In cinemas from April 30th, the dazzling debut film of Malaysian director Jin Ong which triumphed at the last Far East Film Festival in Udine.
Distributed in Italy by Academy Two and Tucker Film.
After triumphing at the last Far East Film Festival in Udine, where it won the three main prizes by popular acclaim, and after collecting many more awards around Asia and Europe, the dazzling debut film of Malaysian director Jin Ong is now all set to be released in Italian cinemas: we're talking, obviously, about Come Fratelli – Abang e Adik, in theatres from the 30th of April under the twin banner of Academy Two and Tucker Film. A powerful, unrestrained, surprising piece which challenges genre boundaries in its investigation of love, justice and marginalisation.
Abang (Taiwanese actor and model Wu Kang Ren) and Adik (Malaysian actor and pop idol Jack Tan) are two of the many invisible people who eke out a living in the poor neighbourhoods of Kuala Lumpur. Without documents, without rights, and without any chance of "existing" as actual citizens. On one side of the fence there's them, and on the other there's the city, with its lights, skyscrapers and aspirational lifestyles.
Brothers of the street, and maybe even blood brothers too, Abang and Adik are inseparable. Similar, but very different.
Born a deaf mute, Abang works tirelessly, convinced that fate must have a stable life in store for him. But the younger and much angrier Adik refuses to accept his condition, and tries to make easy money. Dirty easy money. How long does fierce female NGO worker Jia En have to free them from their situation and prevent Adik's choice from proving fatal?
“In my Malaysia,” says Jin Ong, “there are thousands of people who don't have ID documents. Thousands of people who most likely have no future. I wrote the story of Come fratelli - Abang e Adik to raise awareness of the least fortunate people in Malaysia and, by extension, of the least fortunate people in the world. These people struggle and suffer every day and I'm convinced that, in the end, love and humanity are the only resources available to them. Because the power of love and humanity, as I try to explain in the film, can be truly infinite...”