TNP First Film Fest :13 Year-old crowned as the winner of the Festival!

13 Year-old,Amos Yee,won the First Film Fest with his work Jan.

Besides being crowned the grand winner, Amos also snagged the Best Actor Award.

Irene and her Fly Entertainment artistes,Mindee and Pamelyn Chee present the award to Best Actor,Amos. (video taken by Darren Ong who was a little drunk, apologies for that)

Kumar making an AWESOME appearance with her friend,DIVA while revealing Nat Ho for the nomination of Best Actress Nomination.

The Winner Goes to~ *Drum Roll*

Quick Chat with the Youngest Filmmaker...

Amos Won a Sony NEX-VG10E Camcorder with SAL24F20Z lens, LA-EA1 adaptor and

PRO-HG Duo HX 16GB memory stick worth about $5,500

Tabula Rasa won the 1st Runner up:
Sony HDR-CX550E Camcorder with PRO-HG Duo HX 16GB memory stick
worth about $2,700

The Last Job won the 2nd Runner up:
SONY HDR-CX350E Camcorder with PRO-HG Duo HX 16GB memory stick
worth about $2,100

Besides these,The top 10 films will get MICA grants worth $5,000,as follows(In Random Order)

1. Bandh
2. Escaping Reality
3. Facebook Obsessions
4. Jerry
5. Square One
6. You Are My Inspiration
7. I Am Nothing Without ______
8. Here,I Will Always Be
9. The Artisans
10. Ordinary

We are a young team... but not too young for alcohol....(left to right) Jeremy, Melody and Darren
SINdie with David Liu,Director of "Tabula Rasa"SINdie was Here...

Look out for our 'Production Talk' interviews with the winners soon...

"Is he Singapore's Justin Bieber?"

Our Predictions for First Film Fest and some other noises from us

Jeremy Sing: what's the one you remember most out of the 11?
Alvin Choo: I can't decide between 2. 'here i'll always be' and 'paranoia'. my favourites i think. You?

J: I thought you'd like the funny ones. Like Jan. I remember Jan most. Why do you remember the 2 psycho films most? Well, the former's not really that psycho i guess

A: Come to think of it, yeah Jan's probably the most memorable. but not in a favourable way to me. I really liked the conceptualization of both films, multi-faceted and least predictable i felt, of all the finalists
J: You find it too 'skit-ish'? I agree about Here, Ill always be. It's a very different film and its transition to a more poignant scene in the hospital was quite seamless. But just thought they could be more creative with the hallucinatory parts
A: Yeah Jan felt more like a Youtube video-of-the-day then a film competition entry
J: But it's so witty, don't you think? Especially the see Jan in heaven part. No?
A: Nope, i didn't take to it at all. but i get the feeling that films/vids of this nature, you either love it or loathe it. i think i'm the latter. You enjoyed the wit?
J: Yes and the clever use of the same actor but varying the behavior and the pacing and editing were very funky
A: he's the director too, apparently all of 13 years old.
J: Oh! What a prodigy
A: Maybe a kid with lots of guidance
J: Certainly not parental guidance !!! hahaha. if we have Singapore's Got Talent, he must be on it... Thailand's already got their video sensation, he could be the Singapore one.
A: Yeah, i think the reason I didn't take to it might have something to do with some of the humour leaving a bad taste. i.e. him making light fun of cancer, or maybe that's just me being prudish.
J: Yes you are being prudish!
A: But refreshing it certainly was, from the field of similarly themed films.
J: Similar themes certainly…many about madness…losing the mind
A: yeah, jaded-ness..
J: Yes that too
A: I felt i should be a country bumpkin after watching like 3 of them. So which was your fav of the lot?
J: Jan
A: Haha really
J: Maybe I am looking at how the films make the best of the 3 mins. But many other films come close. I like Hide and Seek, Here, I'll always be, Citylapse.

A: Here I'll always be' takes the cake for me. Leaves me impressed how the director could convey such a complex storyline in all of 3mins. But yeah, if there was a talking point of this competition, guess it'll have to be Jan.
J: Yeah... i like the bittersweetness of here. How did you find Hide and Seek?
A: Came across feeling over-dramatized.
J: I liked the premise and can be potentially very moving and cutting. But the delivery was not sharp enough. Too easy an ending too.
A: The opening scenes made it feel more like what it turned out to be. It felt a little downhill after that. The camerawork and music, almost makes you prepped for a psycho-thriller.
J: Don't you find City Lapse familiar?

