Thrilled to announce that ANAK MACAN, aka MY PLASTIC MOTHER, by Amar Haikal, is an Official Selection at Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF) – India’s Largest Short Film Festival and the only Oscar® Qualifying Short Film Festival!
Theatrical screenings will take place across select venues in Bengaluru from 14th August to 16th August 2026.
MY PLASTIC MOTHER is the most successful Asian short film of the year on the international film festival circuit.
Since its world premiere, it has been screened at some of the world’s most important and prestigious film festivals.
MY PLASTIC MOTHER has officially qualified for the Hollywood Oscars race after winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Flickerfest International Short Film Festival in Australia.
Among the many festivals that Amar Haikal will be attending over the coming days is the HollyShorts Film Festival in California.
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.
Amar Haikal is putting the finishing touches to his new short film, which is set to premiere at one of the world’s leading film festivals in the spring of 2027.
Stay tuned, because in a few days’ time we’ll be announcing further successes for this rising star of Indonesian cinema.
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