PETALING JAYA, May 13 — A Malaysian short film about a grieving father who copes with the loss of his wife through a radio took home the Best Short Film award at the Mantova Lovers Short Film Festival in Italy on Friday.

My Ba’s Radio is directed by Victor Chen Yee Fei and marks the 25-year-old Malaysian filmmaker’s directorial debut short film.

The film beat out 1,500 submissions from around the world at the inaugural Italian film festival which took place at Cinema del Carbone in Mantua, Italy.

The short film’s themes of love, loss and reconciliation were a perfect match for the festival’s theme The Love That Survives Over Time.

Chen’s prize was a workshop at Fabrica, a creative research center headed by renowned photographer Oliviero Toscani.

Based on Chen’s late father, My Ba’s Radio tells the story of a reclusive ailing father who continues to find connections with his late wife through a small radio, much to the disapproval of his son who returns from the city to care for him.

Chen was mentored by Yasu and Bea Tanaka from 42nd Pictures.

The film was shot in Chen’s grandfather’s 60-year-old house in Semenyih and took three months to complete.

Director Victor Chen (centre) leads actors Tam Yee Swee (left) and Fai Chen during filming. — Picture courtesy of Victor Chen Yee Fei
Director Victor Chen (centre) leads actors Tam Yee Swee (left) and Fai Chen during filming. — Picture courtesy of Victor Chen Yee Fei

My Ba’s Radio was written by Chen and Andy Darrel Gomes and produced by Chen, Benedict Jeremy Lazaroo and Chin Mui Yoon, and stars Malaysian talents Fai Chena and Tam Yee Swee.

The 10 minutes and 15 seconds short film previously won Best Short Film and Best Cinematography at Panasonic Digital Short Film Competition 2016 before heading to Tokyo’s Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2017 and other film festivals in the US, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and France.

Find out more about the film here.