My disclaimer to this write up is that I think I need to watch 'Dirty Bitch' again. There were too many backstories and pretext to it that I didn't really get the hang of the supposed 'Bitch' in the story. Having said that, it was my favourite of the Singapore Panorama 2 - a real mish-mash of works though many centred around some form of madness.
'Dirty Bitch' was a lot of madness but in an orchestrated kind of way. Madness because of the violent reflexes and dramatic excesses. But orchestrated because of a certain precedent it was trying to follow (which I knew because of the context under which 'Dirty Bitch' was made. The Rotterdam International Film Festival has invited Sun among a few other Asian filmmakers to make a film tribute to a film master. So it was Claire Denis in Sun's case and her inspiration came from
Nenette et Boni, apparently an graphically violent film. Here is a summary of its story to do some of the talking for me...
19 year old Boni lives alone in the Marseilles flat he inherited from his mother and makes a living working on a pizza stall. To break the routine of his humdrum life, he mixes with arms traffickers and fantasises about the woman who runs a baker’s shop. One day, Boni’s 15 year old sister Nénette appears out of the blue and says she is pregnant. Boni has not seen his sister for years, since his parents separated, and is reluctant to let her move in with him. Gradually, Boni develops an affection for his younger sister and her unborn baby, not realising that Nénette has no wish to keep the baby... In a cluttered HDB flat, under the roving eyes of a young man (who claims to be a cop) and guided by his 'colourful' (language) narration(not always in tandem with the visuals), we are led into an weird struggle between him and an underaged pregnant girl who seems to also pregnant with a lot of rage. Their mental fantasies intersperse, with each one trying to mutilate the other sexually and physically. Providing an almost juctapostional kind of contrast to the mayhem is the rabbit motif. Apart from a white rabbit wiggling its way around the house, our 'Dirty Bitch' has a pair of rabbit slippers too. And almost like a kind of violation later, the clean white rabbit furs are splattered with curd-like red blood. It's a mouthful to desribe the journey so far but its freeness of form (naaratively) was a very liberating experience for the audience.
The abortion portion offered yet another surprise - a musical segment. And rightly cast, Loretta Chen makes an authoritative presence enough to compete with Serene Chen's grasp of the complex titular character. The only pity is we do not get to hear her talk too much otherwise, it wouold be quite a treat to heat her 'whip-of-a-tongue' do her job. Instead, she lip-synches to a French song, which I suppose might be taken fromn Nenette et Boni. And I felt perhaps this is part that could alienate some audience. And it's also hilarious how out HDB 'Nenette' can suddenly sing in French. Speaking of language, the guy's Mandarin narration sounds also too refined and mis-matched for its content. Maybe it's the Mandarin accent, or should it have been Hokkien? Or perhaps even English in a proper manner (to sound like its from a third voice) because of the very Western overtones in the content of the narration.
Finally, I thought the film left the audience with a little subversion to take home. 'Dirty Bitch' after the madness decides to apply for a job. In a an empty lecture theatre sit a panel of 3 corporate animals, all looking stern and judging. But the uneasy silence does not daunt our 'bitch' for she is determined to get something out of it... until, some kind of hell breaks loose the panel starts boozing and dancing. Hovering betweem a sardonic kind of humour and a sense of resignation, the film seems to end with a message, surprisingly (after its randomness), for her and for us.
The film is preceeded by a warning message about the potentially disturbing nature of the content. A group of students are out to shoot a film late at night. Like the film itself, the group is a picture of lackadaisical randomness. They amble and ramble from point to point, keeping the audience guessing when something is going to happen. The program says 26 min. 15 min into the film and still nothing has happened. Or was I not observant enough? Was there a moving whatsit lurking somewhere behind the pillar? Or is the apparition meant to be so transparent that you cant see it with your naked eye? By now, there are no prizes for guessing which famous film UHP seems to remind me off.
Kevin, a teenage boy, is unable to cope with his mum's death and he creates a little utopia for himself right in the comfort of his own bedroom. His little utopia consists of a model of a house, some terrain and a little figurine that supposedly represents him. Under the filmmaker Rui An's skillful hands, we get to see his utopia in stop-motion moving image, built from paper mache, paper shreds and other paper derivatives. In fact, the mixed media treatment of the story, a combination of live action and stop-motion animation, serves the story well by shuffling us between 2 different worlds, one imaginary and one real.
Interestingly, his utopia seems a little apocalyptic. Perhaps due to the paper-mache texture, the terrain appears battered against a dark sky and much of the stylised or caricaturised props or sets bordered on the grotesque. The only source of comfort that belonged to Kevin's imaginary world was a guardian. In fact, he writes letters to this imaginary guardian, seeking solace and perhaps even an answer. On the side of his bedroom door lies the real world, resided by his concerned sister. She is both anxious and helpless about her brother's condition. Her anxiety is unbridled that when she got a chance to enter the room and discover his paper models, she loses her composure. Not sure if its the acting or the script constricting her emotional breadth but her character was could have more dimensions that just that of anxiety. For the brother, while his state of delusion is credible at most points, the dramatic transition of accepting his sister's care was wanting. I guess all in all, its the imagined that defined the film more.
It is so unfortunate that feel-good films do not go down well with programmers because every festival is scrambling to find edge and er.... pain. 'Meng Xiang' is a very well-produced short film about overcoming the odds to find triumph. However, the mise-en-scene and dialogue are as predictable as the title sounds. A secondary school boy pursuit of swimming comes at the expense of his studies. His father is an ex-swimmer who is now sadly, a pool cleaner. It is not difficult to infer how his father would feel towards his pursuit. In fact, 'Meng Xiang' reminds me of many early days SBC/TCS TV dramas set in the swimming, one was 'The Flying Fish' in the early 80s and the other has Chen Liping in it, in the late 80s. And they all culminate in a triumphant final race, loyal to this 'genre'.
So while, it does not break out of the 'swimming drama' genre too much, it does offer a gem of a line that stuck in my head - in Singapore, what ever you do, you either become number 1 or become part of the crowd, there is no place for number 2. Sadly, it has truths in every field. Also, the actors were sincere in their performances, giving me a lump in my throat when father and son hugged. What's more, they got crane shots! So I hope none of this effort goes to waste and it finds itself more avenues for public or even TV (quite 'telemovie' if you ask me) showcase.
For people who do not know Wesley, he made minor history with his NTU admission procedures. In is nothing short of drama but to keep my friendship with this prodigy, I will not reveal anything here. When was the last you felt like doodling a genital behind the toilet door? Well, you could have made the same short film as Wesley here under that influence. This is not meant to be offensive because I lost myself helplessly to laughter watching his film.
'Lion's Pride explores the life of a 'Chinese lion (those in the traditional dance) after the clammer of Chinese New Year. Over a long shot of lush, tropical vegetation, our familiar lion enters the frame painting a surrealistic picture. What titillated me was you just could not fathom the drift of the film at this point. Like many of Wesley's shorts, there is always a strange concoction of different genres. Then, judging from the 'nature documentary' style of the narration, I began to piece it all together. Basically it's lion feeding, sleeping, stretching and err....... playing. Not sure if I should take home anything profound from the pantomime. but my guess is not because I think I can see Wesley smirking somewhere out there.
