Getting so excited about the new edition of the QCinema International Film Festival in Quezon City, Philippines, where the hope of Indonesian cinema, Amar Haikal, presents his new short film MY PLASTIC MOTHER.

There are four unmissable screenings.

The first screening was fantastic, with a full house. Everyone was eager to discover this cinematic gem.

MY PLASTIC MOTHER, also known as ANAK MACAN, had its world premiere at the Leeds International Film Festival in the UK and the Beirut International Short Film Festival in Lebanon.

Since then, it has been featured in a cascade of qualifying festivals for the Hollywood Oscars in its first month on the International Film Festival circuit.

MY PLASTIC MOTHER has also been NOMINATED by the Indonesian Film Academy for the Best Short Film Award.

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 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.

We have a lot of selections in Oscar qualifying festivals that we will be sharing in the coming days.
Stay tuned.

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