On its seventh day, the 20th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF20) continued to spotlight the Light of Asia competition, a platform where Asian filmmakers distill expansive ideas into intimate short-form narratives. Titles such as A Better Place (Ben Oui, 2025), After Colossus (Timoteus Anggawan Kusno, 2025), Au Revoir Siam (Domenico Singha Pedroli, 2025), Honey, My Love, Sweet (JT Trinidad, 2025), and Vox Humana (Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, 2025) were screened, each engaging with pressing social concerns—from deception and violence to strands of magical realism—rendered through the distinctly personal sensibilities of their makers.
A broad range of perspectives also unfolded in the Asian Perspectives Shorts program, presented on the same day through Asian Perspectives Shorts 1 and 3. The selection brought together films that dwell on memory, reality, and the ways human beings interpret lived experience. Don Quixote (Rahil Fallahfar, 2025) and Agapito (Arvin Belarmino & Kyla Romero, 2025) trace human relationships shaped by encounters and the time that remains. Meanwhile, Wind (Moeinoddin Jalali, 2025) and Mirage: Eigenstate (Riar Rizaldi, 2024) probe history and perceptions of reality through striking, unconventional visual approaches. More personal journeys surface in works such as Orlo with Karma (Kangdrun, 2025), A Very Straight Neck (Neo Sora, 2025), and When the Fan Stops (Hyein Lim, 2025), each exploring emotion, trauma, and loss through inward-looking character studies.
The films compiled in Asian Perspectives Shorts 3 place a particular emphasis on transformation and farewell—whether within the self, one’s surroundings, or interpersonal bonds. Creature Feature (Martika Ramirez Escobar, 2025), Heading West (Sulla/Ngan Nguyen, 2025), and The Last Swimming Reunion Before Life Happens (Glenn Barit, 2024) seek to preserve fleeting moments of beauty before stepping into new chapters of life. In contrast, Moti (Yash Saraf, 2025) and NO!!!! (Oktania Hamdani & Winner Wijaya, 2025) reflect on unexpected shifts in identity and life choices. Titles such as Once Upon a Time There Was a Mountain (TO Chun Him, 2025) and Yellow MashiMashi Rhapsody (Beta) (Masahiro Saito, 2025) approach friendship and coming-of-age with a lighter, more playful tone. Taken together, the program paints a rich portrait of how individuals navigate change—both emotionally and through the sudden ruptures of everyday life.
Across the competition program Light of Asia and non-competition program Asian Perspectives Shorts, these curated short films underscore JAFF’s role as more than a screening platform. They reaffirm the festival as a vital space for Asian filmmakers to experiment, exchange viewpoints, and articulate their responses to the world around them. United by an effort to portray Asian realities through honest, intimate, and resonant stories, these programs reinforce JAFF’s commitment to nurturing diverse voices, fostering new perspectives, and strengthening the position of short films within the contemporary landscape of Asian cinema.
Photos: JAFF Documentation Team