How can anyone let a name like 'Pang Sai Palace' pass you by? You begin to wonder if it's a euphemism for a public toilet, a place for a poo-fest (some twisted motivation behind this!) or a toilet with gold-plated seats and toilet paper used only by the royalty. Deep within the recesses of our minds is a yearning to laugh out loud at primary school toilet humour and I braced myself for it only to be slightly let down by the wry and understated quality of the humour.
'Pang Sai Palace' seems like a spoof of Channel News Asia from the style and the sliding text at the bottom of the screen, resembling the stock price and news updates. It interviews the people close to Sam Lamb, the creator of 'Pang Sai Palace'. The story goes that Sam actually died in his own 'Pang Sai Palace' , not sure why and the program is meant to commemorate his noble achievement. Somehow, the humour never really took off and I feel it is constrained by the choice of a making a mock TV program that features people who do not directly address the 'content' of his business. So it had effectively only nudged the humour mill.
Having said that, I do look forward to watching 'Charlie and his Chocolate factory'.
Amidst Toaist offerings for the dead laid on the pavement outside the HDB void deck, is a tiny little plastic soldier perched on a mini platter meant for fruits. Its significance was never adequately explained though it served a narrative function later on. 'Uncle Downstairs' could be term we sometimes refer to 'familiar strangers' in our void decks. I used to have a '3rd-floor auntie'. So in the story, I guess it's what a restless little Indian boy calls an old Chinese man who is habitually seated beside the 'Mama' stall. ('Mama' store is a small shop in the void deck selling titbits and newspapers and is typcially run by an Indian, in this film, a Chinese auntie runs it). The film explores a playful relationship between the boy and the old man. The lady's role, though just a bridge or a supporting character, provides an interesting maternal counterpoint to the 2 'babies'.
The boy, on hearing the 'uncle' create whistles on the sweet wrapper, starts pestering him to impart some of his blowing skills. The 'uncle refuses' and the boy finds ways to jolt him out of his daytime stupor at the side of the 'mama shop'. What results is a little cat and mouse game that's
endearing, but predictably so. Actually, I was more arrested by the banter between the boy and the lady. She was grumpy and very much in an 'act-sy' way. It made her character very annoying. But at the same time, there was a wee moment when she loosened her defences against the boy and let her motherly instincts do the talking - she admonished him against eating too many sweets for fear of tooth decay. It humanised an otherwise flat character.
'Undle Downstairs' also had a surprising end that caught me off-guard, redeeming what was a pretty uneven film.
Jeevan breaks the visual pattern of the afternoon's screenings with a film that features some remarkable black pencil drawings. Pardon me if the comment sounds 'trivialising', but the pencil masterpieces made the film quite a treat after seeing quite a bevy of bad camera angles. The film is about a brother who tries to save his dying sister from a very dark and apparently 'evil' house. Taking her away, he then brings her to the 'Happy Place' (sounds like MacDonalds!). If the quality of bed linen and duvets are measured by threadcount, I am not what you call the number of evolving frames for animation. It seemed like a lot and the overall animation was very smooth and sleek.
The amount of effort put into a video like this can only be described as mammoth. It certainly warrants a screening on a grander scale, with a more specific purpose. Instead, the significance of this video seems compromised by being screened alongside pieces like 'Pang Sai Palace'. 'She Shapes a Nation' opens with talking heads interviews with the early female activists and social leaders in Singapore. The initial interviews do not command too much noticing from me because I surmised that it might turn out to be another TV-style documentary. But I feel the filmmaker must be too learned on this issue for a staid documentary. She is Dana Lam, a previous president of AWARE.
In fact, the interviews milked a lot of personally unique experiences the women had in terms helping to raise the profile of women in Singapore. Every women had an anecdote to share instead of politically correct statements to reiterate. I cannot forget Yu Foo Yee Shun relating her experience with people whob hurled 4-letter words at her. Neither can I forget that Sun Koh, the filmmaker led her parents to pay a fine for breaking the 'Stop-at-2' marker. In fact, Dana reached out to a good cross section of women which would have been a challenge in the capacity of a younger and more average filmmaker.
Another interesting aspect of the video is seeing how some earlier women leadesr have moved on. I remember when i was in school, Dr Seet Ai Mee, Dr Aline Wong and a few other female figures took up significant roles in a male-dominated Parliment. If I am not wrong, they were the first women MPs. Not to be sexist, but I was always been curious to observe how the women 'wore the pants' in Parliment, often exuding a very different kind of aura from men. So having these women in the documentary certainly enriched the film for me personally.
Not much I could comment intelligently about this 3 min expressionistic piece. But it is sure coming at a right time when the air seems to be getting quite still and heavy in the heat of the night. Can die under this weather!
I had a soft spot for this slightly soapy father-son drama set in a barbershop. First, it's personal both for the director and also, I have deeply-affecting father-son issues myself. Secondly, the sense of irony is so strong and yet natural that drama speaks for itself without too much alternative treatment.
A dashing young man aspires to become what his father wants to prevent him from doing precisely - to become a hairdresser. And the irony of it is that his father's failing business spurs his son even further to pursue this business as a act to make his father proud. The dilemma transcends races really (in fact on the same day, there was another film called 'Dream' about a aspiring swimmer and his father, an ex-swimmer). I can imagine even more heartbreak in a Chinese context.
While I was not too impressed with the theatrics of the mother figure right at the beginning, it subsequent scenes in the film made watching it quite a poignant experience. In an age of metrosexual vanity where men visit the salon as often as women, the barbershop stands like an anachronism and interestingly, it is the foreground to sun-scorched exterior of passing traffic, as if to symbolise how the world is passing it by. And there were many things that helped humanise the barbershop to make it seem quite a sanctuary in the film. There were comforting presence of regular customers, the stubborn presence of old-fashioned decor, the very personal scrapbook Sazali made and finally, the tenderness of the affectionate moments between father and son. Perhaps, if it was less soapy, it would have stood a better chance at the being among the finalists.
A thoughtfully crafted film is often discernible right from the very first frame, or first few frames. Over warm and intimate details like Chinese herbs simmering in chicken broth, steam filtering through from the pot kissing the camera lens, we are transported into the world of Joi and her grandparents, who live together is a small but cosy flat. Joi is a 4-5 year girl who is raised by her grandparents and has naturally developed a strong affinity to them. Over a series of footages of daily living and narration, I developed a proximity to the characters whom seemed so natural in their roles. There was nothing to tell me if this was a documentary or fiction or a semi-documentary with real characters 'directed' in a situation familiar to them. I am inclined to think it is the last one.
