Thrilled to announce that the short film MY PLASTIC MOTHER, by the outstanding Indonesian filmmaker Amar Haikal, has been selected to compete at the 50th edition of the Atlanta Film Festival. Taking place April 23- May 3
One of the world’s most prestigious film festivals.
MY PLASTIC MOTHER, aka ANAK MACAN is in eligible for the jury prizes.
This is yet another Oscar-qualifying festival to select this film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the recent Flickerfest International Film Festival in Australia, thereby securing a direct route to the 2027 Oscars.
MY PLASTIC MOTHER had its world premiere at Leeds International Film Festival in the UK and Beirut Shorts International Film Festival in 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.
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.
Amar Haikal is the most talented and promising filmmaker of his generation in the Asia-Pacific region and is already preparing to make the leap to feature films.
Muhammad Alfat Apriansyah excels in his leading role and has been nominated for awards at international film festivals.
Stay tuned, because we’ll be announcing further successes for this gem of Asian cinema very soon.
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