Pavane for an Infant

117 minutes | 2024 | Docu-Fiction | Malay, Cantonese, English, Mandarin | Chinese and English subtitles
Canadian Premiere

Content Advisory: This film contains scenes of mature themes, disturbing content

Set in a Kuala Lumpur baby hatch, this quietly powerful film confronts reproductive injustice in Malaysia’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. As rising conservatism casts care work as moral failure, Lai Sum (Fish LIEW) and her co-workers navigate stigma, silence, and institutional control to support those with nowhere else to turn. When she intervenes to help Siew Man (Natalie HSU), a pregnant underage girl considering abortion, their lives become perilously entwined in theocratic and patriarchal forces.

CHONG Keat Aun is a Malaysian Chinese director, antique collector and community arts project curator. In 2017, his short film Cemetery of Courtesy was nominated for the 22nd Busan Film Festival – Wide Angle Category. In 2020, his debut feature The Story of Southern Islet won him the Best New Director Award at the Golden Horse Awards. His sophomore feature Snow in Midsummer premiered in Venice Days in 2023 and subsequently received 9 nominations at the Golden Horse Awards. Pavane For An Infant is his third feature film.