The situation is familiar, the characters are everyday people but in the boundaries of this film, their experience seems illuminated by sheer uninhibited nature of their behaviour. While the granny is most of the time absorbed in her cooking and feeding, the girl is oblivious to her surroundings. Part of her endearing nature also stems from her care-free manner that reminds me of the girl in Sun Koh's 'My Secret Heaven' (who must be so grown up by now). Even the grandfather was loveable in his occasional teasing remarks at his equally silver-haired wife. Which made separation (when Mummy came to take the little girl home) a highly frictioned process.
The title and the set up of the film gave me no clue of what to expect from it later. Its opening frame is a silhouetted view of a bedroom thats seems like a flash from a past. The colours are muted and the overall look soft and nostalgic, providing a fitting canvas for its title in Mandarin 'Er Xi', - Childhood Games. Then we are brought to the present where a family, dressed for a special occasion gathers for a sumptious Chinese dinner.... a where a glassy array of Chinese food scream for as much attention as a cast that seemed a little under-used = most of all Jerry Hoh. Lol. Jerry is a face all too familiar to many of us filmmakers because of the very comic and sometimes farcical roles he has taken.
So it turns out that a quiet family dinner becomes a bursting closet of family secrets or secret. The lead, a dashing young man, a little too squeaky clean for his dark past, faces up to his family members, in what looks like a long-awaited reunion. We are brought back to a past where he is seated uncomfortably close to his sister in bed. Then, he pushes the 'social boundaries' with a single act of.... The trauma of the act never seemed to be fully manifested but the film would have come to a fuller circle if we could close in on what's in his sister mind 20 years down the road. Unfortunately, she seemed more like an appendix, being marginally distinct from the other family members who have gathered at dinner.
When the titles came out, I thought the title was famous quote from a book or teaser to the film that was about to unfold. I would like to use the word 'unfold' to characterise most of the film. Oweing to its non-linear fashion of story-telling and its dotted punctuation of emotional outbursts, it is sometimes easy to be lost in its storyline. James, ths protagonist, a shifty and restless young man seems mired in a drug-dealer's web. he may look clean but he' got a lot of shady characters around him. Weighing down on ths side of his moral struggle is his wife who seems to be lost and subsequently distressed. In turns out that he's lost his trading ware - drugs while his wife suffered somthing a miscarriage at the same time.
The situation seems like it belongs to a Hollywood crime blockbuster, which makes the film genre a little too ambitious for its production values. A little more strategic lighting would have improved the visual and dramatic effect of the film, something to the effect of highlighting fears and anxiety of their faces, shadows, sweat etc. Instead, it was mostly quite dimly-lit throughout the film. Also, many of the sequences were more like flashes, never really giving me a chance to breathe in the scene. Except for the portion when the wife breaks news of the miscarriage. Perhaps it was like a narrative anchor for me because someone finally speaks her heart out after all the frenzy.
'Symphony of Lights' reminds me of the purpose of the very gracious screening of the SIFF non-finalists - to give creators of the moving image a platform to showcase their works, whatever the motivation of creating that image. 'Symphony of Lights', in a totally biased sweeping statement, is a STB tourism video, shot in Little India during Deepavali. The shots, though conventional, are pleasingly framed and coloured. And the editing kind-of 'boxes' the images up in a very 'social-studies' kind if way. Almost like a video made for educating purposes.
Is Singapore for uncles and aunties? That's what 'Sing-a-pore' tries to address. Funny how this statement sounds! A Tiger beer jug toting auntie leads a cast of 'senior' folks in their endless complaints about living in this island. After the initial gripes, I did not have too much difficulty second guessing the subsequent issues - tax, fines, this cannots, that cannots. Preventing it from being a 7pm TV drama were the hearty musical sequences. Yes, lyrics and music were written for this part-drama, part-musical. And quite a conscientious , mouthful piece as well!
If I forgot everything else about the film, the musical numbers would certainly be the only things left. Despite the DV look, it was a treat just watch the tracking shots along the corridor. Somehow, the smoothness of the tracks were not in tandem with the other more randomly framed shots. The other treat was the back-up dancers. For the scale of a simple hearty short film like this, it was quite hilarious how suddenly 8 nimble and lithe girls and boys would pop into the scene bursting into 'background' dance. One letdwon about the musical numbers was how after sitting through this mix of 'Talking-Cock' meets 881, it had to end with a NDP flourish - people bunching up and waving the national flags..... after complaining so much. Lol.
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FILAMENT 2009: A SITE FOR HOME
Date: 27th & 28th April 2009 (Monday & Tuesday)
Time: 7:30pmVenue: Singapore Art Museum
For the third year running, the graduating class of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information presents Filament ‘09, A Site for Home, an annual showcase of final year audio and visual projects.Filament 09, A Site for Home is a collective of 11 documentaries and video dramas that explores the themes of nation and home, touching on issues such as the fight for space in Singapore and the conflict between family and religion. For 2 nights, viewers will discover for themselves a different side of Singapore, as they take a closer look at the neighbourhood pasar malam and find out more about the local comedy scene. The screening will be held at the Singapore Art Museum on 27 and 28 of April, 7:30 pm. Admission is free. For more information, please visit
http://filament2009.wordpress.com/.This year’s event will feature 11 video projects (10 from the division of Electronic and Broadcasting Media, and one from the division of Journalism) and 1 audio project."
WHITE DAYS involves three characters who are dealing with their own personal crises. The film begins with a young man, whose trip out of the country is abruptly canceled when the friend whom he was supposed to go with dies. He reconnects with his friends back home, including a religious fanatic who has just returned from a pilgrimage to Israel, and a translator who has always wanted to move out of Singapore. Through a series of mordantly funny conversations, these young people gradually realize that what faces them is not the futility of life, but rather the transience and impermanence of it.
Jeremy (J): The content of your film is adamantly bold. Almost in a different cut of its own. What inspired you to start on this project?
Yuan Bin (Y) : The film was inspired by my three friends, particularly Chris Yeo, one of the main male lead, who returned from a pilgrimage from Jerusalem. Vel Ng, the female lead, works a freelance translator, and at that time of filming, wanted to change her job and move to Taipei. Inspired by their real life stories, I tailored a loose narrative around them.
J : Can you share more about what you are trying to protray or evoke in White Days?
Y : WHITE DAYS is a slice of the lives of three young Singaporeans. The story and its characters are inspired by the dreams, hopes and fears of the actors themselves. I hope the film has captured a slice of time in their lives. Through making this film, I’ve discovered that they were all searching for something missing in their lives. Either by going for a religious pilgrimage, watching and making films, or yearning to live somewhere faraway from home. Each of their personal stories seems different on the surface, but deep down they are perhaps the same. This film is a celebration of their continuous search for meaning and purpose in life.
J : Are any of the characters based on real-life examples like friends or incidents?
Y : Yes, a big part of the story is based on real life incidents. Chris and Vel 's characters are very much close to their real life. While Daniel's character is loosely based on my personal experience.
J : There are shades of influences from otehr directors in your film, like Tsai Ming Liang and you've even got a snippet from 'A Tree in Tanjung Malim' by Tan Chui Mui. Coulld you share more about the relationship between these influences and White Days?
