The Japan Foundation Asia Center has co-organized Visual Documentary Project with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University. The project aims to offer a platform for Asian filmmakers in the region to express their realities through documentaries and introduce them to a wider audience.

In 2017, We will screen those works in Kyoto and Tokyo in December. Also, the directors and team members of these works will be invited to Japan for the screening and have a talk and discussion with commentators.

This year, we called for short documentaries under the theme of "Urban life in Southeast Asia" overviewing various aspects of expression in urban life. We received 103 wonderful works from across Southeast Asia. Out of these works, five successful documentaries were selected. Award-winning director Rithy Panh from Cambodia and Professor Kenji Ishizaka joined as juries to select the short documentaries for screening.

Outline of Screening Information

■ Kyoto Screening

(Admission Free. No reservation required. First-come, first-served basis）

Date: Thursday, December 7, 2017

Time: 1:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 1:00 p.m.）*You can come or leave any time during the event.

Venue: Large Meeting Room, 3rd Floor, Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, Kyoto University (Address: 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan)

Participants: Directors and team members of the selected works (please refer to the attached sheet)

Commentators: Shota Fukuoka (Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology), Satoru Kobayashi (Associate Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University), Kanae Kawamoto (Ryukoku University), Wataru Kusaka (Associate Professor, Nagoya University) Makiko Wakai (Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Tokyo Office）

Organized by: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

Co-organized by: The Japan Foundation Asia Center

■ Tokyo Screening

(Admission Free. Priority given to those who have reservations）

Date: Saturday, December 9, 2017

Time: 1:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 1:00 p.m.）*You can come or leave any time during the event.

Venue: The Japan Foundation Hall SAKURA (Address: 4-4-1 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan)

Language: Japanese with English subtitles and interpretation

Participants: Directors and team members of the selected works (please refer to the attached sheet)

Commentators: Kenji Ishizaka (Professor, Japan Institute of the Moving Image, Makiko Wakai (Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Tokyo Office)

Reservation: Please send an email to jfac_vdp_info@jpf.go.jp with your name/affiliation/contact information with "VDP2017 Screening" in the subject line by Thursday, December 7, 2017

Organized by: The Japan Foundation Asia Center

Co-organized by: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

*Language: Japanese with English subtitles and interpretation

◇Website：http://jfac.jp/en/culture/events/e-vdp2017/

■Selected Works

White Egret (23m, 2017, Malaysia) Director: Loh Yoke Ling

White Egret deals with the Orang Seletar, an indigenous people who lead a life afloat in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Focusing on Ain and Nasir, a couple, the documentary draws out how their move from the sea to a coastal village has affected their lifestyles and livelihoods. The couple describe both the resilience their community has shown, as well as the uncertain future they face, in a period of rapid social transformation.

Nostalgia Senja (Reminiscences of the Dusk) (23m, 2015, Indonesia)　 Director: Fazhila Anandya

This documentary offers a sensitive portrayal of Mr. Gohyong reminiscing about his former days as a successful performer with a Gambang Kromong. Nostalgia Senja foregrounds one man’s lifetime dedication to preserving music in the present, and highlights the pressures some traditional arts face in contemporary Indonesia.

I don’t know much about ABC (22m, 2017, Cambodia)

Director: Sok Chanrado & Norm Phanith

This documentary offers an intimate portrayal of a relationship between a father and his son, and the challenges of homeless life on the streets of Phnom Penh. Drawing out the importance of education in opening opportunities to improve one’s lot in life, it traces the everyday challenges that Ron Dara faces raising his son.

Yangon, the City Where We Live (28m, 2017, Myanmar)　 Director: Shin Daewe

This film offers a unique window onto Yangon, a city undergoing immense change. Living in harmony is the art of living in life. A city’s attractions can be irresistible and enticing. Yangon, is a safe fortress for migrants where all live together. Through a unique mixture of narrated poetry and juxtaposed images from Yangon’s urban landscape, this documentary depicts a city that holds the hopes and aspirations of a diverse population, struggling and enduring in the hearts of all who live within it.

Timbre (Tip-off) (23m, 2017, Philippines)  Director: Camille Samonte & Pam Bareo

Ever since the Duterte administration rose to power, nightly killings have terrorized the Philippines in an all-out government endorsed war on drugs campaign. This documentary follows the plight of a family who recently lost a loved one in this war, offering a stark personal perspective on the current political crisis in the Philippines.

The Japan Foundation Asia Center http://jfac.jp/en/

The Japan Foundation is Japan’s principal independent administrative institution dedicated to carrying out cultural exchange initiatives throughout the world. The Asia Center, established in April 2014, is a division within the Foundation that conducts and supports collaborative initiatives with its Asian-primarily ASEAN-counterparts. Through interacting and working together in Japanese-language education, arts and culture, sports, and grassroots and intellectual exchange, the Asia Center pursues to develop the sense of kinship and coexistence as neighboring inhabitants of Asia.