My Movie World: Sinag Maynila Film Festival 2017 Opens With The Omnibus Film Reflections

Friday, 10 March 2017

Sinag Maynila Film Festival 2017 Opens With The Omnibus Film Reflections

Reflections is the opening film of the Sinag Maynila Film Festival 2017. The Tokyo International Film Festival & the Japan Foundation has join three excellent directors, Mendoza (Philippines), Yukisada (Japan) and Kulikar (Cambodia) to create this omnibus film. The film highlights the theme of “living in Asia,” with three works that depict the lives of characters who journey between Japan and Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Shinium (Dead Horse) by Mendoza depicts an illegal Filipino immigrant in Japan who returns to his homeland for the first time in decades after being deported. The Filipino director as been known for deft portrayals of ordinary Filipino men bravely and proudly overcoming extraordinary situations. This time around, he grapples with the issue of the loss of national identity and home, setting his story in Obihiro area of Hokkaido and Manila. Lou Veloso, one of the Philippines’ most heralded actors plays the lad role.

Pigeon, by Isao Yukisada (Japan), is set in Malaysia, a land that was once invaded by the Japanese army but is now home to many Japanese retirees living out their remaining years. The story revolves around an elderly man who has parted from his family in Japan to live on an estate with a pigeon coop, and depicts discord with his son and his relationship with a young female Malaysian caretaker. His distant memories of the Pacific War at Plau Penang also come back to him. The film stars one of Japan’s most celebrated actors, Masahiko Tsugawa.

Beyond The Bridge, by Kulikar is a love story that transcends time and borders. It portrays a love story that begins in Cambodia against the backdrop of the nation’s civil war and the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Bridge located in Phnom Penh. The piece stars Masaya Kato, a prolific Japanese actor who is active internationally. Playing opposite Kato is Cambodian dancer-choreographer Chumvan Sodhachivy, who recently appeared in Amon Miyamoto’s theatrical production “The Terrace of the Leper King in Japan”.