Y : I just wanted to pay homage to Tsai Ming Liang and Tan Chui Mui for the great films they made. Furthermore, watching television and films is a recurring motif in White Days- one of the favourite activities of the three friends to pass time with in everyday life.
J : There was a scene in the White Days in which the camera stood still in the living room and all we see is the male and female lead characters going about their banal everyday actitivities, talking about inconsequential matters. What was your motivation behind this scene?
Y : I wanted to capture the sweet friendship between Chris and Vel in a everyday scene.
J : How did you get help to shoot this? In terms of financial and crew support?
Y : I funded the film by myself, and my friends gave support by acting and crewing for the film.
J : What were your biggest challenges in making this film?
Y : The biggest challenge was the process of discovering the story during filming, which was finally realised only in the editing stage.
J : Do you intend to make more and what are some of the ideas you have in mind?
Y : Yes, I hope to make more feature length films about everyday life in Singapore.
J : What are the top 5 movies you wish you'd made? (This is just a fun question, please feel free to not take it TOO seriously or intensely. And note: it's top 5 movies you WISH YOU MADE, not top 5 fave movies!)
Y : Top five movies I wished I made
1) Cafe Lumiere
2) Flight of the Red Balloon
3) Tokyo Story
4) The Sacrifice
5) Three Times
'Coffee : Black' was the topic of a rather titillating debate at the Q & A of First Takes. There were a few things in the equation that generated this stir. First, the 7 min short film had a man toying with his coffee in almost every imaginable way, not too far from being a little voyeuristic. The man would peer into the glossy reflection of the black liquid, almost burying himself in the steam. He would shower sugar not on the drink but on the slope of the saucer. Then he would dip his finger into the coffee and and watch how the liquid trickles down into a blob at the tip of his finger.
Second, the director Rich himself is quite a character. he has literally commanding presence at the Q & A. Perhaps infusing a bit of his church-like camaraderie into Guiness Theatre, he was uninhibited and even loud at many points. Which is quite a distinction from his video that was savvy and graceful. Except for the closing statement which is a blatant appeal to the audience to form our own conclusion.
Last but not least, without the blonde lady's discerning interpretation of the film, the Q & A would have been like err... bland coffee. She likened his film to a kind of masturbation and coffee porn, which I felt was not too far away from the truth, given the sensual black and white treatment coupled with a bevy of blur focus shot and depth-of-field techniques. But Rich himself was too steadfast in his motivation behind the film for the lady to further thwart us off in our perception of it.
Perhaps Rich's bio here helped me put his theatricality into some perspective : Rich has spent his life in mainstream education being infamous. After more than 15 films and awards, including being the 1st Singaporean digital short film nominee in the 2004 Taipei Golden Horse Awards, “Coffee: Black” reflects Rich’s mischievous nature in film by playing with the audience’s perceptions.
2 girls cross paths at a tea cafe. One stands behind the counter and tries to share her well-cultivated passion for tea while the other, a busker-violinist, is simply looking for solace in a cup. One bumbles around in her job with a sunny air of self-initiated optimism while the other is dragging her feet everywhere buried in some kind of inexplicable sorrow. No matter how the former tries to introduce the latter to new tea infusions, the latter lackadaisically settles for the same tea she always has.
The cafe scenes by themselves are a little banal and seem to have a predictable 'short-film' set up - cafe, characters meet, beverage (could be coffee!). However, the film rewarded my watching with deeper expositions along the way. In a hospital ward, the violinist sits at the side of her ailing and unconscious father with her mind in desperate prayer. Though cliche, there is something very sweet about the simplicity of the scene. And without trying too hard, it explains a lot of her reclusion throughout the film.
While the cafe girl's 'bumbling' often jarred the restrained dramatisation of the film, her twist in circumstances provided an interesting surprise. After an episode in tea, she is forced back to her old job in an advertising - a change that carries an air of ambiguity. Albeit the expositional flashback broke the flow of the story, it helped give the character some much-needed depth. And like life, there is never a firm conclusion. Dressed in her Shenton Way heels, she steps into a cab looking a few years older than her tea-girl self. We are not entirely sure if she is on her way to Shenton Way but she is certainly awakened to something new and a little grey.
A recipirent of the Media Education Scheme Scholarship by Media Development Authority Singapoire (MDA), Derek was a producer and copywriter with a local production house before embarking on his dream to make films. He has made numerous short films to date.
Tien, a young army recruit, finds it hard to cope with the demands of military training and the growing hostility of his platoon mates. He must find a way to hold onto his sanity before it is too late.
Green is a multi-disciplinary artist whose works encompass painting, installation, theatre and film. With his partner June Chua, he founded Mirtillo Films, and they have brought an approach to filmmaking that is intuitive, poetic and thought-provoking.
They have produced many short films such as the crowd favourite, Blackboard Whiteshoes, which was officially selected for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2006. Their film, Passenger, won the Encouragement Prize at the Akira Kurosawa Memorial Short Film Festival Competition in Tokyo 2006.
Jeremy (J) : What inspired you to make this story?
Green (G) : This film is inspired by my observations on the different ways in which people react to and cope with being enlisted in the army. When I think about my BMT days, I recall images of order and recruits with very straight postures. When I was writing this script, I saw a young recruit who is totally opposite of that and I wondered how such a person is going to survive in a regimented environment.
J : Is this story based on a real incident? I assume due to the touchiness of the topic, you might have gotten into some trouble. Did you?
G : No, the film is not based on any real incident; it’s all my imagination. Such stories are not really that unusual anyway; I’m sure people in other countries with national service, also go through the same experience. I did not get into any trouble making the film even though some people had reservations.
I told myself that there must be a reasonable and intelligent way to make a film without compromising my vision. I don’t set out to make films with sensational or shocking topics. However, I try not to shy away from difficult topics if I encounter one and hopefully I can bring new insight to a difficult topic. By the way, the film received an NC-16 rating.
J : Is this a world premiere?
G : Yes, Blank Rounds is having its world premiere in SIFF this year.
J : What kind of short films do you like to make? i.e. themes, subject matter etc.
G : I am inspired by places mostly, for example an old school, an island or an army camp. I generally prefer the film to be set entirely in one main location. The main character in Blank Rounds is quite similar to the other protagonists of my other films. They are people with very strong beliefs and who are willing go to the extreme for their beliefs. For example, in Island, the film is about a Japanese soldier who continues to hold alone in his post on an island after his comrades are killed. He refuses to surrender no matter what.
J : What are the top 5 movies you wish you'd made?
G : As I’m more inspired by old Italian frescoes than films, I would like to change the question slightly to “The Top 5 frescoes I wished I had painted” instead. They remind me of film in some way as the story is told in a series of paintings/frames. I like how in one frame, the artist is able to capture and convey the message/intention of the scene in an imaginative way.
1. Giotto’s Life of St. Francis cycle in Assisi, Italy.
2. Masaccio’s Stories from the life of St. Peter cycle in Florence, Italy.
3. Piero della Francesca’s Story of the Cross cycle in Arezzo, Italy
4. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Vault in Rome, Italy.
