Route-3

The story is about what happened when a young man saw a pretty girl on the bus. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.

Liked how the bus was packed with people and how the young man was able to fix his gaze at the pretty girl despite the distractions! Thought the eating orange scene was a little bit too suggestive though.

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Cerulia

The story is about a woman re-visiting her childhood home. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.

This film caught my eye as it was from an unknown film festival: the guadalajara film festival. Liked the eerie stop motion animation! Reminded me a bit of the movie Coraline. Ending was a little bit too scary for me though.

Internet Movie Database Link

see factory sarajevo mon amour

This is a collection of five short stories about motherhood: In Your Hands, The Package, The Right One, Spit and The Sign. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.

Liked the plot in "Spit" and the black and white cinematography in "The Sign"! I was amazed by how the different issues faced by a mother could be described in a such a short time!

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Sisterhood

The story is about a middle aged woman who moved to Taiwan fifteeen years ago going back to her hometown in Macau to visit her friends. They used to work together in a massage parlour. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.

Liked the flashbacks to Macau in the past and the strong sisterly friendship! The film reminded me a little of "Only Yesterday", especially towards the end where the protagonist saw her old self.

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Toto

The story is about a grandmother's relationship with her grandchildren and her personal digital assistant. Watched this at the "We Are One film festival.

Liked how the grandmother treated the robot just like a human being! Bad idea to upgrade as it erases everything it has learned!

Internet Movie Database Link

15 Shorts

This is a series of 15 short stories by local film directors.

My favorite films were "Plague", "The Listener" and "Shanti". I liked the drama within the small flat in "Plague", the nice soothing voice in "The Listener" and the ordinary unassuming hero in "Shanti"! Learned a bit about history in "Still Standing" and "Majid the Legend". Thought "The Brown Dog" and "The T(h)ree Lives" were well shot too!

15 Shorts YouTube Channel

Black Barbie

The story is about how a young black girl grew up hating how she looked but finally accepted who she was. Watched this at the "We Are One" film festival.

A very nice animation with smooth flowing transitions, words flashing across the screen and voice over narration that sounded like a poem!

Internet Movie Database Link

Travelling While Black

The story is about how black Americans faced discrimination when they were travelling long distance across America many years ago.

Watched this at the "We Are One" film festival. First time watching a movie with virtual reality controls! Not sure how to best make use of it though. Quite sad to hear that black Americans still facing discrimination even until today.

Internet Movie Database Link

Made In Japan

The story is about what happened when a group of friends started to make up stories to the media on what they know about a murderer on the loose.

Liked the interesting relationship between media and the interviewee! The media hopes for scandalous details to bring in more sales so this indirectly tempts the interviewee to make something up.

Japanese Film Festival Link

The Breakfast Club

The story is about five American high school students learning more about each other during a weekend class detention.

Liked how the students sat down and had in-depth conversations with each other! Not as much action as "Back to the Future" that came out in the same year, but I learned a bit more about young people in the '80s from this film.

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From Up On Poppy Hill

The story is about the lives of a few school children in Japan just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Liked the old style kitchen and the friendship between the two protagonists! Looked quite fun riding the bicycle downhill!

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Lady Bird

The story is about a girl growing up in Sacramento California but dreams of going to college in New York.

Liked the snippets of life in a Catholic all girl's high school! A nice coming-of-age story where the protagonist made mistakes along the way but realized that there is no place like home in the end!

Internet Movie Database Link

Excited Death

The story is about a girl who secretly admired her handsome neighbor next door. She then bumped into a man who is a secret admirer of the neighbor's girlfriend and formed plans together to break them up.

Liked the voice over narration of the protagonist and the ridiculous plans which were doomed to fail! Recognized the park near Ghibli Museum for their first plan from my recent Japan trip!

Japanese Film Festival Link

Girl's Encounter

The story is about a shy girl coming out of her shell after she made a new friend in school. There was something strange about the friend though.

Liked the friendship of the two girls! Great suspense in keeping the audience guessing what might happen next but didn't really like the fantasy sequences as they were a little bit weird for my taste! A thought provoking film as it made me wonder if it is really a good idea to not feel pain in life!

Japanese Film Festival Link

Infinite Foundation

The story is about how a girl learned to follow her dreams after she met a mysterious girl who plays the ukulele in an abandoned factory and joined the school's drama club.

Liked the nice songs played by the mysterious girl! Thought the drama club should have backup plans for the lead role. The disagreements among the classmates were pretty intense in my opinion!

Japanese Film Festival Link

Please Don't Go Anywhere

The story is about a girl's obsession with her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. She imagines what she is like even though they have never met.

The pace was a bit slow initially and I even switched to another movie around the 8 minute mark. But things got much more interesting after she opened her cupboard and got a surprise! Liked the interaction between the two girls! Ending was a little bit abrupt though.

Japanese Film Festival Link

Wander Life

The story is about a girl being bullied in school.

Liked the friendship between the girl and the nurse! Amazing how the band came up with a song in one night! Searched for the music video and thought it served as a nice ending to the movie.

Japanese Film Festival Link

Rent A Friend

The story is about a woman who writes about her experience of renting a friend in an online magazine. He accompanies her to places of interest and chit chats with her while remaining professional by being not emotionally involved.

Liked how the woman, her roommate and her rental friend all made music together towards the end! Thought the woman was confused herself on what she was trying to achieve though.

Japanese Film Festival Link

Inner Loop Couple

The story is about two people walking around Tokyo and chatting with each other throughout the night after they reached the terminal station.

An online Japanese film festival, what a great idea! The film reminds me a bit of "Before Sunset" which has lots of dialogue and walking scenes around Paris. The song is nice and catchy too!

Japanese Film Festival Link

The Platform

The story is about a prison where food is delivered to the inmates on a platform moving downwards. People on the higher levels have a lot of food to eat while those on the lower levels often starved.

Liked the interesting idea and how the director tried to pair up the protagonist with different personalities as room mates! The ending was not very well done in my opinion though.

Internet Movie Database Link