Three directors, three countries, one devastating question: what does 'home' even mean anymore?
This omnibus film brings together three globally acclaimed directors from Asia with a common theme 'Living Together in Asia' to depict the lives of characters who journey between Japan, Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Brillante Mendoza grapples with the issue of loss of national identity and home, with a story set in the Obihiro area of Hokkaido and Manila in the Philippines. Isao Yukisada directs a story in Malaysia where the Japanese army was once stationed but is now home to many Japanese retirees living out their remaining years. An elderly man has parted from his family in Japan to live alone in Penang, but when a new helper comes to the house, he slowly opens his mind and an unexpected bond forms between the two. Finally director Sotho Kulikar conveys a beautiful but heart-rending love story between a Japanese man and Cambodian woman that unfolds across past and present against the backdrop of Cambodia's civil war.
Direction
Three radically different visual languages, unified by restraint.
Cinematography
Penang's decaying colonial beauty vs. Manila's raw edges.
Writing
Stories that trust silence more than exposition.
Director
Brillante Ma Mendoza
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was commissioned for Japan-ASEAN diplomatic relations, making its unflinching portrayal of colonial wounds remarkably subversive.
Yukisada filmed the Penang segment in the actual former Japanese military barracks, with several elderly Japanese residents appearing as extras.
JP
