Academy Awards Qualifying Film Festival!

Thrilled to announce that My Plastic Mother, by Amar Haikal, has been
selected to participate at this year’s edition of the Norwegian Short Film Festival, Norway.

The Norwegian Short Film Festival is the oldest and largest short film festival in Norway, and the
only Academy Award-qualifying.

The festival has created a unique environment and opportunities for networking and connecting Norwegian and international filmmakers and industry professionals, emerging and established alike.

The 49th edition takes place in Grimstad, a small seaside town in the south of Norway, from
June 10th through 14th, 2026.

This is yet another Oscar-qualifying film event that has selected this gem of Asian cinema, which has already secured official eligibility to begin its run towards the Hollywood Awards 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.

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.

My Plastic Mother, also known as Anak Macan, stars the incomparable Muhammad Alfat Apriansyah, who was nominated for his work at the prestigious Singapore International Film Festival.

My Plastic Mother is the big hit of Asian cinema on the film festival circuit, and its director, Amar Haikal—the most talented filmmaker in the East—is already working on a new and ambitious project.

Stay tuned, as we will soon be announcing further successes for this Michael Rainheart production, which has already been officially selected to compete in the 2027 Oscars.