5. Giotto’s Story of Virgin Mary and of Christ in Padua, Italy.
More on Green Zeng on http://greenzeng.wordpress.com/ . His film Blank Rounds will be screened in Singapore Panorama 2.
DISTANCE was shot over two days as part of an assignment for school. It explores the tender but tenuous relationship between a grandson and his grandmother. Kai is preparing to leave home to go abroad when his grandmother has a fall, forcing him to re-evaluate his responsibilities and ambitions. Quietly poignant, the past and the future echo throughout the film, revealing the distance between the generations in contemporary society.
Jeremy (J) : Is this story based on a personal experience? It is something that rings the bell with many of us!
Zheng Kai (Z) : Yes. Many bits of the story was based loosely on true events that happened to me during the course of 2008. I just shifted the chronology of these events and dramatised it a little. I'm sure many of us young adults can identify with the story as we are a generation that could seriously consider the option of studying overseas, while at the same time, more and more of the elderly population are confined to the space of their homes.
J : What inspired you to make this?
Z : Honestly, I intended to shoot something else but all the ideas just didn't seem to work and seemed too contrived. I remember sitting in my chair one night and I was suddenly impressed in my heart to use existing home video footage of my grandmother that I shot earlier in the year, in this film. This footage can be seen at the starting of the short film when my grandmother makes a drink.
J : What did you shoot this on?
Z : Canon XL-H1, HDV - with PS Technik and lenses.
J : How would you describe the style or treatment of this film? I am asking this because this seems like a topic that has surfaced in many local films so I am interested to know how different is your interpretation of it?
Z : Just before the production of this film, I was editing an interview with one of the 4th Generation Chinese filmmakers, Wu Tianming, and also writing academic papers about Chinese cinema. I think I was definitely influenced by their cinematography and Wu Tianming's emphasis of realism and hope in his films.
J : What were your biggest challenges in making this film?
Z : Acting and directing together. Too much stress involved.
J : How many short films have you made prior to this? Do you intend to make more and what are some of the ideas you have in mind?
Z : I produced one in 2006. Distance is my directorial debut. I hope to make more and I hope to work on something different from Distance. I like quirky japanese content and I'm exploring to bring that into local stories.
J : What are you doing currently?
Z : I'm a Level 2 Student in The Puttnam School Of Film, LASALLE.
J : What are the top 5 movies you wish you'd made? (This is just a fun question, please feel free to not take it TOO seriously or intensely. And note: it's top 5 movies you WISH YOU MADE, not top 5 fave movies!)
Z : Jerry Maguire... Raise the red lantern... Kramer vs Kramer... Hana & Alice... The Battle of Algiers.
Zheng Kai's 'Distance' is competing in this year's SIFF Silver Screen Awards Shorts competiton.
The entire production of “Dreaming Kester” was actually done during my JC 2 year, as I did it for my art coursework project. And because there was still like freakin school happening, it was definitely one of the biggest challenges trying to strike a balance between both worlds. Cos since school’s pretty occupied all weekdays, I had to plan for the shoots on weekday nights, then only afford to film on weekends and holidays. On top of that, I was in an exco for my CCA, so I was practically stretching myself in every way possible. Thank God for sending in guardian angels like my art teacher and my very own parents, who really supported my project in areas such as helping me (or forcing me haha) to manage my time well and encouraging me every step of the way. And so here I stand today, unscathed by the cinematic ordeal, with “Dreaming Kester”, ironically a nightmare to film, materialised and completed. Ta da.
This is actually my second “proper” short film that I’ve really done, so I’m still pretty new to the whole directing thing. I guess I work in the most convenient way possible, given the current circumstances. The school was nice enough to extend an extra $100 to fund our projects, but still considering we had basically no proper filming equipment whatsoever, most of the $100 went to costumes and props. Thank God again for dispatching yet another host of guardian angels, like my secondary school art teacher, who helped me both in the provision of lighting equipment (cos the school ain’t got any) and my bestest school mates, who agreed wholeheartedly to be my actors. Thus, with a spirit of attempted resourcefulness and complete desperation, I managed to get everything I needed.
Jeremy (J) : You are very young. And somehow the synopsis of your film reflects a side of you that is coming to terms with adulthood. Could share more on your thoughts behind this story?
Martin (M) : The story is definitely auto-biographical to an extent, because I was struggling with the very issue of growing up and I knew the importance of “documenting” all these feelings and attitudes I possessed at that period of my life. I knew that even if I had been naive and immature towards crafting the story, it was still reflective in a certain mindset at that time. That’s why I knew that I HAD to film it when I was still young, cos after I sink into adulthood my take on the whole story would definitely have been very different. I guess my take on the whole concept now is actually slightly altered from when I did it (haha I have changed into an Adultist already), but nonetheless it definitely embodied the struggles I faced during the time and it has made me more aware of the changes I was going through and stuff.
J : What inspired you?
M : The whole idea actually arose the day I turned 18, and then it finally hit me, like “wow, I’m like considered an adult now” and then all these social obligations and expectations of how I should carry myself starting pouring in. I didn’t expect myself to have grown up so fast, so I was a little disorientated at the whole me coming to terms with adulthood thing. And in JC they somewhat already expect a certain level of efficiency from you (cos you’re considered an adult), and actually the more I was pressured to act like an adult, the more I refused to mould myself into such a category. 
At the time I was just very against the idea of me becoming like all the other adults around me, I just didn’t see the whole point of taking things so seriously and rigidly. So hence, I slowly retreated back into my younger days (haha) when I was free from all these notions of “growing up” and whatever, and I decided to explore what I really felt was more important, which was to retain the same amount of spontaneity and creativity a child took towards life.
J : What does the narrator say actually? I am very intrigued.
M : He actually narrates not only the present situation (that Kester is in) but He is also the driving force that propels certain events in the story. Thus, he is like this omnipotent god-like voice from the sky that commands and dictates what Kester is meant to do or be, and adds to the inner conflict Kester faces.
J : Why is it in the form of a narrator? Is adulthood necessarily cold?
M : The narration was actually to emphasis the rigidity of adulthood and how all-powerful its presence was, as it plays such a central role in the sequence of events. As such, even Kester, the main character in the story, is also unable to escape the stuff He narrates. I also wanted this “adult conscience” in Kester’s head to be literally audible and like intrusive, hence, putting it in the form of a narration also helped in like giving the audience a more heightened impact of the inner struggle in Kester’s head. 
Nothing is absolute, including my impression of adulthood. I knew logically that like adulthood probably wasn’t as cold and exaggerated as I portrayed them to be. But having observed the majority of the adults around me, I felt that it was undeniable that there’s an underlying trend among them, like this lack of a soul or spirit that had been long eroded over the years of behaving like adults for too long. This trait also strongly opposed that of what I treasured: child-like expressiveness. So I exploited this trait and portrayed the idea of adulthood similar to that of a cult’-like organisation, in which its members were all emotionless beings tied together by senseless faith. I guess logically its kinda off, but that was the impression most adults gave me. Very cold and very scary.
