Watching from the Soundtrack - Akitsugu Fukushima +【Section 3: Made From Macao】Al Niente

Al Niente

(Hong Kong, 2023, 26')

Leaving music school, the happy-go-lucky Ling returns to Hong Kong to her dementia-stricken father, on whom she tries to conduct music therapy. Her demurrer older sister Munn, the caretaker and sole supporter of the family, watches with disapproval. Playing the piano piece her father once taught her, Ling seems to register some change in her father’s condition, a glimmer of hope amidst the abyss of oblivion. However, secret animosity and rivalry eventually leads to open conflict between the two sisters, bringing out long-time family traumas. Will music save them?

Director: Lam Lo 

About the Director:

Lam is a writer/director in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. After graduating from BBA (Law) at the University of Hong Kong, she directed up to 20 digital commercials in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. She acquired an MFA in Film & TV Production at the University of Southern California. Lo’s short films demonstrate her unique voice and vision as a female millennial.

Watching from the Soundtrack - Akitsugu Fukushima

1. Murmur of Icebergs 

(Macao, 2021, 18')

A poetic murmur shortens the distance between eighty and twenty-two degrees latitude north, as well as the gap between the Arctic Ocean and the Pearl River Delta. Are the melting glaciers and a small Chinese southern city reclaimed from the sea existing on parallel universes, or is it simply karma? If we get a chance to stay awake, will catastrophe turn out to be nothing but a bad dream?

Director: Un Sio San

2. Go Back Home 

(Macao, 2019, 14')

In the 1980s, a Mainland woman, Lan, decided to come to Macao to make a living. During a trip to her hometown to visit her relatives, she realized that the fate of the decade has changed, but the essence of life has not changed. 

Director: Tou Kin Hong

3. G.D.P.: Grandma's Dangerous Project

(Macao, 2019, 22')

Three grannies came up with a crazy and dangerous idea. They are planning to do a real big monkey business which may either send them to jail, or let them without any more to worry for the rest of their miserable lives.

Director:Peeko Wong 

4. Till the End of the World

(Macao, 2019, 13')

In the winter of 2012, on the night when the legend of the end of the world came, a couple walked through the narrow streets of Macau, reminiscing about their years of love, and finally fulfilled their promise to each other.

Director:Emily Chan Nga Lei