OASIS OF NOW

2023, 90 minutes, Malaysia/ Singapore/France, 1.85, Color, 5.1 Sound, in Cantonese, Vietnamese, Malay and Mandarin with English subtitles

Sales/Festivals: Diversion (Thailand)

Synopsis:

In an old apartment complex in Kuala Lumpur, we see lives in unseen corners. The stairwell of a near-abandoned floor of this apartment is one of these corners, where a woman and her daughter take refuge for their secret meetings. They meet at the top of this stairwell, play games and attempt to interact in this stolen time and place they share. 

The mother thinks she knows what is best for the daughter, while the daughter longs for a promise from the mother. Later, they’ll have to return separately to their own homes in the same apartment complex. The woman will continue her chores and she will live her life in between spaces she is so familiar with. 

But nothing is quite what it seems.

With the support of

• Mycreative Ventures
• Singapore Film Commission
• Aide aux cinémas du monde
• Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée
• Institut français
• Berlinale World Cinema Fund
• Purin Pictures
• Talents Tokyo - Next Masters Support Program
• Open Doors Hub - Locarno Film Festival, ArteKino International

Project developed at:

• SEAFIC Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab
• Produire au Sud
• Talents Tokyo
• SGIFF Southeast Asian Producers Network
• Berlinale Talent Project Market
• TorinoFilmLab Next - Audience Design Workshop

About the Director:

Chia Chee Sum

Chia Chee Sum is a Malaysian filmmaker, an alumnus of the Asian Film Academy (Busan), FIRST Training Camp (Xining), and recipient of Talents Tokyo 2020 Award. His short film HIGH WAY (2018), won the Jury Prize at the Busan International Short Film Festival. He is co-founder of theCommonist, a film and animation production company based in Malaysia and Thailand. His feature film debut, OASIS OF NOW, was developed at the SEAFIC Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab and presented at Locarno Open Doors Hub, Talents Tokyo and Berlinale Talent Project Market.