A scene in The film Children of The Mist
The film Memento Mori: Earth (Memento Mori: Earth) directed by Marcus Manh Cuong Vu and Maika: A girl from another planet by director Ham Tran will compete for the Penjor Award dedicated to excellent Southeast Asian feature films.
In this category, there are a total ofnine9 films. Most have been recognized internationally by participating in many major film festivals namely Sundance, Berlin, Locarno, and Busan before coming to BaliMakarya.
These include Leonor Will Never Die by Filipino director Martika Ramirez Escobar who received the special award of the jury for the World Cinema Dramatic category at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Film Arnold Is a Model Student also participated in the competition at the Lorcano Film Festival while the film Everything Will Be Ok received the Outstanding Artistic Contribution award at the Berlin Film Festival. Vietnam’s film Maika: The Girl From Another Planet used to be selected to compete at the Sundance Film Festival.
Commenting on Vietnam’s film Memento Mori: Earth, curator John Badalu said that the movie breathes new life into Vietnamese cinema. This is a must-watch film.
This is also the first feature-length feature film in the Memento Mori movie trilogy which was written and directed by Marcus Manh Cuong Vu. The film director was inspired by true stories in the book Destination of life by author Dang Hoang Giang. The film is expected to be released in Vietnam on October 7.
Meanwhile, the film Maika: The Girl From Another Planet previously also hit theaters at the end of May, despite being highly appreciated, but it failed to break even by a large amount.
The film Children of The Mist by female director 9X Ha Le Diem will compete with four other representatives in the Penjor Award category for the best documentary films in Southeast Asia.
The other four representatives are all quite cult films with an equally impressive journey to conquer international film festivals. The Children in the Mist received the Best Director award at the IDFA Documentary Film Festival, Midwives by Hning Ei Hlain of Myanmar received the award at the Sundance Film Festival, and Scala by Ananta Tithanat of Thailand was officially selected for the Berlin Film Festival, the Flame by Arfan Sabran of Indonesia competed for the official prize at the Vision Du Reel Film Festival held in Switzerland, and Some Women by Quen Wong from Singapore competed for the main prize at the Singapore Film Festival.
Balimakarya Film Festival 2022 is the second time the event is held. For the first year, the event was limited to Indonesian works. However, this year, the organizers decided to receive movies from the Southeast Asia region. The event takes place from October 16 to 21. In addition to movies, the festival also has many different activities in the fields of music, literature, theater, and programs that showcase the uniqueness of cultures.
According to Tommy F. Awuy - the founder and initiator of the festival, the event aims to nourish talents in the film industry as well as cultural exchange between countries to develop a professional network.
