Archive - 10th Five Flavours Film Festival

A Yellow Bird

Singapore, France 2016, 112’
subtitles: Polish and English
director: K. Rajagopal
screenplay: K. Rajagopal, Jeremy Chua
cinematography: Michael Zaw
editing: Fran Borgia
music: Justin Loh, Roman Dymny
cast: Sivakumar Palakrishnan, Huang Lu, Seema Biswas, Udaya Soundari, Nithiyia Rao, Indra Chandran
producer: Fran Borgia, Claire Lajoumard, Jeremy Chua
production: Akanga Film Productions
language: Tamil, Mandarin, English, Hokkien
colouration: colour

Awards and festivals

Cannes FF 2016; Hamburg FF 2016; Busan IFF 2016; London East Asia FF 2016

Film description

Singapore, the Asian Tiger, a spotless city of high, shining skyscrapers and affluent inhabitants. But it is not everyone's paradise. In his feature debut, K. Rajagopal turns his camera in another direction, diving into a completely different world of the Indian minority, which makes up 7% of all citizens... This is the reality of people pushed away into a small ghetto and their everyday struggle for survival.

The silent, grim Siva leaves prison after an 8-year trafficking sentence. At home, it turns out his mother rented his room to Chinese workers, and his wife and daughter disappeared without a trace. Siva will do anything to get them back, even go to the extremes and take brutal action. His angry, tense journey though the labyrinth of Little India turns into a desperate attempt of rebuilding his past life and the relationships he destroyed.

A spark of hope appears when Siva meets Chen Chen, an illegal immigrant from China, who also lives on the margin and clings to every hope of making some money. But the temporary stabilization seems as fleeting as the tiny tent in which Chen Chen if forced to prostitution.

"A Yellow Bird" is a rough, acute, authentic film, not just because in preparation for his role Sivakumar Palakrishnan spent some time living on the streets. In its stuffy frames, the blurry skyscrapers loom far away in the distance.

Marcin Krasnowolski

K. Rajagopal

Born in 1965. Received numerous awards for short films, worked as a screenwriter and director of television films. He directed film novellas included in "Lucky 7" and "7 Letters," shown at international festivals. He wrote for the theater for over a decade and played King Lear on stage. In 2012, he received a government scholarship to make his directorial debut.

Filmography:

1995 I Can’t Sleep Tonight (kr. m.)

1996 The Glare (kr. m.)

2008 Lucky 7

2010 Timeless (kr. m.)

2010-2011 Asia Exposed (TV dok.)

2015 7 Letters

2016 Złocisty ptak / Yellow Bird

Be up to date!

© Fundacja Sztuki Arteria
Our website uses cookies, i.e. small text files that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you browse the site. Click here to change your cookie settings.