J : I am curious to know how your parents helped in the production. It's always heartening to see parents helping out. It gets harder as you grow older!
M : HAHA yea they definitely supported me through out the entire thing. My dad actually acted as one of the Adultists in the film and also voiced as the main narration. He also managed to convince his other friends to come help out as the other Adultists as well. Then they wear the costume all look damn funny.
On top of that he was also really really helpful in the production itself, like fetching me to several locations with the car boot stuffed with props and lightings, and helped like throw toys into a pool repeatedly in one scene. Haha great fun. My mum not only acted as Kester’s mum, but also kept encouraging and supporting me too, comforting me when I was too stressed out during the plannings. I’m definitely extremely blessed to have such supportive parents; they definitely played such an important role in the development of the whole film. (Just for the record, my parents are few of the adults I know that do not possess traits of average Adultists haha.)
J : What were your biggest challenges in making this film?
M : The biggest has to be planning and filming the whole thing admidst JC2 life running in the backdrop. And of course the onslaught of the imminent A levels. Since weekdays were snapped up with school and homework, I could only plan and get all the logistics for the filming done after I returned from school, then film only on weekends. It required extremely detailed organisation and scheduling of my time, which I naturally am inclined to fail in, but my art teacher really helped me to learn to do so. Like she sat down with me and planned several months of activity and how to balance both worlds.
Another issue was how I wanted to approach the filming, like very technical and well-planned, or keeping in sync with the film’s idea of non-rigidity and film very loosely without storyboards or such. The second process was pretty risky because if the filming of that scene didn’t turn out well, I couldn’t have time to reshoot again. Schedule was incredibly tight. So in the end I risked it all to experiment with both types, and thank God it came together surprisingly cohesive and I was really pleased with it.
J : Do you intend to make more and what are some of the ideas you have in mind?
M : I really hope I have the chance to shoot more films. I have a few concepts I’ve developed in the last few months, and I hope that I can get a camera soon so I can start shooting stuff. I guess it’s always the starting that takes the most effort. Very loose ideas actually, but the most concrete one has to do with attraction between 2 people and how connections forged between people are strangely fragile yet impactful to both parties. Stuff such both sides not knowing what the other is thinking, fleeting emotions, echoing states of confusion .....blah blah....quite mushy and sentimental lah. But I’m approaching it at a more conceptual level, which is not usually what I do, so it’ll be exciting to see how that plays out.
J : What are the top 5 movies you wish you'd made? (This is just a fun question, please feel free to not take it TOO seriously or intensely. And note: it's top 5 movies you WISH YOU MADE, not top 5 fave movies!)
M : HMMMMMM.....very hard to draw a line between the 2... ok I haven’t watched much films but this is it.
1) “The Fifth Element”---I just loved the whole treatment of the futuristic world; the costumes, vehicle, architectural designs, the choreography of the fights and their how everything came together so stylised but cohesive. Definitely would have been a blast to create such a rich, colourful world.
2) “Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind”---I think one of the few movies I know that do shaky camera work justice. Haha. Loved the visuals of them transitioning through the different worlds in his memories. Loved the whole concept. Wish I had came up with them first. Damn it.
3) “Be kind rewind”---practically what my friends and I do all the time. Filming low budget spontaneous stuff, just that he made it into a feature film first. Since I’m here let me do some blatant self-promotion. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheArtPeople
4) “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”---I always wanted to do a film on looking at the world differently. The cinematography was definitely a key role in achieving that. Wish I had the knowledge and means of filming that.
5) “Dragon Ball Evolution”---Gawd I would have loved to have spoofed it. Freakin funny movie.
Yakusha Co. Ltd had 20 hours of footage at the end of production. The end result is 30 min. I sat through the film feeling challenged by a droning repetitiveness of its motifs. Experimental is the best way I could surmise its approach. Yet, it seemed to be adhering to a certain artistic discipline. And a very concerted effort as well. Its collaborators are 'Truly Asia'. The lead actor is Uichiro Fueda from Japan. The director is Sreejith Ramanan from India and Baby Hee (camera and editing) is from Singapore.
In a nutshell, Yakusha follows a veteran actor who is always practising hard for a big break in theatre that has eluded him. Constantly buried in his own world, he is running scenes in his head, hearing music in his brain and sub-consciously succumbing himself to a compulsion to act (rather tragically). The type-writer style scrawling of text across the screen helps us understand the inner currents of his mind. Otherwise, the film would be a cryptic installation art performance captured on video (and just to clarify, not an installation art video). Apparently, the 'Butoh' like theatrics of Fueda is an interpretation of King Lear, an easy classic that is transferrable culturally.
The attempt hovers between being bold and indulgent but seems to tilt more towards indulgence. While it unabashedly challenges the audience to a appreciating something of an acquired art form, there is often more repetition then invention in its execution. To certain extents, there moments that seemed like a formula with Fueda seemingly trapped by the genre.
Interestingly, the film's collaborators are not only diverse in nationalities but also in age. 3 of the people involved in the film entertained the Q & A, 2 of them looked like college students (But that's just my guestimation). Couple that with Uncle Fueda and you got one big family. :P
Yakusha Co. Ltd is a zero budget digital production by a group of artists from various Asian countries. This short film is directed by Sreejith Remanan, a young theatre artist from India collaborating with Baby Hee, an experienced artistic collaborator from Monsoon Asia Art Gallery, Singapore (Camera and Editing) & Uichiro Fueda, a veteran from the Japanese instrumental acting practice (Main Lead) who shapes into a stand actor & Gokul Alex from India (Screenplay).
"How do we forget or remember love? A troubled man crosses paths with a pair of star crossed teenage girls, each struggling to come to terms with the loss of love. After chancing upon them sunbathing intimately, he follows them with his camera and captures their last moments together in the garden. This unlikely journey of the characters may just save or break them but it’s hard to say if they will truly find the salvation that they’re looking for.
Garden girls is a reaction to our present attitude towards love and one another. I hope this story can point at something important. It is an observation of “love” in modern time. How do we forget or remember love? In the course of garden girls, maybe we will realize that what we know of love is not that true at all. Working to capture the common aches of the contemporary heart, I hope to share some span of reality with this observation. " Ric Aw
Jeremy ( J ) : Garden Girls… Silent Girls....I guess it’s pure concidence. Or is it?
Ric (R ) : I guess there is connection, besides the similarities between the titles and Magdalene Tan (actress) appears in both of the films. I think it is fine not to deny or safe to say that I was passionate and obsessed with stories about women. I’m not sure if there’ll be a trilogy. The third may be coincidental.
J : Reading the synopsis, the common ground I can draw with Silent Girls is : what girls might do when they are vulnerable (lol). Could you share your inspiration or motivation behind making Garden Girls?
