We take a look at the Southeast Asian Short Competition presented for the QCinema International Film Festival which will take place from November 17 – 26, 2023 in Quezon City, Philippines.

Basri & Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy by Khozy Rizal – Indonesia |2023 – 15 minutes
Basri and Salma have been married for five years. Together, they run a small amusement ride for children. Their peaceful daily routines begin to reveal small cracks in their façade of happiness, which, in turn, reveals the true reason they do not have children of their own. (PARK Sungho | Busan2023)

Trailer:

Buoyant by Toan Thanh Doan & Hoang-Phuc Nguyen-Le – Vietnam
Buoyant follows the story of a fisherman who rescues a mermaid from the fish market. They are joined by two jolly friends on a fanciful tale along the waters.

Trailer:

Cross My Heart and Hope to Die by Sam Manacsa – Philippines | 2023 – 18 minutes
Mila struggles as she remains unpaid at work and a love interest becomes a source of comfort through his constant phone calls. But a promise of hope may also lead to tragedy and sad love songs. (KFF 2023)

Trailer:

Dominion by Bea Mariano – Philippines | 2023 – 8 minutes
Landscapes, things, men, women and children taken by an “evil eye” more than a century ago haunt the present in this jagged reverie. A persona voicelessly narrates, via captions, going through colonial photographs, digresses to eating fruit and entering a cave on a tropical vacation island. (SIWFF 2023)

Hito by Stephen Lopez – Philippines | 2023 – 22 minutes
Between nuclear reactors and military curfews, 14-year-old Jani lives in a dystopian world oppressively devoid of empathy. Together, she and her slippery new friend Kiefer the talking catfish gear up to strike a surreal blow for freedom. (KFF 2023)

Trailer:

I look into the mirror and repeat to myself by Giselle Lin – Singapore | 2023 – 18 minutes
With her family on the cusp of change and separation, a filmmaker questions the meaning of her given name, her place among her four sisters, and their stories. (Locarno 2023)

The Thing About Aliens And Their Skin Care by Seth Andrew Blanca and Niño Maldecir – Philippines | 2023 – 12 minutes
In the eyes of a child, aliens are mystical. Their secrets are something which amazes even the depths of one’s imagination. We have seen them, we have evidence of their existence. We raise questions like do they have feelings? Are they walking among us? Do they wear make up, apply toner, and put face masks just like us? As we seek for answers to these questions, we are again confronted by another: are aliens made to conceal their realities through their skin care, or their skin care reveals a deeper identity to who they really are?

MOP by Joon Goh – Malaysia
During a lunch break in a furniture store, a sadomasochistic stand-off unfolds between a boss and her employee.

The Altar by Moe Myat May Zarchi – Myanmar | 2022 – 10 minutes
Photographic sequences painted with golds and greys animate the guilt of a childhood incident of killing an ant while washing hands in the sink. (MUBI)

Trailer:

When You Left Me On That Boulevard by Kayla Abuda Galang – USA | 2023 – 13 minutes
Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006. (SDFFF 2023)

Trailer:

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