Initiatives > Southeast Asian Film Series
November 18 - Laskar Pelangi - Indonesia
November 4 - 13: Game of Death - Thailand
October 27 - Perempuan Berkalung Sorban - Indonesia
October 21 - HIFF - No CSEAS Film
October 7 - Director's Choice - Thailand
September 30 - Brutus - Philippines
September 23 - Jermal - Indonesia
September 9 - Dong Loc Crossroad - Viet Nam
September 2 - Flower in the Pocket - Malaysia
November 18, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
Laskar Pelangi, is a film adaptation of Andrea Hirata's best-selling literary work based on his childhood memories that first appeared on shelves in 2004. Set on the Sumatran island of Belitong, the film opens with the adult Ikal returning to his birthplace after a number of years away. From there it flashes back his first day at school, with two teachers -- Muslimah and Harfan -- who have been eagerly waiting for students to enroll at their decrepit Islamic primary school. Since the district school board has already declared that their little school must close if it doesn't meet the ten-student minimum, this particular day is obviously a nervous affair for both teachers. Fortunately, ten students (mostly children of poor laborers) do sign up, forming a small enclave of first-graders christened by Muslimah as "The Rainbow Troops." Besides Ikal, the eclectic group comprises an assortment of characters -- mainly Lintang, a fisherman's son who turns out to be a genius and Mahar, a musically obsessed dreamer who is never without a radio by his side.
Five years pass, and the majority of the film takes place in the student's fateful fifth grade, chronicling the ups and downs of the Rainbow Troops through the eyes of young Ikal. The film's sensitivity captures the struggles of marginalized citizens to achieve their dreams and the beauty of friendship and its ability to save humanity, all set against the background of what was once one of Indonesia's richest islands.
A fave at the Asian Film Awards and the Berlin International Film Festival, 2009. -Miles Films
IMDB Website | Trailer | Independent Blog Review | Download Poster
November 4, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
A smart, shocking and funny satire of media culture and human greed, 13 GAME OF DEATH is a stomach-churningly intense thriller that will have many viewers squirming in their seats. Adapted from the Thai comic-book series My Mania by Eakasit Thairaat, the film stars Noi Sukosol as a struggling band-instrument salesman who is insidiously sucked into an underground Internet reality game in which he must complete a series of 13 increasingly degrading, dangerous and deadly stunts in order to win 100 million baht. "This taut thriller was my favorite Thai film of 2006, and one of the best Thai films to come along in years." -Wise Kwai
[Screener's Note: This film is NOT for the faint of heart. Be forewarned. Happy Halloween!]
IMDB Website | Trailer | Horror Movies Review | Download Poster
October 27, 7:00 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
Following the runaway success of the Islamic themed film Ayat Ayat Cinta (screened at our Fall 2008 series) comes Perempuan Berkalung Sorban, based on the novel by Abidah el Khalieqy (2001).
The film stars the popular Revalina S. Temat, who plays Anissa, the daughter of the leader of a conservative Islamic boarding school (pesantren) in East Java.
Struggling to balance the spiritual self with the opportunities available to women in the contemporary world, Annisa rebels against the teachings she receives at the school and questions a life that seems to treat women unfairly.
The music soundtrack is graced by the voice of Malaysian diva Siti Nurhaliza.
IMDB Website | Trailer | Movie Review Square | Download Poster
October 15-23, 2009 - Various Times at Various Theaters Across Honolulu
The Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF)
This October, the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) kicks off its 29th year of bringing the best in world cinema to our state. We know the list of films is long, so we took the liberty of helping you out by selecting the ones from Southeast Asia so that you can get your tickets in advance of the October 15-25 screening extravaganza!
TODAY - Talentime (Malaysia, 2008)
Dir: Yasmin Ahmad
Sponsored by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies
4:00 PM Tue, Oct 20 Dole Cannery F
more info
24K (Philippines, 2009)
Dir: Ana Agabin
2:30 PM Wed, Oct 21
more info
The Burning Season (Australia, 2009)
Dir: Cathy Henke
8:30 PM Wed, Oct 21 Dole Cannery
12:00 PM Thu, Oct 22 Dole Cannery
more info
Grandpa is Dead (Philippines, 2009)
Dir: Soxie Topacio
11:30 AM Fri, Oct 23 Dole Cannery D
The Legend is Alive (Viet Nam, 2009)
Luu Huynh Luu
5:30 PM Wed, Oct 21 Dole Cannery C
12:15 PM Thu, Oct 22 Dole Cannery A
Merantau (Indonesia, 2009)
Dir: Gareth Huw Evans
6:30 PM Thu, Oct 22 Dole Cannery E
Ninoy and the Rise of People Power (USA, 2009)
Dir: Tom Coffman
4:30 PM Wed, Oct 21 Dole Cannery D
Sell Out! (Malaysia, 2009)
Dir: Yeo Joon Han
2:15 PM Thu, Oct 22 Dole Cannery B
Visit the HIFF website for more information!
