A Mystery untold

'Just an old ugly witch
on the high,
She'll tell you that
your love is nigh,
Your fortune on the cards
when told,
My secret will the witch unfold.'

Visual development of a new story our team is working on...

Production Talk － ‘Forever' by Wee Li Lin

JOEY, a video consultant from W.E.D (wedding education department), dedicates herself to promoting romance and lasting marriages to young Singaporeans through her unique videos. Now she is about to fulfill her own dream with GIN, a handsome music teacher whom she has been in a whirlwind romance with after casting him along side with her in a W.E.D video.

When Joey announces her upcoming wedding to Gin, her colleagues at W.E.D. are surprised; none of them has ever met Gin in person or heard of him until the video. But they are happy, as Joey was the only unmarried staffer at W.E.D. While Joey’s star is rising at W.E.D, the path to her own wedding is elusive. Joey gets stood up by Gin on her birthday and finds him out and about with a beautiful girl, CECILIA.

Crushed, Joey is desperate to find out what’s going on only to be met with rejection and refusal.

Is Joey delusional, in need of psychiatric help? Or is Gin just an irresponsible ex-fiancé who needs to be brought to justice? Either way, Joey’s unrelenting pursuit of Gin throughout shows us to what lengths a heart will go to get what it wants and if indeed, there is a winning formula to make love happen under any circumstances.

'Forever' on Screen Daily

About the Director

A graduate of Brown University (Class of '96) in America , with a BA in Art Semiotics, Li Lin also spent a semester in NYU doing “Sight and Sound”, an intensive filmmaking production course. Since her graduation she has been working in Singapore as a freelance television producer/director. She's an avid short filmmaker and has done several short films in Singapore so far, three of which have been award winners at the Singapore International Film Festival and two have won awards at American Film Festivals. In January last year the Singapore Film Society organized a retrospective of all her work for members and the public. This event was a first ever SFC retrospective of a local short filmmaker. In 2004, the Singapore history museum (in conjunction with the Substation) organized another retrospective of her work.

Since the middle of 2004, Li Lin has been hard at work on her first feature film "Gone Shopping" which was released in July 2007.

Taken from: http://www.aweething.com/index.html

*****

Grace (G): What inspired you to start on this project?
Li Lin (LL): A few years back I met a lady client who was involved in the promotion of marriage. She was intelligent and attractive but turned out to be anti-romance after her fiancé jilted her. I liked the irony such a character presented and the potential for a comedy that could be weaved around her.

Jeremy (J): It sounds like Her World/Female/CLEO on film. Do you intend it to be a very womanly film for gals?
LL: You can call it a romantic comedy with a twist or a psycho chick flick, as one of my friends puts it. I hope to be able to expand the horizon of the chick flick genre and also to expand on the type of females represented in singapore films.

G: How long did you take to make this film from the time pre-production started?

LL: From concept to the final shooting script, it took us 18 months starting from early 2008. After putting the finance in place and locking down the cast, we started the shoot in late November 2009. We finished the shoot in January 2010.

J: How did you manage to get Mo Tzu Yi to star in your film? And why is he your choice given that this film is set in Singapore?
LL: It’s always our plan to have our main cast consisting of both Singapore and foreign talents. We were really taken with Mo Tzu Yi’s quiet magnetism and boyish good looks when we had the opportunity to meet him. His film work in Taiwan is going from strength to strength and we were very happy that he really liked the story and the character of Gin. This is his first non-Taiwanese film. So we're honored.

G: Tell us more about "Forever" as a romantic comedy.
LL: "Forever" is about a woman following her heart at all costs and in our protagonist Joey's case at outrageous, wacky costs, which we hope the audience will find funny!


J: Do you have particular types of genres/settings/premises that interest you? I notice from your previous films, you have a keen eye on contemporary life of the middle to upper-middle class / executive types of Singaporeans, which is a breath of fresh air from the gritty, depressed stories we see from so many others.
LL: Thanks. I really enjoy satire and comedy but they are hard to do and i'm still learning. I tend to veer towards American films, as that's what i grew up watching plus I went to an American university where i did some film courses. American mainstream films tend to be more optimistic and idealistic, so that did rub off on me. But I also watched quite a number of American indie films during my uni days which were darker and more subversive and that also rubbed off on me.

J: I understand Charles, your husband, an artist himself has a significant contribution to the film. What was his contribution and how was it like working with him on the set? (especially when it is coincidental that the film is about love and marriage)
LL: Charles stepped in as my art director when all other options came to naught. We were both concerned about this arrangement as we have never worked so closely before but Charles is very talented and worked very hard on the film. He understands my humor and his level of commitment and quest for perfection is inspiring. Husband and wife team projects are tricky and we definitely had our challenging days, esp as Charles has never worked on a feature film set and I often expected him to know how to run things like a 'pro'. But we want to go through it again!

