Upon the selection of the five winners for Visual Documentary Project 2019, we will be organizing film screenings in Kyoto and Tokyo on December 12 and 14.

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 2019: JUSTICE

For this year's VDP, we called for short documentaries made in Southeast Asia and Japan under the theme of "JUSTICE". This year, award-winning film director Ho Yuhang from Malaysia, and a doctor, screenwriter, and a director, Aung Ming from Myanmar have joined as jury members for the selection.

From over 100 spectacular documentaries from across Southeast Asia, five were selected to be screened in Kyoto on December 12 (Thursday) and Tokyo on December 14 (Saturday), 2019. The directors and crews of these works will be invited to Japan for this occasion to join us for the talk discussion with the commentators. In addition, as a new attempt for this year, there will be director Rithy Panh’s Special Mention, which will be announced at the screening.

Visual Documentary Project 2019 Film Screening & Discussion flyer
↓click to enlarge PDF [PDF: 1.3MB]

Selected Films

Through Songs, We Share Stories
Indonesia / 2018 / Color / 24min
Director: Dony Putro Herwanto

There are many ways to convey the truth of an event to the next generation, and one of those is through singing what is written. This was the path chosen by the Dialita Choir in uttering the truth of the events they experienced in 1965. Although the lyrics revolve around the beauty of nature, parents, friends and love for the motherland, the Dialita Choir tries to give another perspective in reading the dark history of the event. Besides trying to tell the truth, singing is one way to cure the wounds of stigma and discrimination they have experienced for 53 years.

An Unquiet Land
Vietnam / 2019 / Color / 28min
Director: Nguyen Thi Khanh Ly

Owning a piece of land of more than 1000 square meters in An Phu Ward, Thu Thiem, New Urban Project of Ho Chi Minh city, Mrs. Hong, age 74 was lucky enough to have her land lot spared from being razed, while her five children were not. Her only wish now is to be able to keep the land for herself and the children.

Screaming Goats
Thailand / 2018 / Color / 22min
Director: Thunska Pansittivorakul

"The southern border of Thailand is dangerous, scary, you shouldn't live there, it's full of violence." That how it's mostly presented in the media. But what is the Southern border really like? This documentary will guide you to another perspective through the eyes of a female-female couple.

That Night
The Philippines / 2018 / Color / 20min
Director: Jeremy Luke Bolatag

"That Night" follows the lives of two survivors of the Roxas night market bombing in Davao City, the Philippines on September 2, 2016. It centers on a vendor at the market who was severely injured, and a truck driver whose wife and son died while getting a massage. The film documents the two survivors a year after the tragedy.

Unsilent Potato
Director: Sein Lyan Tun
Myanmar / 2016 / Color / 22min

This story is about a young disableｄ Karen ethnic woman named 'Potato'. In 2014, she was raped by her neighbor, a married man who was later accused over said case. The rape case nonetheless was presented as a seduction suit: one of having unlawful sexual relations through persuasion. This documentary focuses on a strong-willed Karen ethnic girl woman and her family who are eager to share this with the female community and who have long suffered in silence to rise up and fight for truth and fair justice where no-one is above the law.

Program

[Tokyo Screening]

Time Schedule

• 1:30 p.m. Through Songs, We Share Stories
• 2:20 p.m. An Unquiet Land
• 3:05 p.m. SCREAMING GOATS
• 3:45 p.m. Break
• 3:55 p.m. That Night
• 4:30 p.m. Unsilent Potato
• 5:10 p.m. Discussion

Panelist

• • Through Song, We Share Stories [Indonesia]
    Dony Putro Herwanto (Director)
    Abul Ala Maududi Ilhamda (Cinematographer, Editor)
  • An Unquiet Land [Vietnam]
    Nguyen Thi Khanh Ly (Director)
    Nguyen Thu Huong (Editor)
  • SCREAMING GOATS [Thailand]
    Thunska Pansittivorakul (Director)
    Anthicha Sangchai (Main Cast)
  • That Night [The Phillippines]
    Jeremy Luke Bolatag (Director)
    Arun Singh (Line Producer)
  • Unsilent Potato [Myanmar]
    Sein Lyan Tun (Director)
    Phyo Nge (Producer)

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)
Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Associate Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University)
Mario Lopez (Associate Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University)

Tokyo Screening Event Detail

[Kyoto Screening]

Time Schedule

• 1:30 p.m. Ceremony
• 2:00 p.m. Through Songs, We Share Stories
• 2:35 p.m. An Unquiet Land
• 3:15 p.m. SCREAMING GOATS
• 3:50 p.m. Break
• 4:00 p.m. That Night
• 4:30 p.m. Unsilent Potato
• 5:05 p.m. Discussion

Panelist

• Through Song, We Share Stories [Indonesia]
  Dony Putro Herwanto (Director)
  Abul Ala Maududi Ilhamda (Cinematographer, Editor)
• An Unquiet Land [Vietnam]
  Nguyen Thi Khanh Ly (Director)
  Nguyen Thu Huong (Editor)
• SCREAMING GOATS [Thailand]
  Thunska Pansittivorakul (Director)
  Anthicha Sangchai (Main Cast)
• That Night [The Phillippines]
  Jeremy Luke Bolatag (Director)
  Arun Singh (Line Producer)
• Unsilent Potato [Myanmar]
  Sein Lyan Tun (Director)
  Phyo Nge (Producer)

Commentators

• • Aiko Kurasawa
    Professor Emeritus, Keio University
    Social History of Indonesia
  • Naoya Sakagawa
    Affiliated Researcher, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
    Southeast Asian Film History
  • Piyada Chonlaworn
    Associate Professor, Tenri University
    Southeast Asian Studies
  • Waka Aoyama
    Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo
    Southeast Asian Studies (Southern Philippines)
  • Takahiro Kojima
    Associate Professor, College of Liberal Arts, Tsuda University
    Area Studies, Cultural Anthropology
  • Makiko Wakai
    Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Tokyo office

  Kyoto Screening Event Detail

  Date	Thursday, December 12, 2019
  Time	1:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 1:00p.m.) *You can come or leave anytime during the event.
  Venue	Large Meeting Room, 3rd Floor, Inamori Foundation Building, Kyoto University Access 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku. Kyoto Googlemap From Jingu Marutamachi Station of Keihan Railway. Walk for five minutes to the north.
  Admission	Free (No Reservation Required)
  Language	Japanese-English interpretation Japanese and English subtitles
  Organizer	Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
  Co-organizer	The Japan Foundation Asia Center
  Inquiries	Please email your inquiries to: vdp@cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp

  Visual Documentary Project Official Website

  

  About 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?

  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.

  This is the certified project of beyond 2020 program.