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Red Dot Cinema: Shorts From The Asian Film Festival

Various directors | 68 mins | English subtitles

Red Dot Cinema brings independent short films from Asia to the rest of the world. Studio 74 is proud to be a host venue to showcase this award winning, diverse collection of shorts from Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Korea and Taiwan.

Combining documentary, animation, dramatic narratives and experimental forms, this stunning collection allows Asian culture to find a voice on international screens. Approximate total running time 68 mins.

Programme:

Clockwork

Dir. Yukihiro Morigaki, Japan, 12min 23secs, 2013

Japanese / English subtitles

As a husband and wife spend their ordinary days together, their love has grown a little cold. Both have wind-up keys on their backs. They exist in their own world, and they cannot wind their own springs. They have made it through their lives only by turning each other’s keys. Amidst their daily life, the wife Yumi starts to grow suspicious of her husband’s love for her. Turning his key and having hers turned, she no longer understands what true love means. And the distance between them grows.

Film Festival Awards:

• 2nd Fox Movie Premium Short Film Festival_ Grand Prix
• 17th Ozu Memorial Tateshina Film Festival_Runner-up
• 7th Omoigawa Film festival Special July Prize
• 18th Mito Short Film Festival Short List
• 8th Nasu Short Film Festival Nasu Award Nominee

Hentak Kaki (March in Place)

Dir. James Khoo, Singapore, 12mins 10secs, 2011

2nd Warrant Officer Teck Hong has served his entire life in the army. Now 38, he finds himself needing to make a pivotal decision, should he continue serving in the army or leave and face the harsh reality of life outside. He knows that if he continues serving, his past injuries limits his roles in the army to administrative positions, something he loathes. However, upon meeting a certain detainee at the Detention Barracks in the army, his life takes a turn.

*In Singapore, there are full time military personnels, and male civilians who go for reservists about once a year for regular military training.

Film Festival Awards:

• 24th Singapore International Film Festival, Best Film – Short Film Category
• 4th Singapore Short Film Awards, Best Actor – Michael Chua

I, Profess

Dir. Dae Ryun Chang, Korea, 7min 38secs, 2013

A young teacher must overcome his fear of speaking in public to truly become the teacher he wants to be and find the joy and warmth in his work.

Official selection: KOSMA International Film Festival 2014

On Happiness Road (????) 

Dir. Hsin-Yin Sung, Taiwan, 12min 28sec, 2013

Taiwanese / English subtitles

Chichi is a six-year-old little girl who lives at Happiness Road with her family. Chichi has recently started school but she finds the teacher very demanding. She has to speak Mandarin instead of her Taiwanese mother tongue in order to be a good student in class…

Film Awards:

• Taipei Film Festival, 2013, Best Animation
• Kaohsiung Film Festival, 2013, Best Selection in Short Film Competition

Consider (???????) 

Dir. Panu Saeng-Xuto, Thailand, 20min, 2013

Thai / English subtitles

Tay is a teenage ladyboy, or “kathoey” which is a relatively well-tolerated transgender group in Thailand. These are males who take on traditional female roles, and some describe them as the “third gender”. In the film, he was asked “Do you think you made a mistake by appearing in the media?” Tay answered, “I kind of do.” “If you could go back in time, what would you have changed or fixed?” Tay replied, “I would not try to kill myself again.” Interviews with sympathetic fellow students and a teacher his is also a “kathoey” demonstrated the level of acceptance of Tay’s gender orientation at his Christian school, Saint Joseph Mueang-Ake. This becomes most triumphantly clear when Tay appeared at a school Christmas party in a beautiful red dress. But as his tearful mother explained, a single intolerant and violent teacher drove him to attempt suicide. Elsewhere in the film, we see Tay going about his daily life, traveling to and from school, and silently touching up his makeup in front of the mirror.

Film Festival Awards:

2013 The Winner of The Equality Award in the FreedomFilmFest 2013 Competition Awarded on December 14th 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Replace (??)

Dir. Mark Ang, Taiwan, 15min, 2014

Mandarin / English Subtitles

After having been married for many years, the wife, Phoebe, is finally pregnant. Since Phoebe has a rare blood type and the possibilities of death while laboring are quite high, the doctors recommend abortion. However, Phoebe decides to ignore the doctors’ advice and continues on with the pregnancy. Eight months into her pregnancy, tragedy strikes. During one of the couple’s routine walk, they encounters a person who tries to commit suicide. The person jumps off a building and accidentally lands on top of Phoebe, killing both her and the baby.

Matou 

Dir. Isamu Hirabayashi, Japan, 4min 7sec, 2011

Life is short.

Film Festival Awards:

• Sapporo Short Fest, Best Experimental Award

Venue: Exeter Phoenix, Studio 74

Website: reddotcinema.com