Reservations for the screening has closed.

Upon the selection of the five winners for Visual Documentary Project 2017, we will now be organizing film screenings in Kyoto and Tokyo on December 7 and 9 respectively.
Visual Documentary Project (VDP) is a joint project between the Japan Foundation Asia Center and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University that offers a platform for Asian Filmmakers in the Southeast Asian region to express their realities through documentaries and introduce them to a broader audience.

Visual Documentary Project 2017: Urban Life in Southeast Asia

For the 2017 iteration of VDP, we called for short documentaries that dealt with the theme of "Urban life in Southeast Asia," overviewing various aspects of expression in urban life.
Award-winning film director Rithy Panh from Cambodia and Professor Kenji Ishizaka (Asian Future Programming Director, Tokyo International Film Festival) joined as jurors to select the short documentaries for the screenings.

Among the 103 spectacular documentaries from across Southeast Asia, five were selected which we will screen in Kyoto on December 7 (Thursday) and Tokyo on December 9 (Saturday), 2017.
The directors and crew of these works will be invited to Japan for this occasion to join us for the talk discussion with commentators.

Visual Documentary Project 2017 Film Screening & Discussion flyer
↓click to enlarge PDF(1.15MB)

Program

Selected Films

White Egret
2017 / Malaysia / 23 mins.
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 describes 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]
2015 / Indonesia / 23 mins.
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.

Don't Know Much About ABC
2017 / Cambodia / 22 mins.
Directors: Sok Chanrado and 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
2017 / Myanmar / 28 mins.
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]
2017 / Philippines / 23 mins.
Directors: Camille Samonte and 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.

Tokyo Screening

• 1:30 p.m. White Egret (Dir. Loh Yoke Ling)
• 2:15 p.m. Nostalgia Senja [Reminiscences of the Dusk] (Dir. Fazhila Anandya
• 2:50 p.m. Don't Know Much About ABC (Dir. Norm Phanith)
• 3:25 p.m. Break
• 3:35 p.m. Yangon, the City Where We Live (Dir. Shin Daewe)
• 4:15 p.m. Timbre(Tip-off) (Dir. Edrea Camille L. Samonte and Nicole Pamela M. Bareo)
• 4:50 p.m. Discussion

Panel

White Egret
Loh Yoke Ling (Director)
Chee Wei Hsing (Cinematographer)

Nostalgia Senja [Reminiscences of the Dusk]
Fazhila Anandya (Director)
Andrew Saputro (Sound Design)

Don't Know Much About ABC
Norm Phanith (Director)

Yangon, the City Where We Live
Shin Daewe (Director)
Ko Oo (Cinematographer)

Timbre(Tip-off)
Edrea Camille L. Samonte (Director)
Nicole Pamela M. Bareo (Director)

Commentators

Kenji Ishizaka (Programming Director, Asian Future, Tokyo International Film Festival / Professor, Japan Institute of the Moving Image)

Makiko Wakai (Yamagata International Film Festival Tokyo office)

Kyoto Screening

• 1:30 p.m. Ceremony
• 2:00 p.m. White Egret (Dir. Loh Yoke Ling)
• 2:35 p.m. Nostalgia Senja [Reminiscences of the Dusk] (Dir. Fazhila Anandya)
• 3:10 p.m. Don't Know Much About ABC (Dir. Norm Phanith)
• 3:45 p.m. Break
• 3:55 p.m. Yangon, the City Where We Live (Dir. Shin Daewe)
• 4:35 p.m. Timbre (Tip-off) (Dir. Edrea Camille L. Samonte and Nicole Pamela M. Bareo)
• 5:10 p.m. Discussion

Panel

White Egret
Loh Yoke Ling (Director)
Chee Wei Hsing (Cinematographer)

Nostalgia Senja [Reminiscences of the Dusk]
Fazhila Anandya (Director)
Andrew Saputro (Sound Design)

Don't Know Much About ABC
Norm Phanith (Director)

Yangon, the City Where We Live
Shin Daewe (Director)
Ko Oo (Cinematographer)

Timbre(Tip-off)
Edrea Camille L. Samonte (Director)
Nicole Pamela M. Bareo (Director)

Commentators

• Shota Fukuoka (Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology)
• Satoru Kobayashi (Associate Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University)
• Hiroyuki Yamamoto (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)

Visual Documentary 2017 Screening

On the Visual Documentary Project

Southeast Asia is rich in its diversity of ethnic, religious and cultural composition. The region has maintained the coexistence of such diversity while at the same time achieving economic progress and becoming a hub for the flow of people, goods, money and information. Yet at present, the region is also confronted with serious issues such as the decrease of biodiversity and tropical forests, disasters, pandemics, aging population, ethnic and religious conflicts, economic differentiation, and poverty.

In the face of this, how is coexistence and sustainability possible despite the diversity that exists? How can we make public resources out of the region's social foundations which are the basis of people's everyday lives? And, how can we connect these in a complementary way to existing systems of governance towards solving the problems and issues mentioned above?

In order to address these questions in the context of Southeast Asia, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University initiated the Visual Documentary project which explicitly examines everyday life through a visual approach in 2012. This project aims to use visual forms of expression to complement the growing literature that exists on Southeast Asian societies. From 2014, the Japan Foundation Asia Center joined this project as a co-organizer to help widely promote the richness of Southeast Asian cultures to people in Japan.

As of 2016, the project has linked up with numerous film schools in the region to help strengthen the documentary filmmaking network.

The Visual Documentary Project, organized by the Japan Foundation Asia Center and Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University, offers a platform for Asian Filmmakers to express their realities through documentaries and introduce them to a broader audience. The theme this year is "Urban Life in Southeast Asia."

Visual Documentary Project Official Website

Visual Documentary Project 2017

Applications n.b. Applications closed

This is the certified project of beyond 2020 program.