>>> Japanese Dog (Romania)
Old timer Costache Moldu’s inner turmoil is the result of his wife Maria’s demise in the floods, which dealt a merciless blow to the village of his birth, and of the absence of his only son, Ticu, who has settled down somewhere in Japan.
His monotonous existence in a destitute home lacks aspirations and futile wishes. And the behavior of his neighbors and acquaintances feeds the stoicism he adopts in dealing with his problems. The only luxury he would like to benefit from is to be connected to the power system.
His dream is about to become reality, when, during an electoral visit, the mayor assures him that, from now on, he will no longer live in the dark. Moreover, it seems that Costache’s son is about to return home after more than twenty years. The news deeply affects the old father, who is overwhelmed by the impeding reunion.
Ticu’s arrival, however, surpasses any expectation, as he returns accompanied by a lovely Japanese woman, Hiroku, and two children, Mieko-Maria and Koji-Paul.
The Japanese-style lunch and the aged Romanian wine bring the five members of the Moldu family together, reunited in sublime and quiet harmony, an unfortunately transient paradise.
Costache and Ticu have twenty years of silence to work through and the reconciliation does not come easily. They both come up with different solutions. Costache wants his son by his side, in Romania, while Ticu wishes his father would follow him to Japan. And their separation is looming. In the final moment, after the embraces and the farewells, Koji-Paul, the grandson, offers Costache his favorite toy, a Robodog, from which he had never parted.
The story ends with the image of the old man “having a conversation” with the Japanese Robodog, trying to understand how this peaceful clash of civilizations will change his life.
Ioan Antoci
At the age of four years old, the music was my life and I played the piano.
Later I discovered that the entire world has a dimension, a spiritual dimension, a very important thing to us. So, I have chosen priesthood for helping the lost souls.
For many years I studied theology and now I am at Ph.D..
Recently, my passion (the movies) drove me into a world where I realized that a good story, no matter if it's real or imaginary, can change one life. 6 months ago I have received a prize for my first screenplay for feature film. The competition was organized by HBO Romania. I realized then that for my fulfillment, my story must say something meaningful to the other people.
The participation at ScripTeast is for me an opportunity to test the universality of my story.