October 7, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
Thank you for supporting the CSEAS Film Series in 2009! Our movie this week will be a surprise screening of a melodrama from Thailand that promises to captivate! We look forward to seeing you at the movies!
September 30, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
Tara Illenberger's Brutus (the name given to laborers -- many of them juveniles -- hired by unlicensed loggers to drag lumber through forests and transport it by raft to distant destinations) is an advocacy film. It was awarded the Jury Prize in the 4th Cinemalaya Film Festival precisely "for courageously and effectively drawing the audience's attention to the complex dynamics between the exploitation of cultural communities and the degradation of the environment." The film, about the journey of two Mangyan children (charmingly played by Timothy Mabalot and Rhea Medina) to the lowlands to deliver a load of illegal lumber, tackles several pertinent subjects, from the degradation of the forests by the proliferation of illegal loggers to the undue eviction of the indigenous Mangyans from the fertile lowlands to the forests.The film is gorgeously shot by cinematographer Jay Abello and expertly scored by Joey Ayala, providing the film with visual and musical flair. -Francis “Oggs” Cruz
Film Website | Trailer | Variety Movie Review | Download Poster
September 23, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
Jermal
A Tale of Acceptance from Indonesia!
A thoughtful portrayal of the relationship between a father and a son, Jermal explores themes of social and physical exclusion and the pain of growing up. The plot is given a unique twist by its setting on an isolated fishing platform, or jermal, in the middle of the Malacca Straits off North Sumatra.
There are between 1,200 and 1,500 such jermals employing more than 5,000 kids (ages 10 - 17) in Indonesia. Their world consists only of these rickety wooden structures not much larger than a tennis court sitting a few meters above the waves. Typically 10 workers live on a jermal, half or more of whom are children.
The work is extremely hazardous, and the average day can last between 12 to 20 hours at a stretch, lifting heavy nets filled with anchovy-like fish, sorting the fish from stinging jellyfish or seasnakes, then boiling, salting and drying the catch. The minimum stay is three months, without any time on shore. The wage is meager, with beginners getting $5 a month, while an experienced boy may get $10.
The central character in the story is Jaya, a 12-year-old schoolboy whose orderly life is dramatically disrupted when, after his mother's death, he is sent to a jermal to be with his father, Johar. Johar, a taciturn and solitary figure, is an escapee from the mainland with a past he is determined to reject. Snubbed by his father, Jaya is left to fend for himself in a tough new environment that transforms him from a naive schoolboy into a hardened survivor. Jermal was an official selection at the 2009 /Rotterdam International Film Festival/. -Kabar Indonesia
Film Website | Trailer | Indonesian Movie Review | Download Poster
September 9, 6:30 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
Dong Loc Crossroad
A Rarely Seen Gem from Vietnam!
Dong Loc Crossroad is a poignant, poetic, and heartbreaking true-life story of eleven members of an all-female unit of north Vietnamese volunteers charged with the hazardous task of detonating unexploded ordnance at a key crossroad during the Viet Nam War. The beautiful and haunting soundtrack features rare royal court songs interspersed with patriotic songs of the era. Dong Loc Crossroad won the Gold Lotus Prize for Best Film at the 12th Vietnamese Film Festival in 1999. It is being screened here for the first time with English subtitles produced by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
September 2, 7:00 p.m. - Korean Studies Auditorium
Flower in the Pocket
An Award Winning Malaysian Movie!
A double-winner at last year's Pusan International Film Festival, Flower in the Pocket (Malaysia, 2007, directed by Liew Seng Tat, 97 minutes, Mandarin with English subtitles) is a strangely beautiful and funny ode to neglected human beings. It's a sonnet to people who have nothing and yet seek nothing. It tells the story of two boys, Li Ohm (Wong Zi Jiang) and Li Ah (Lim Ming Wei), who are mostly left on their own by their father Sui (James Lee) who wallows in self-pity due to a failed marriage and distances himself from the rest of the world. The boys' smiles and carefree romps around town probably mask their deeper uneasiness about their situation, in tandem with how the film's humorous scenes are a front that soon unravel to reveal a darker second half. "Flower is a fitting debut feature that is a perfect introduction to the wildly offbeat world of director Liew Seng Tat." -Twitch
Interview with the Director | Independent Review | Trailer | Download Poster
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