Buah Dahsyat (Fantastic Fruits)
Khairullah Rahim, Singapore 2022, 7 min. Malay with English subtitles, digital
The Sea Calls For Me
Tumpal Tampubolon, Indonesia 2021, 7 min. Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles, digital
Fireflies
Robin Estargo, Philippines 2020, 21 min. Tagalog with English subtitles, digital
Burmese Butterfly
Hnin Ei Hlaing, Myanmar 2021, 12 min. Burmese with English subtitles, digital
Goodbye Phnom Penh
Neang Kavich, Cambodia 2015, 16 min. Khmer with English subtitles, digital
Soapy Faggy (Bóng Xà Bông)
Phạm Nguyễn Anh Tú, Vietnam 2022, 7 min. Vietnamese with English subtitles, digital
Six short films that challenge the Western gaze and stereotypes surrounding love and queerness in Southeast Asia through kitsch and nostalgia. Fantastic Fruits talks about enigmatic fruits as multifarious symbols in Singapore via the voice-over of drag artist Luna Thic. The Sea Calls For Me questions traditional family models by showcasing companionship between a youth child and an object, while Fireflies sings of the heartache and loneliness of the three friends on the verge of adolescence in Manila. Burmese Butterfly looks through the memories of hairdresser Phyo Lay, and Goodbye Phnom Penh invites us into the hotel room of a young couple, one half the local region, the other from the diaspora, in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Faggy Soapy explores the absurd rumors of “halitosis bomb“, the unscientific belief that being queer is contagious in Vietnam.
Phạm Nguyễn Anh Tú is a Vietnamese visual artist based in Saigon and Frankfurt. He utilizes art as a medium for experimentation and critical reflection aimed at comprehending the systems of knowledge that shape the world. He has showcased work at The British Museum, the Short Film Festival Oberhausen, and the Thai Short Film and Video Festival.