Set in 1950s Mindoro in the Philippines – a nation just proclaimed independent from the United States – Big Boy chronicles the myths of progress that consume a family, and the violence not just in war and colonisation but also that which is inherent in coming into being.

Director Shireen Seno intriguingly remembers a childhood in the Philippines that she did not experience, having herself grown up in Japan to Filipino parents. By blending a mix of live and ‘found’ sounds and displacing real time sound and image in the film, Seno evokes the recall of memories.

Big Boy is Seno’s first feature, shot on location on an ultra-low budget and taking inspiration from family tales as well as the visual traces left behind by previous generations, to create an evocative coming-of-age tale.

‘…the images retain, even after the transfer to digital, a bewitching fragility which opposes all nostalgic closure.’ 
— Lukas Foerster (Deutsches Historiches Museum Berlin) 

Shireen Seno (1983, Japan) was born in Tokyo to a Filipino family. She studied architecture and film studies at the University of Toronto. Her photo and video work has been shown in various galleries and she has worked with filmmakers such as Lav Diaz and John Torres, for whom she took stills. Her debut film ‘Big Boy’ won the prize for Best First Film at the Festival de Cine Lima Independiente in 2013. Her second feature, ‘Nervous Translation’, was screened at CAMPLE LINE in 2019.

Saturday 30 January 6:30pm – Monday 1 February 6:30pm (GMT) – available to watch (UK only)

Sunday 31 January at 1:00pm – Director Shireen Seno in conversation with Dr Philippa Lovatt, specialist in Southeast Asian and East Asian Cinemas 

Closed captions available for both the film and the live conversation

A PDF transcript of the discussion is available on request