R : I’ve always been and still am interested about the things people do to remember love or forget it. Sometimes, the solution satisfies for a moment but for that moment, it gratifies. We just need many more gratifications before we can move on. So I hope “Garden Girls” shares with us that fleeing moment when it does not hurt anymore.
Music inspires me. I was listening to “Flica” while I was writing. Eventually the music did become the music tracks in “Garden Girls” and they really added emotive elements to the story. I am thankful to “Flica” for that. Besides that, I have always like gardens. I can’t associate anything loathsome to gardens.
J : What are your influences in terms of coming up with stories? I am just making a casual observation that even in ‘Buy Me Love’ , it features a girl in a vulnerable position.
R : It would probably have to do a lot with my observation of the human predicament, the human condition and faith in love. I don’t think there are an awful lot of people who, as they say, worry about or think about people who are not like them. They like to talk and point their fingers at others but have they imagined who these people are and what they do.
I have always admired the strength in women. In many occasions, they are stronger than men. The only way I can show their strength is to place them in a position where they have to rise against the odds. Hence, the women in the short films always begin with them in a vulnerable position. Think “difficult” or “challenging” is more like it than “vulnerable”. In the end, they always find their own way out. There are no knights in shining armor to rescue them. The women are their own heroes.
This started that time ago (Buy Me Love) and I just never stopped. I will never stop. Women are ever so fascinating, amazing and relevant to me. I can’t seem to write a story without a female protagonist. Simply said, I’m inspired by women who rise to the occasion.
J : How would you describe the style or treatment of this film?
R : “Garden Girls” is really about going with the flow, rare instinct and working with temporal feelings during the shoot. I kinda gave up control over how things would turn out. I worked with an experienced crew, (DP: Pok Yue Weng) and committed casts (Magdalene Tan, Sunny Pang and Adele Wong) and somehow I knew I was in good hands. So I just watched the story unfold while everyone else breathes life to it. The weather further relinquished my control. The sun shone tirelessly and then the rain took over and poured ceaselessly. In the garden, the camera roams with the characters. At the swimming pool, the camera sits on the tripod.
J : What were your biggest challenges in making this film?
R : Prejudice. I was told “Garden Girls” is exploitive. Truth and all, it is really a small story about people trying to remember and forget love. The film is definitely not of any other persuasion. The characters were never in any comprising position rather, they make the choices that they want to. We all make difficult choices sometimes. Most of the time, our choices are not typically rational or believable but we do make them.
J : Any interesting anecdotes to share about the making of this film?
R : To begin with, I have envisioned lots and lots of natural light in this story. I wanted sun rays to splash across the characters and everything to be bright and cheery. Rain came. Yet, I’m grateful. The weather helped to shape the mood of the story. I did get some sunlight into the story, just enough. Yes, another thing, never get your DP to hand held a camera that is not set up for hand held. Get the proper gear! Once again, we went with the flow and it nearly caused my DP his back. No more human sacrifice in future.
J : What are you doing currently?
R : I’m working on a script for a short film and 2 other scripts for feature film. The main protagonists are all female.
J : Are you preparing for a feature? Possible to drop a hint of what’s it about?
R : For one of the scripts, here’s the premise: How far should a women go to become a mother?
J : What are the top 5 movies you wish you'd made? (This is just a fun question, please feel free to not take it TOO seriously or intensely. And note: it's top 5 movies you WISH YOU MADE, not top 5 fave movies!)
R : I’m working to make a movie like: (not in any particular order)
3 iron by Kim Ki-Duk
Amore Perros by
Alejandro González IñárrituSympathy for Mr Vengeance by Park Chan Yook
Throw Down by Johnny To
The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky
Nobody Knows by
Hirokazu KoreedaThink I have 6 here. It’s a fun answer.
Ric's Garden Girls will be screened under Singapore Panorama 2 in this year's SIFF.
CASHLESS revolves around a man’s reckless pursuit of his misplaced cash after he mistakenly transfers an important sum of money meant for his mother into the wrong ATM account. When time and money are at stake, how far must he go before he finally finds himself? Starring Danny Jow, and featuring music by local bands The Lilac Saints and RustyNailz. This short film is co-directed by Melinda Tan and Derek Tan.
Jeremy (J) : How was the idea for your film conceived? What inspired you?
Melinda: The original script was actually written by one of our friends, Izmir Ickbal, also a nuSTUDIOS alumnus. He had pitched the story to me back in 2006 and it sounded like an interesting premise - to have a guy race against time to get his money back after a wrong transfer of funds via the ATM, and meeting with various obstacles while doing it.
When I took over the writing for the film, I wanted Leslie's predicament to be something the audience could relate to, or at least identify with, at some level. While not everyone has been in Leslie's position of making a wrong transfer of money, I guess everyone has at some point in their lives experienced the frustration, helplessness, and anxiety that comes along with losing something. While the original script had predominantly comedic elements, the eventual script was a lot more emotional and our challenge as directors was how to balance both.
Derek: It was also the challenge to put into action what we wanted for our next nuSTUDIOS film. We wanted to improve our production quality in terms of spending more time developing the script, getting better actors, using better equipment to improve the look and sound, as well as paying more attention to art direction and styling. Even if CASHLESS is technically a "student film", we wanted it to have production values that were of a professional standard!
J : It sounds like it could be the idea for a short and feature as well depending on how you develop the story? Could you share more on your story or drop us some juicy hints?
Melinda: Izmir focussed his script on the big ideas of bureaucracy vs. simple common sense but when we took on the project, we wanted to anchor it to something more personal, and to focus the story on how people connected and communicated with each other in a supposedly "cashless society", with a specific focus on the mother-son relationship between Leslie and his mother. So while the premise of the story remained the same, we decided to fundamentally revise its context, as well as to further develop the motivations of each character.
It was actually quite an organic process: we continued to develop and refine the story at each step of the production process. Even at the post-production stage, while editing, we were still discovering more about the characters and their stories.
Derek: What triggered us to change the context and motivation of the film were really the questions "Did Leslie get his money back?" and "Why was the money so important to Leslie?". We further developed Leslie's character and his relationship with his mother to add more layers to the original story. We originally planned for the film to be a mid-length (about 50 minutes) but during post-production felt that the story would be better off as a short. We tightened the film further by deleting certain scenes which we felt were not pushing the story forward. Of course, we had to make the difficult decision of cutting entire scenes, when we had already spent a fair amount of time planning and executing the scenes.
J : How much money are we talking about?
Melinda: In total we spent about close to $4000 on the film - supported by nuSTUDIOS Film Productions and the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), with the rest of the cost split between Derek and myself.
J : I have spoken to nuSTUDIOS before. How many films does nuSTUDIOS make a year? Is it a concerted effort by all or is each film by a separate group of people in nuSTUDIOS?
Melinda: The number of films produced by nuSTUDIOS in a year really varies from year to year (roughly 2-4 films). Generally, as we are usually only able to shoot more intensively during the holidays, shoots are typically scheduled for the May to August or December period. While there are sometimes overlaps in crew members, each film is undertaken by it's own crew and seen as a separate project.