G: What are your views on the film industry here in Singapore?
LL: I think the Singapore film industry is growing at a steady pace but Singapore audiences are not growing at the same speed. The only local films that make it seem to need alot of money backing them in terms of A&P but most local films wont have that kind of money to spend.

G: Give us more insight to your upcoming works
LL: Im working on a play / film hybrid with one of my best friends, playwright Jean Tay, and I'm also working on my third feature concept.

Forever is scheduled to open in Singapore through Golden Village towards the end of 2010. Watch out for it!

paalam po Inay

Madalas kong marinig sa mga kamag-anak natin na napaka-swerte mo raw dahil may anak kang nagpapakahirap mag-abroad para sa kaginhawahan mo. Kahit mga tiyo at tiya ko, yan ang madalas nilang sabihin sa iyo. Dahil nakita nila kung paano kita minahal at ginawang sentro ng buhay ko. Ikaw na lang kasi ang natitira. Maaga tayong iniwan ni Itay. Kaya binuhos ko na lahat sa iyo ang kaya kong ibigay. Sa totoo lang, kung meron sigurong premyo sa pagi-spoil ng magulang, malaki ang laban ko. Alam mo naman yan di ba. Ikaw ang isa sa pinaka-spoiled na Nanay sa buong mundo. Dahil alam kong hindi habang panahon ay makakasama kita.

Isa pa, kaligayahan ko na makita kang masaya pag marami kang pang-bingo at pang-taya sa jueteng. Masaya akong nakita kang kumakain ng masarap. Nakakatulog ng mahimbing. Yon nga lang, nagpa-aircon pa ako pero ayaw mo dahil madali kang ginawin. Electric fan nga minsan ayaw mo pa.

Tuwang-tuwa akong ipasyal ka sa mga mall at ibili ng mga magagandang damit. Pati bag at sapatos . Madalas nga lang tinatago ko ang tag price dahil pag nakita mong mahal ayaw mo na. Masaya din ako pag kumakain tayo sa labas. Yong nakikita kitang enjoy na enjoy tikman ang lahat ng mga pinag-oorder ko. At natutuwa ako pag nagdadampot ka na kaliwa’t kanan sa grocery. Masakit sa bulsa pagdating sa bayaran. Pero magaan ang pakiramdam ko dahil alam kong masaya ka.

Hindi na lang kita dinadalhan ng mga alahas nitong mga huling uwi ko. Lagi mo kasing sinasangla. Pero masaya ka naman dahil dollars ang pasalubong ko sa yo. At kahit hindi na kita maipasyal sa ibang bansa, alam ko, kahit paano masaya ka dahil naipapasyal kita dyan sa paligid ng bahay natin. Nararamdaman ko naman na kampante ka pag ako ang nagtutulak ng wheelchair mo habang turo ka ng turo at nakikialam sa mga bahay at bakuran ng mga kapit-bahay natin.

Sa kabila ng mga naibigay ko sa iyo, alam kong marami pa rin akong pagkukulang. Higit sa materyal na bagay, malaki ang kakulangan kong kahit kailan ay hindi ko na mapupunuan. Yon ay ang mga oras na naaalagaan kita. Dahil kailangan kong umalis para maghanap-buhay. Kaya mas marami pa ang mga araw na nagkakausap lang tayo sa telepono kesa sa nagkukwentuhan tayo ng personal. Mas marami yong araw na iba ang nagpapa-inom sa iyo ng gamot na kadalasan hindi mo sinusunod. Mas madalas na iba ang nagpapakain sa iyo at nagpapalit ng damit lalo na pag may sakit ka. At kakaunti yong araw na ako mismo ang magdadala sa iyo sa doctor dahil hindi ka naman papayag ng kung sino lang ang kasama. Sa akin ka lang sumusunod at naniniwala. Pasensya ka na at hindi ko nagampanan lahat yan.

Nakukulangan pa rin ako sa uri ng buhay na naibigay ko sa iyo. Noong bata pa kasi ako alam mo naman kung gaano kataas ang pangarap ko. Gusto ko noon yumaman ng bonggang-bongga para maging Don Reynaldo at Donya Semprosa kayo ni Tatay. Yon nga lang, ito lang ang inabot ko. Kinapos ang ambisyon. Pagpasensyahan mo na.

Pagpasensyahan mo rin kung dati may mga pagkakataon na inaaway kita. Pasaway ka rin naman kasi. Manang-mana ka sa akin. Yon nga raw ang epekto ng pagi-spoil ko sa yo. Dati nga noon sinusubukan pa kitang tiisin. Hindi kita kinakausap ng matagal. Pero alam mong ako rin ang sumusuko. Dahil gabi-gabi nag-aalala ako kung ano na ang kalagayan mo.

