A dark comedy, genre mash-up and acclaimed animation are among those vying for the best feature film prize at the upcoming Asian Academy Creative Awards.
Introduced for AACA’s second edition in 2019, the award spotlights films that span theatrical, television and streaming releases, and the nominees were unveiled when the AACA revealed its National Winners at the end of September.
Ahead of his year’s gala awards, set to take place on December 3 at the Capitol Theatre in Singapore, Screen profiles six of the nine titles. The other three – China’s The Shadow’s Edge, Malaysia’s Forbidden Night and Myanmar’s Eain Mat Kar Yan – are also up for best direction (feature film), profiles of which can be read here.
Bison Kaalamaadan (India)
A fictional story inspired by the life of athlete Manathi Ganesan, Mari Selvaraj’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed Vaazhai follows the journey of Kittan, a villager from a humble background who has a passion for kabaddi, a combative sport that originated in South Asia. Pursuing his dream of playing for the Indian national team at the 1994 Asian Games, he must overcome caste-based prejudice and a social structure designed to keep him down.
Though his most commercial film to date, Bison Kaalamaadan also sees Selvaraj ambitiously telling a rousing crowd-pleaser while staying true to his roots as a socially minded filmmaker. Not only does the film combine a story of real-life athletic glory with violent crime, it also tackles caste politics, poverty and systemic oppression in contemporary India, themes he had explored in his previous films.
In his first lead role since his award-winning debut performance in Adithya Varma, Dhruv Vikram won his first best actor award at the South Indian International Movie Awards for his performance as Kittan.
In Gods We Hide (Tai)
This dark comedy marks the feature directorial debut of longtime cinematographer Ling Bo-wai.
Set in Taipei’s Wanhua District, one of the city’s oldest areas and known for its large number of temples, the story follows three rough sleepers who become the target of an underworld pursuit when they come across a bag holding more than $300,000 (NT$10m) and a gun.
Commissioned by Taiwan Public Television Service’s Taigi Channel, In Gods We Hide was the brainchild of screenwriter Lee Ying-chi, who used her familiarity with Wanhua District’s temple culture as a lifelong resident to shape this story of faith and unlikely friendships. Her script was first selected for the Excellent Screenplay Award in 2017. To enhance the film’s authenticity, roughly 90% of the film’s 12-day shoot was filmed on location.
Following its premiere at Yubari International Film Festival, where it won the international new wave award, the film was nominated for three prizes – including the best television film and the drama innovation awards – at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards.
Kontrabida Academy (Phil)
In a genre mash-up described as Despicable Me meets Last Action Hero, this Netflix original follows Gigi, a woman at her wits’ end because of a dead-end job, her debt-ridden mother and a cheating boyfriend. Whilst watching her favourite soap, the show’s villain breaks the fourth wall and invites Gigi to the Kontrabida (“villain”) Academy, where she learns to use the ways of villainy to fight back against those who mistreated her.
Best known for award-winning comedies Here Comes the Bride and The Woman in the Septic Tank, writer/director Chris Martinez’s fantasy comedy parodies Filipino soap tropes while also paying homage to the genre. In addition to Barbie Forteza and frequent Martinez collaborator Eugene Domingo in the lead roles, the film also features cameos by several beloved Filipino screen villains.
At this year’s EDDYS (Entertainment Editors’ Choice Awards), the film earned six nominations, including best actress for Forteza and best screenplay.
Levitating (Indo)
This drama premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance and marks the third feature by Wregas Bhanuteja, whose previous films Photocopier and Andragogy bowed in Busan and Toronto. Respectively.
The film is set in a village outside Jakarta, where its people take part in communal trance parties, surrendering themselves to animal spirits through a dance ritual. When a sacred village site is threatened with redevelopment, a young man who dreams of becoming a shaman holds a major trance celebration as a fundraiser to save his village.
A co-production between Indonesia, Singapore and France, Levitating (known locally as Para Perasuk) also has AACA nominations for best actor and best actress in a leading role, for Angga Aldi Yunanda and Anggun Cipta Sasmi respectively.
The Violinist (Singapore)
The first Singaporean film ever to play in competition at Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it won the top Cristal Award, marks a significant leap for the city-state.
Directed by Ervin Han and Raul Garcia, the story spans decades and begins with two childhood friends and violin prodigies whose fates diverge when war breaks out. After surviving the Japanese occupation and becoming an accomplished violinist, one searches for the other, who went missing after joining the resistance.
Expanded from Han’s 2015 short The Violin, the film was produced by a mostly Singaporean crew at Robot Playground Media, with Garcia bringing experience on Disney features to the table as animation director. The film’s critical success has been such a point of pride for Singapore that the country’s prime minister praised Han during this year’s National Day Rally.
The film is also nominated for best animation and best screenplay at the AACAs as well as for three Golden Horse Awards.
The Wind Phone: From Japan To The World (Japan)
In the town of Otsushi in northeastern Japan, there is a telephone booth with a rotary phone that sits on a hill overlooking the Sanriku coast. The phone cannot make any real calls as it isn’t connected to the phone line, but since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, it has served as a silent therapist for people who wanted to speak to those who were lost in the disaster.
Part of Japanese public broadcaster NHK’s long-running coverage of the 2011 disaster and its human toll, The Wind Phone comes 10 years after the television network’s The Phone in the Wind: Whispers to Lost Families. Directed by Mai Ito and Daiki Yokota, new film not only reunites with past subjects who were featured in its predecessor, but it also examines how the Wind Phone, which was also the subject of Nobuhiro Suwa’s 2020 Berlinale title Voice In The Wind, inspired hundreds of similar installations around the world, providing spaces for people to grieve and reminisce.
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