A: Yup we last saw it...Panasonic film fest right?
J: No. It was the civic life 90 sec competition. There was one entry that had this diorama effect. Ddo you remember?
A: Yup i do. How do you think this director did?
J: I liked it, in fact this time round, he sharpened his diorama visuals even more, making familiar city-scapes look like toys
though unfortunately, I wished more craft was put into the narrative.
A: Yeah my thoughts exactly. perhaps the issue with leaning too much on technical brillance is that compromise on narrative/flow...i think i felt the same w that previous film. You think? (Previous meaning the civic life one)
J: Yes, the storytelling component moved only inch between that and this. So what else did you fancy?
A: I thought paranoia made great storytelling use of the 3mins too. Not easy considering the buildups needed of a psycho-drama genre. How did you find it?
J: The biggest things that caught me was the cinematography. The shots were nicely lit and framed and I bet the final product had been colour graded. Sorry, story wise, found it too predictable….like you could guess how it would end after the first 30 secs.
A: Probably true, but good execution nevertheless. Which else do you like?..,…besides the love-it-or-hate-it Jan.
J: Hahah…I liked the initial 1st minutes of Square One. It's the Stephanie Sun music video look….white washed colours, Saturated, emotive shots.... but.....

A: So more an aesthetic appeal than anything else?
J: Yes, cos it kept repeating visual motifs and the grieving voice
A: Yup. I thought it interesting the almost-synonymous moods captured by all these films..
J: The layman will just call it emo. The film educated may label them contemplative. (pause) What did u think of Tabula Rasa?

A: I liked it. I looked up the meaning of that actually. Tabula rasa is the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. -Wikipedia
J: What language is it?
A: Latin, I think. Bet you thought it was Malay?
J: Haha. Yes! Rasa as in Rasa Sayang.....
A: Haha don't worry I did too. How did you find it?
J: I like the film. It's 'inception' with a bit more heart. What did you think?
A: I liked it too, thought the open-to-interpretation ending served it well.
J: It's a thoughfully crafted film that does not overdo the visual 'effects', was afraid David would do a 'Steadfast' (his earlier action flick) on this one. The lighting and camera work also reflect a seasoned pair or eyes and hands
A: yup probably one of the more experienced directors in competition.
J: I noticed many films were visual plays more than narrative pieces.
A: Maybe it's the 3 minute restriction….to save themselves the editing dilemmas, you think?
J: But it echoes a comment a Malaysian filmmaker made some time ago, that Singapore films are very glossy pieces with high production values but rest on weak narratives or stories. I mean entries like Carnival of Animals, Square One, reminisce, city lapse are products of editing wizardry.
A: Yup that comment sums it up quite well. the stereotype, almost of arthouse/indie works in Singapore.
J: How did you find Carnival of Animals?

A: i liked the metaphors concept, thought it worked well...up to a point when it seemed to deviate a little. but overall, a 'like' for the visual narrative. You?
J: I prefer to 'comment' instead of 'like' haha.
A: So what's your comment?
J: I like the moment when the giraffe was trying to feed on the leaves and you can still see the human body frame moving, it was kinda transcendental in a way that it achieves its aim of making you see humans in a different, more primeval way. Vice versa, you discover animals have humanly characteristics too.
A: Felt it was narrowing down to women specifically. The tiger therefore was a nice touch.
J: Haha! Agree! (pause) How did you find My Little Brother?

A: I thought the narrative felt fragmented, like it was going in a number of directions and you as audience never really knew which to follow. One minute it's focusing i assume on childhood ambitions, the next starting a family...felt more like random thoughts than a congruent flow.
J: It was a visual statement having the teenagers play parents but he did not carry that forward to a deeper level, so it remained a gimmick, like his use of text (which was quite distracting while it was interesting). I kept guessing where the text would appear next!
A: I thought it was more the hopes and dreams an older sister had for her brother.. in his ambitions, family et al. yeah it somewhat turned out gimmicky.
J: Here’s something funny about 'Reminisce'…….it's the film I remember least.

A: Haha. And why?
J: From my reminiscence, it was like a prototypical wedding video.
A: Haha, except with darker themes i suppose. But i agree the aesthetic touches made it feel like that.
J: Moving on, we are down to our last film, The Last Job.

A: Haha, you're not done with puns are you?
J: I am done, this film is not that 'punny'. Lol.
A: In one word, ambitious. but I'm not sure whether to put it down to the acting or the script, it was a promising concept that fell rather flat for me.
J: Yes agree, good concept but 'make-shift' execution. I mean I would have preferred the victim to not have worn T-shirt and bermudas. Makes the action flick sleepy.
A: Haha. Like a pajama party roleplay!
J: By the way.... do you notice something missing in The Last Job? And sorry, this is my final pun
A: No what's it?
J: Make a guess la
A: Oh...blood?
J: Bingo.
A: Haha
J: No blood on the last job. No more puns I promise, we are done!

Our Favourite Top 3
Jeremy
1 - Jan
2 - Here, I'll always be
3 - Tabula Rasa
Alvin
1 - Here, I'll always be
2 - Tabula Rasa
3 - Paranoia

Our predicted winner
Here, I'll always be