The slums of Manila, a factory in Bangkok, the colonial wound of Indonesia: Southeast Asian stories are ready to be told this weekend at Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre's Asean Film Festival, which runs from tomorrow to Aug 23. All screenings are free and after each film there will be a discussion with critics, Asean experts and the cast of the film.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Asean, the festival asks viewers to look back at the development of the nations through challenges and hardships, then to look forward to the acknowledgment of multiplicity and self-confidence of the region.
The festival will open with Vietnamese film Forever Yours, a gay drama that captures the changing urban landscape of the country. The stars of the film will attend the screening.
Two titles are the highlights of the festival: Ma' Rosa from the Philippines and The Road To Mandalay, a film set in Thailand by a Myanmar director.
Ma' Rosa takes place in the sordid underbelly of Manila scorched by heat and soaked by rain. The title refers to Mama Rosa, a market vendor and small-time drug pusher who's arrested by the police. At the station, her children are told by the police to come up with bail money and the film chronicles a messy, absurd and disturbing struggle against poverty, corruption and fate. Jaclyn Jose plays Rosa in a role that won her the Best Actress prize at Cannes Film Festival last year.
The Road To Mandalay tells the story of Myanmar migrant workers and their perpetual dream of finding greener grass. Guo (Ko kai) is smuggled across the border to Thailand where he finds Lianquing (Xi Wu-ke), who's also in the same human cargo shipment. In Bangkok, he persuades her to come and work with him at a textile factory, and soon Lianquing harbours dreams of getting a Thai identity card so she can go on to find work in Taiwan.
Guo disagrees, believing that once they've saved enough money they should return home and end their wanderings. The film is directed by Midi Z, a Shan-born filmmaker who lives and works mostly in Taiwan. Other films include Ziarah: Tales From The Otherworlds, which looks at the legacy of Indonesia's colonial past; Jagat, a Malaysian film that deals the complex relationships between different ethnicities; and A Long Long Time Ago, which chronicles the development of Singapore through the story of two families.
Visit www.sac.or.th or call 0-2-880-9429 ext 3834 for reservations.
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre is on Boromratchonnanee Road, Taling Chan.