Ngayon wala ka na. Wala na akong tatawagan araw-araw para sabihan na huwag masyadong uminom ng softdrinks. Wala na rin akong sesermunan dahil hindi kumakain ng maayos at puro sitserya ang inaatupag. Wala na akong sasabihan na wag magbibili ng kung ano-anong nilalako ng mga kung sino. Wala na akong sasabihan na mag-ingat ka para sa akin. Wala ka na. Wala na akong mahal na Inay.

Saan ka man nandon ngayon, sana masaya at tahimik ka. At sana hanapin mo si Tatay. Pag nagkita kayo, sabihin mo miss na miss ko na sya. At lagi ninyong tatandaan, mahal na mahal ko kayo. Yan lang pagmamahal na yan ang pwede kong ipabaon sa inyo sa pagkakataong ito. Kasama ang dasal at hiling sa Panginoon na ingatan kayo sa kanyang piling. Kasama na rin ang pagpapasalamat na ipinahiram Niya kayo sa akin bilang mga magulang.

Paalam po mahal kong Ina. Hanggang sa panahon ng ating muling pagkikita.

my mother dear

it's a gloomy day... my beloved mother passed away 7am (phil time). saw the text message and the 49 missed calls i had when i woke up. what a bad way to start the day huh.

*

i still haven't cried as of yet but i can feel the huge cloud of sadness wrapping me up deep inside. maybe i've prepared myself well for this. or maybe the realization is taking so long before it sinks in. i don't know.

*

all i know is that i'm gonna miss her so much. just as i still miss my father who's gone way ahead of her. 15 years and i still haven't forgotten how much i miss him. now mom has joined him. dalawa na silang mami-miss ko.

*

to all my friends who offered their condolences and comforting words, thank you very much. it means so much to me.

Meet the producer of 'The Crying Game' on Mon 8th March

(very 70s) Photo of Nik Powell

Nik Powell, producer of such classic films as The Company of Wolves, Mona Lisa and The Crying Game, will be in Singapore in March and sharing the ups and downs of the life of a film producer in a special session at the National Museum, organised by Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Film & Media Studies, Chapman University Singapore and the British Council.

In 30 Lessons Of A Producer: The Gospel According To Nik Powell, Nik will be taking a light hearted look at his career as both an entrepreneur and a film producer and the lessons that he has learnt. This should be an eye-opener!

When:  7.30 pm – 9.00 pm, Monday 8th March 
Where: National Museum of Singapore

This is a CLOSED event for the film industry but the BC have 5 pairs of tickets to give away. For a chance to win, email arts@britishcouncil.org.sg, citing NIK SINDIE in the subject line.

Tribute to Alexander McQueen

Spring/Summer 02

(Thanks Alphonsinne!)

Spring/Summer 03

(Thanks Alphonsinne!)

Spring/Summer 05

Fall 06

Spring/Summer 08

Fall 08

Spring/Summer 09

Fall 09

Spring/Summer 10

repainting

got nothing to do on a lazy weekend and i thought of giving DS a new look... hope you like the scrap book effect.

March 2010 Hot Buys

Givenchy headband

Falconiere chain epauletes

(Thanks zanegirl90210!)

Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony boots

Fendi blouse

Versace fur vest

(Thanks Stardoll's Most Wanted!)

Topshop tights

(Thanks Stardoll's Most Wanted!)

Kate Moss for Topshop dress

Hey anonymous coward commenter, don't let the ...

Hey anonymous coward commenter, don't let the facts interrupt your hope fever dream

Nice blog & congrats. You take being a dumb-a...

Nice blog & congrats. You take being a dumb-assed ignorant fuck to a whole new level!

Gala Nights 2 : 'The Gang' Bang

For some reason, Maia resembles Roxie Hart from 'Chicago' the musical.

'My Gawd, I can't believe they invited these people!'

SINdie is part of 'industry' and not 'friends'...lol
Aishah from Substation gives a cheeky look, 'Blood Ties' director Chai Yee Wei looking like a secondary school student behind.

'Say cheese!' the photographer instructs the cast, who have not met all in the team until tonight because they appear in different scenes.

Grace and Jeremy take the quintessential photo with 'The Man' behind everything, Kelvin Sng (middle)

Notice the tattoo on her left arm. Could 'The Gang' spark off a comeback trend of full-body tattoos?

The Cathay Cineplex was awash with starsgazers. Two local movies were premiering at the same time - Kelvin Sng's 'The Gang' and Harry Yap's 'Happy Go Lucky'. It was nauseating trying to decipher where the stargazers were gazing. Of course, when Fann Wong made an appearance with a kooky-looking Christopher Lee, people flocked to them like bees to honey. But for the rest of the occasion, 'The Gang' maintained its glory with an event that reached new heights of grandiosity for short films. I (Jeremy) was getting a little worried for Kelvin for if the film itself would not live up to the hype (almost circus-like)in the run up to the screening. But thankfully, the film left most of the audience with nothing to say except words of congratulations in their different configurations.