Slovakia!!

Thrilled to announce that MY PLASTIC MOTHER, by Amar Haikal, has been selected for the official selection of the Shorts Wrap 2026!!

The film is scheduled to be screened on 13 December 2026 in Košice, Slovakia.

Shorts Wrap organizes a curated screening of auteur short films, taking place from 11–13 December 2026 at the iconic Kino Úsmev in Košice, Slovakia. The Best Short Film will receive the Golden Fountain Award, which includes a €1,000 cash prize and a mentorship programme supporting the director’s next short film project.

In collaboration with the Košice International Film Festival, Shorts Wrap also offers participants a programme of workshops, masterclasses, and networking events with fellow filmmakers and industry professionals.

Shorts Wrap collaborates with more than 10 film directors, screenwriters, and producers whose works have premiered in the Short Film Competition or La Cinef (student short films) section of the Cannes Film Festival.

MY PLASTIC MOTHER is the most successful short film in the Indonesian film industry and is now on the longlist for the 99th Academy Awards®.

My Plastic Mother has been screened at countless film festivals around the world, including prestigious events such as the Leeds International Film Festival, the HollyShorts Film Festival, the Indy Shorts Heartland Film Festival and Beirut Shorts in Lebanon.

Amar Haikal about My Plastic Mother, aka Anak Macan:

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.