VDP2023

THEME Laugh!

The Visual Documentary Project aims to use visual forms of expression to complement the growing academic literature that exists on Southeast Asian societies and help promote the richness of Southeast Asian cultures to people in Japan through the medium of documentaries.
This year, we chose “laughter” as a theme to explore what we can learn from Southeast Asian comedy, humor, and satire. We can find laughter, humor, and comedy in all societies, universal features across all of them. They serve to connect us and provoke diverse reactions. Laughter has diverse aspects; it can be both direct and subtle, involving metaphors and double meanings. We hope to have an opportunity not only to watch documentary that provoke laughter, but also make us think about the importance of laughter. How do we go after, provoke or aim for laughter? And how do we perceive it? Each of selected works reflects a unique aspect of different communities and human relationships.

VDP2021

THEME DEATH / LIFE

Consciousness of death and life is present in all cultures, offering a space for reflection on living, the inevitability of aging and confronting our own mortality. This ever-present reality defines the fundamental conditions of our human condition and how it existentially shapes our societies responses to various challenges. Five submissions were chosen by an international selection committee engaging in a wide range of themes relating to civil disobedience and the threat of death (Myanmar), violence and trauma (Myanmar), a meditation on life and death under the lockdown (Vietnam), reflections on the past (Vietnam) and aging and care for the elderly (Malaysia). These documentaries offer a chance for us to dwell on processes, experiences, and meanings expressed in death and life across the region.

VDP2020

THEME LOVE

What should we dare say about love? People in diverse contexts and cultures have many ways of expressing their feelings towards others. Love builds relationships. It is intimacy. The awakening of passion. It can be a strike of lightening that hits a person and drive the moment. It can be fleeting, furtive and hidden. Or it can develop over many years. We can find different expressions and understandings of love toward individuals, households, families, communities and nation. The visual format of film and documentaries in particular, are a productive place to question what cultures of intimacy might exist in the case of Southeast Asia.

VDP2019

THEME JUSTICE

For years, numerous international organizations, government agencies and NGOS have appealed through ideals of justice to better the lives of individuals in the region. Be it economic, social, environmental -and most strongly-political matters, justice has sat at the heart of a deep ongoing conversation on fairness and equitable treatment. Yet, justice, as an ideal, is not a value-neutral term and different parties often compete over the claims relating to how justice is interpreted. The last 20 years witnessed a diffusion and certain normalization of ideas concerning international justice. However, in a region such as Southeast Asia, the application of norms and principles suited to different countries remains problematic even if many actors have constantly clamored for different forms of accountability. We chose this theme for VDP2019 to discover more about how justice is interpreted in the region.

VDP2018

THEME Popular Culture in Southeast Asia

It goes without saying that Southeast Asia is a region of immense diversity and this is reflected in its popular cultural traditions. Whether it is popular music, art, literature, theater, comedy, dance, sport or film, the region is both a huge producer and consumer of shared forms of culture. Since the inception of our project, we have often had many documentaries from young filmmakers tapping into all of these traditions and we wanted to cast our net far and wide for the VDP2018. We received an amazing array of thought provoking documentaries covering all of the above and more. Some of these tapped deep cultural traditions, while others spoke to us of the immense global cultural flows traversing regions at present. Many of the documentaries we received revolved around interpretations of what is popular culture. Our selection, however, represents the ongoing flow and pulse of modernity and globalization in the region. Our committee chose a cross section of documentaries which all touch upon ongoing forms of cultural transmission. These include the consumption of cosplay (Thailand, Vietnam), martial arts (Indonesia), theatre (Cambodia), and the transmission of and evolution of rap music (Thailand).

VDP2017

THEME Urban Life in Southeast Asia

At present, the region is undergoing rapid urbanization through the expansion of cities, their networks, and the necessary infrastructure needed to support them. It is estimated that just under 50% of the region’s population will live in urban areas by 2025. This shift from the rural to the urban is changing how people live across the region. With this, what kinds of urban landscapes will come to define the region? For those familiar with Southeast Asia and its expanding cities, we might know of the slums that share the same geographical space with high-rise condominiums and rising financial districts, as well as the often-forced displacement of informal settlements and attendant rise of gated communities that often accompany these developments. Large-scale revitalization projects and mass urban restructuring are coming to reshape urban life in Southeast Asia. What kind of new spaces will emerge and how will cultural diversity, heritage, and aesthetics play a role in defining urban life in the region? For VDP2017, we called out to filmmakers to present to us documentaries that engage with these topics and more. They responded.

VDP2016

THEME POLITICS IN EVERYDAY LIFE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

The ways that people engage in politics in Southeast Asia has long been the focus of much academic research. This year we wanted to know how Southeast Asians represent political issues of interest to themselves. What kinds of everyday interactions shape the very ideas of politics people aspire to? What political dreams do they have? We frequently see public demonstrations in Southeast Asian countries grace our televisions screens and newspapers, but these are often fleeting sound bites. How do documentary filmmakers engage with current issues and what can we learn from them on a deeper level?

VDP2015

THEME Human Flows – Movement in Southeast Asia –

Movement is a fundamental reality of human societies. In Southeast Asia how does it influence individuals, families, communities and nations? What journeys do people take as they move within, across and out of the region? What are their reasons to move and what stories do they have to tell? What experiences define movement in the region? And how will the region’s governments manage flows on the eve of the birth of ASEAN Economic Community?

VDP2014

THEME People and Nature in Southeast Asia

From the sky to the mountains, forests to mangroves, fields to orchards and animals to insects,what is the relationship between people and nature in Southeast Asia?How do people connect with their environments?In what ways do they think about, feel, touch, speak and share their surroundings in their societies, and through their cultures? This year, the visual documentary project presents five short documentaries, by young Southeast Asian filmmakers in the region,selected by an international committee for screening in Japan.

VDP2013

THEME Plural Co-existence in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is a place of rich diversity and home to over 600 million people. This diversity, a product of centuries of social, cultural, political and religious development, is at the heart of Southeast Asian societies. On one hand, migration, work opportunities, and the flow of cultural goods all create opportunities for people across to the region to meet each other. People live side by side and in that process contribute to the creation of different groupings known as “plural societies.” On the other hand, these can create various kinds of tension, conflict and violence directed toward certain groups or minorities.

In a region with such diversity, what does “plural co-existence” mean for different persons, groups, communities or nations? How do minority groups live side by side with majority groups? How do mixed communities deal with conflict and tension? Do minority languages disappear or come to life in urban areas where minority people settle in? With more and more Southeast Asians living outside of their home communities or forming new ones in the region, what kinds of contributions do they make? What kind of policies are there across the region have toward the diversity in their countries?

VDP2012

THEME “Care”in Southeast Asia: Every Day and into the Future

“Care,” is one of the most important aspects of human life at any time in our life cycle and is a fundamental part of all societies. Yet, the term “care” is western and has no exact corresponding term in Asian languages. This film forum hopes to stimulate, and raise awareness of how Southeast Asian filmmakers consider the relevance and meaning of “care,” and how they visually document it in their own societies.Five documentaries were selected by an international committee from a total of 36 original entries submitted from the region. This is an open forum and we invite anyone who is interested to participate.