Astu - So Be It

Five stories about love in the city of Kuala Lumpur.

Biographical story of rock idol and TV star, Ricky Nelson is recalled from the view of Ricky in a discussion with a fan just hours before his death in a plane crash in 1985. Told in flashbacks, the film examines the Nelson's early life, their rise to TV stardom in the 50's, Ricky's struggles with his Dad to move into music and out of his Dad's control, and his own struggles with drugs and his star drop after his early teen successes.

WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA is a bold examination of the loneliness inside of relationships. The film centers on the strained marriage of Undine Jones, an actress, and John Goodman, a well-regarded composer. The story opens as the two are driving cross-country from New York to California to start over - hoping that the move will renew their relationship. Within weeks, Goodman is back in New York and Undine has begun work on a movie where she is drawn into an instinctively unavoidable relationship with one of the film's crew, Jim Travis. It is through Undine and Jim's connection that the film explores lust, love, intimacy, the past and forgiveness. Traylor's use of the California desert resonates with the search of her characters; in the most barren of landscapes, it finds wildflowers that bloom.

Love at 40 is about a lost love re found. Negar is a married woman who works at a musical company. When she is given an assignment to collaborate with an Iranian expat Orchestra leader, she comes face to face with a former lover. Meanwhile, Negar finds herself in a compromised situation with her husband, who turns out has had a hand in her falling out with her former lover.

A disconnected desperate guy forges a deal with a group of privileged misfits to plan a secret party at the height of a global pandemic, for a chance to escape his reality.