shorts/ International Film Festival of Lebanon
Synopsis:
Eki, living by the landfill, searches for a memento to honor his late mother. Battling the relentless rain, landslides, and looming threats from scavengers and machinery, he fears her memory could be lost beneath the waste forever.
Director’s Statement:
I grew up without my mother. As a kid, I did not really consider it to be a problem until I saw the relationship my classmates had with their mothers. For example, family photo days in elementary school were always a terror; the other kids brought in photographs of their whole family, and all mine had was just a photo of me and my father. It made me feel incomplete. I would then end up crafting well-thought-out lies to my friends about my mother working overseas. I slowly became a very troublesome and hurtful kid, to the point of expulsion in the sixth grade. As I reflect, the frustration and confusion that I kept to myself were the one that led me to hurt others around me.
With this film, I want to encapsulate those years of my childhood. It is a story about longing and the desire we all have to feel complete, interpreted through the pure desire of a child. The protagonist is a naughty, harsh boy that secretly keeps a lot of pain inside – which is also a trait most male don’t get the chance to outgrow.
In 2021, as I was shooting a documentary project in the landfill of Bantar Gebang, a huge landslide happened. Burying hundreds of old public graveyards with plastic waste sent from the capital, Jakarta. The locals refer to the kids who play in the landfill as “Anak Macan” or “Tiger Boy” due to their reckless nature. But I see it as an ironic relation to the mascot of Jakarta, the Kemayoran Tiger. All the characters in this film are played by non-professional actors, they are the kids who live in Bantar Gebang. This story is theirs as much as it is mine.
In a few days, we will announce new successes for this magnificent short film by one of Asia’s most talented young filmmakers.
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