29 Oct – "Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2018: Journey", starring Indonesian actor Nicholas Saputra, recently made its world premiere at the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF). Cinema Online had the chance to watch the movie and see Saputra playing his three different roles in Chinese director Degena Yun's "The Sea", Japanese director Daishi Matsunaga's "Hidekishu" and Indonesian director Edwin's "Variable No. 3". The parts he play gradually grew over the three shorts, with the first part being the smallest and the third being the biggest, since he is the lead for "Variable No. 3". "Journey" is the second omnibus from the "Asian Three-Fold Mirror" project, which sees filmmakers from Japan and other parts of Asia working together to produce a movie comprising three half-hour shorts. While this year Malaysia is not prominently featured like last year (Isao Yukisada's "Pigeon" starring Sharifah Amani was shot entirely in Penang), the country is still involved in the project as Matsunaga revealed that the dubbing for his movie was done in Malaysia.
Saputra and his fellow cast members, Agni Pratistha and Oka Antara, filmed "Variable No. 3" in Japan in January and February this year. "The Sea", starring Jin Chen and Zhe Gong, was filmed in China and "Hidekishu", which pairs actor Hiroki Hasegawa with college student-turned-actress Nandar Myat Aung, was filmed in Myanmar. Saputra's involvement in all three shorts came about following Edwin's suggestion to cast him. While the actor's smaller roles in the other two shorts might seem insignificant, he in a way either represents how an outsider conceives the main characters or acts as "another kind of variable" in those shorts, explained the Indonesian director. "Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2018: Journey" is set to hit the big screen this November. At the moment, there are no words yet on which other markets it will open in but it is confirmed that next month the movie will open in Japan.