Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly

The Chinese are the only pork-eaters in Muslim Indonesia. They're also the default scapegoats when anything goes wrong socially, politically or economically. Edwin, director of brilliant shorts, devotes his debut feature to the Chinese-Indonesian experience in all its contradictions. For some, being Chinese is like having a firecracker go off in your mouth; others may think it's worth submitting to sodomy to help acquire a 'pure' Indonesian identity. The film's centripetal structure radiates out from Linda (Ladya Cheryl), the daughter of a dentist who ruined his own sight when he tried to change the shape of his eyes, and a volleyball champion who retired and became a pious Christian. Elements in play include a gay couple with all the right connections, a documentary about the anti-Chinese riots of May 1998, and Stevie Wonder's most irritating song. Often surreal, humorously deadpan and sometimes disturbing. Tony Rayns Screening with Edwin's two most recent shorts, Trip to the Wound (2008, 7min) and Hulahoop Soundings (2008, 7min), both also starring Ladya Cheryl. The first is a very sharp story about scars, the second the provocative tale of an erotic encounter.