Heart of Gaya Street
Q&A with the director
Malaysia | 47 mins | 2016 | Documentary
Director: William Chiang M. F.
Synopsis: Heart of Gaya street is a vivid collection of tales about a few personalities who have lived almost their entire lives on Gaya Street. We see through their eyes the tide of changes that has taken place over almost a century and how these have affected them. Mr Chai Yu Sin, better known as Aji, the oldest bartender at 76 years, worked for The Jesselton Hotel for 56 years. He had to retire due to the closure of the restaurant bar. He has never married and lives alone now. During his working years, he served Queen Elizabeth of England, Lady Mounbatten, Muhammed Ali (the legendary boxer),and our first two Sabah Chief Ministers. He has seen many memorable moments on his working journey. Meanwhile Mr Leong, in his 80s and the owner of Yuk Cheong Coffee shop, lived and grew up behind Gaya Street. He remembers what it was like to be a kid in those days during the colonial era right until the formation of Malaysia. He still runs the coffee shop with his children assisting him.
So on Gaya Street, the new emerging tenants and the old era struggling tenants are side by side. Will they strive to preserve the past and continue to embrace the future?
Sound of Silence
Myanmar | 21 mins | 2014 | Documentary
Director: Thet Oo Maung
Synopsis: An old retired soldier from Myanmar Army recalls a terrifying front-line experience he had during his active duty. His memory takes us into his traumatized mind via the actual combat footage he was watching. What comes out is a deeply wounded soul, neglected by the very system he served, and the very costly price the war demands from its participants.
A story about a victim of civil war and land mines.
The Game Changer
Q&A with the director
Malaysia | 18 mins | 2014 | Documentary
Director: Indrani Kopal
Synopsis: This documentary takes a close look at the relationship between the intricate process of abstaining from crime and the influence a dance-based enrichment activity might have on offenders. The piece captures evidence that arts intervention stimulates a transformative process that enables the participants to make significant behavioral changes, both in prison and out on the street.
I have always believed in stories of hope, stories that touch the viewers so deeply that, when they leave the screening room, they carry along a small spark of hope with them and share it with their family and friends. That is exactly what I hope THE GAME CHANGER will offer to its audience. Susan Slotnick’s personal journey has a potential to move hearts beyond those behind the prison bars.
Awards won: Best Student Documentary award, 2014 Harlem International Film Festival and at the American Pavillion’s Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, Cannes Film Festival 2015
Busong Palawan Fate
Philippines | 90 mins | 2011 | Drama
Director: Kanakan Balintagos
Synopsis: Punay was born with wounds on her feet so that she cannot step on the earth. Her brother, Angkadang, carries her in a hammock, as he searches through the changing landscape of Palawan, hoping to find a healer who can cure her. Different people help him carry his sister along the way- a woman looking for her husband, a fisherman who lost his boat and a young man who is searching for himself – and each one meets their fate in Palawan’s pristine landscape of Forest, Sea and Mountain- on the verge of environmental destruction and exploitation.
