Revolution Launderette

Revolution Launderette

Mark Chua • 2019

Duration: 01:10:40
Language: Japanese, English, Mandarin
Subtitles: English
Country/Region: Singapore, Japan

In Tokyo, a young man Tomo, dogged by misfortune, sets out to beat his existence to its next punchline, together with Hiroko who obsesses over a stranger’s old scrapbook. They agree to head into all the encounters that come their way, on a plan to decipher the parts of the whole and outwit this joke before it plays out. Their trip through signs, sounds and situations dives them into another side of the city - a maze of subcultures and surreal lingerings in the air. Setting off events far beyond his imagination, Tomo winds up finding his answers at the bottom of something entirely bizarre. A gonzo tale of being in the world, the individual will and the deciphering of signs.

AWARDS & FESTIVALS

2019 Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore2020 Festival ECRÃ, Brazil2020 Eastern Oregon Film Festival, 2020 Binisaya Film Festival, Philippines2020 San Diego Underground Film Festival, United States 

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

Mark Chua

Mark Chua

Director

Traveling between Singapore and Japan over the years and creating with the artists and musicians in the two countries, we encountered often a tension between the individual will and the surrounding pressures that shape it.Making Revolution Launderette, we wanted to reflect on this by humoring reality, tracing an existentialist tale through places we’ve been and the voices of the people in those spaces. As a meditation on the convictions we will for and against, in hope and futility, in living.The cast of the film mostly comprises indie and avant-garde artists and musicians in Tokyo, Osaka and Ibaraki. Shooting the film directly on the streets and in live happenings, we adopted a spontaneous approach to the cinematography and performances. To capture as truly as possible, alongside the gonzo narrative, the tensions of agency and situation that inspired us to begin with.This film is a realizing of our collective movement, with camaraderie and expression, in re-imaging and re-imagining reality!

TRAILER