Derek: nuSTUDIOS has a Film School programme that teaches its members the basics of scriptwriting, cinematography and editing. The programme extends with scriptwriting sessions that allow members to further refine their ideas and eventually help them to develop their scripts. A script market follows where the scriptwriter would pitched their script and gather his crew, some of whom have worked together before, while others may not. Even for CASHLESS, both Melinda and myself have not worked on set together before, even though technically we had worked on previous films before.
J : What were the biggest challenges making this film?
Melinda: One of our main difficulties was that we didn't have enough time for pre-production before production began! All of us were preparing for our final exams then (and quite a few of us in our graduating semester) and we had to juggle that with pre-production planning. As a result, because of the tight budget and time constraints, we soon discovered that the initial schedule for shoot was too unrealistic for us to achieve the quality we had set out to achieve.
After two days of mad shooting (once even working non-stop for 20 hours to meet the schedule), we decided to make the difficult decision of halting filming for 2 weeks while we sorted things out. After so much work put in, we really didn't want to compromise on both the quality of our product as well as the welfare of our cast and crew. There were consequences of course, we lost some people due to schedule conflicts but overall, I'm still glad we did it.
Derek: Another difficulty was also scheduling for our large cast size around many locations. Unlike our previous productions where the cast size is usually around 2-3 people, we had more than 15 over cast members. In one instance, we had to schedule for a fight scene that required a lot of them together (the fight scene is another difficulty all together). Securing the locations was also a challenge, as we had scenes in a bank, an office, a car, etc.
Our process of getting the bank set was like a journey that Leslie took to get his money back. We approached banks, financial offices, post offices, even the reception areas of our faculty offices, but they all rejected due to various "policy" reasons. With no choice, we decided to build our own bank set. The counter was the main prop we needed, and we decided to build it ourselves. However, due to the lack of craftsmanship and the tools, we were not able to finish the counter. It was only, by some miracle, when someone left a perfect counter for disposal, that we found the counter we were looking for!
J : Any interesting anecdotes to share?
Melinda: There were quite a few scenes in the script that required the actor playing Leslie to drive. However, our lead Danny doesn't have a driving license in real life. To get around the problem, the scenes with Leslie driving were shot with the car hoisted on a tow truck along ECP. And we caused an actual jam in the process of getting the car up. :)
Also, during the two-week shoot halt, one of our actors, Prakasam (who plays Leslie's sidekick, Ganesh, in the film), informed us that we would have to complete his scenes in a week as he would be leaving Singapore for India - for good!
He had been in the finance industry but was now going to return home to pursue his dream of becoming a film director. In his own words, CASHLESS was his "first exposure to film-making" and while we can certainly take no credit for his leap of faith (although in some ways we like to think that being on the film catalyzed his decision, but that's just us), we were extremely excited for him! So after the shock wore off, we scrambled to make arrangements to rush his scenes out. Am happy to share that Prakasam is now working at a film production house in Mumbai, one step closer to reaching his dream.
J : What type of films do you like?
Melinda: I watch quite an eclectic mix of films. I don't really restrict the films I watch to any particular genre (although I generally don't watch horror films!) but I do enjoy films that have interesting premises, with simple stories, beautifully told.
Derek: I watch mostly all kind of films except gore and horror (I can't stand blood). But what attracts me most are films with strong visuals! And hence a clue to how we direct as a team. =P
J : What are your sources of inspiration for films? Any particular person? trend? style? issue?
Melinda: Watching films help me sensitize myself to the cinematic aspects of daily living but I guess everyday life is still one of my main sources of inspiration. I spend a huge chunk of my time on the road commuting. Over the years, I have used that time to observe people, eavesdrop on random snatches of conversation, and to think about possible concepts for our next film. I don't think we would be sticking to any one particular trend/style/issue, we are always trying to see if we can do something different, be it in genre or style. [Derek: Agrees!]
Derek: Images. From observing people to looking at objects at different angles, or simply by taking note of camera/actor blocking on TV shows or films. I tend to experiment by gluing these images together and see if an inspiration for my next film would appear. It takes a while, so I usually like to bounce ideas with my friends to get that whole process run much faster. And hence another clue to how we may work on our next film. =P
SCREENING DETAILS: Dates: Saturday 20th June & Saturday 27th June 2009 Venue: The Arts House, Screening RoomTime: 4pm & 8pmTickets: $8
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Second, the director Rich himself is quite a character. he has literally commanding presence at the Q & A. Perhaps infusing a bit of his church-like camaraderie into Guiness Theatre, he was uninhibited and even loud at many points. Which is quite a distinction from his video that was savvy and graceful. Except for the closing statement which is a blatant appeal to the audience to form our own conclusion.
Perhaps Rich's bio here helped me put his theatricality into some perspective : Rich has spent his life in mainstream education being infamous. After more than 15 films and awards, including being the 1st Singaporean digital short film nominee in the 2004 Taipei Golden Horse Awards, “Coffee: Black” reflects Rich’s mischievous nature in film by playing with the audience’s perceptions. 
At the time I was just very against the idea of me becoming like all the other adults around me, I just didn’t see the whole point of taking things so seriously and rigidly. So hence, I slowly retreated back into my younger days (haha) when I was free from all these notions of “growing up” and whatever, and I decided to explore what I really felt was more important, which was to retain the same amount of spontaneity and creativity a child took towards life.
Nothing is absolute, including my impression of adulthood. I knew logically that like adulthood probably wasn’t as cold and exaggerated as I portrayed them to be. But having observed the majority of the adults around me, I felt that it was undeniable that there’s an underlying trend among them, like this lack of a soul or spirit that had been long eroded over the years of behaving like adults for too long. This trait also strongly opposed that of what I treasured: child-like expressiveness. So I exploited this trait and portrayed the idea of adulthood similar to that of a cult’-like organisation, in which its members were all emotionless beings tied together by senseless faith. I guess logically its kinda off, but that was the impression most adults gave me. Very cold and very scary.
The attempt hovers between being bold and indulgent but seems to tilt more towards indulgence. While it unabashedly challenges the audience to a appreciating something of an acquired art form, there is often more repetition then invention in its execution. To certain extents, there moments that seemed like a formula with Fueda seemingly trapped by the genre.
This started that time ago (Buy Me Love) and I just never stopped. I will never stop. Women are ever so fascinating, amazing and relevant to me. I can’t seem to write a story without a female protagonist. Simply said, I’m inspired by women who rise to the occasion.
CASHLESS revolves around a man’s reckless pursuit of his misplaced cash after he mistakenly transfers an important sum of money meant for his mother into the wrong ATM account. When time and money are at stake, how far must he go before he finally finds himself? Starring Danny Jow, and featuring music by local bands The Lilac Saints and RustyNailz. This short film is co-directed by Melinda Tan and Derek Tan.
Also, during the two-week shoot halt, one of our actors, Prakasam (who plays Leslie's sidekick, Ganesh, in the film), informed us that we would have to complete his scenes in a week as he would be leaving Singapore for India - for good! 
