New - now available on demand on Firecracker TV: A father-daughter relationship plays out against the backdrop of Chinese Opera in Reunion, coming-of-age in Kuala Lumpur in S'kali, and the emotional turmoil of a doomed romance in Indonesian hit Ungu Violet...
Reunion
Risky Liu, Hong Kong, 2006
Starring: Joman Chiang Cho-Man, Sunny Chan Kwok-On, Jackie Leung
A fresh debut from indie director Risky Liu, Reunion is the story of the ties that bind family and the pull of family tradition. A father and daughter become distanced after she declines to follow in his footsteps in the world of Chinese Opera, when she finds herself a single mother at a young age. Both grittily real and genuinely touching, Reunion shows an alternative side to Hong Kong movies all too rarely seen...
Colour; 104 mins; Cantonese with English subtitles
Availability: UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ
S'kali
Arivind Abraham, Malaysia, 2006
Starring: Davina Goh, Jayaram Nagaraj, Derek Ong, Angeline Rose, Zimy Rozan.
Five friends try to negotiate the tricky path to adulthood in a story that explores love, life and friendship, while creating a vibrant snapshot of suburban youth in Kuala Lumpur. Filmed using authentic street patter, with a soundtrack boasting some of the leading lights of the Malaysian indie music scene, Arivind Abraham's debut marks a refreshing change of direction for Malaysian movies, one which is not afraid to take on issues of ethnicity and identity in a multi-cultural society in a way few films have succeeded in doing before...
Colour; 71 mins; English and Malay with English subtitles
Availability: UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ
Ungu Violet
Rako Prijanto, Indonesia, 2005
Starring: Rizky Hanggono, Dian Sastrowardoyo, Rimi Melati
A polished example of the resurgent Indo film scene, Ungu Violet is a handsomely mounted tale of an apparently doomed romance in contemporary Jakarta. Troubled young photographer Lando revives his career after discovering a beautiful girl on a city bus and making her a magazine cover star, but when her gratitude turns into love, he doesn't seem to reciprocate - what's holding him back?
Shot with style and feeling by fast rising director Rako Prijanto, Ungu Violet hits the mark as an involving drama and an inevitably touching love story, and is a real eye-opener for anyone new to Indonesian movies...
Ungu Violet was awarded Best Film at the MTV Indonesia Movie Awards in 2005, where lead actress Dian Sastrowardoyo took home Best Actress. Lead actor Rizky Hanggono won Best Actor at the Bali International Film Festival.
Colour; 115 mins; Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles
Availability: UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ
Ungu Violet "has everything a good film should have: great camerawork and interesting characters... it presents a beautiful and exotic picture of a city and its people, with a striking resemblance to contemporary Chinese and Korean cinematography... And do watch out for the soundtrack -- it's lethally melancholic." The Jakarta Post
