Mongolia!!

Thrilled to announce that Amar Haikal’s short film MY PLASTIC MOTHER has been selected to compete at the 14th Golden Ger International Film Festival in Mongolia.

MY PLASTIC MOTHER, also known as ANAK MACAN, is the most resounding success of Indonesia’s new cinema.

MY PLASTIC MOTHER had its world premiere at the Leeds International Film Festival in the UK and the Beirut Shorts/International Film Festival in Lebanon.

It has since qualified for the 2027 Hollywood Oscars after winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Flickerfest International Short Film Festival in Australia.

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.

Muhammad Alfat Apriansyah is the undisputed star of this striking and sensitive production by the brilliant Michael Rainheart.

Stay tuned, because in a few days we’ll be announcing further successes for this masterpiece of Asian cinema. This includes more festivals that qualify for the Hollywood Oscars.