From Jan - March 2011, library@esplanade, in partnership with the Singapore Film Society, will be hosting a showcase of local films - SG films@library. The screenings will take place every 2nd and 4th Friday evening of the month. All screenings will be followed by a meet-the-filmmakers session + Q&A discussion held at the Open Stage of library@esplanade. You can also expect some SG films memorabilia & prizes to be won at the Q&A sessions.
Programme Lineup & Ratings
Jan 14, 7:30 pm - Old Places (PG) by Royston Tan, Victric Thng & Eva Tang
Jan 28, 7:30pm - 18 Grams of Love (PG) by Han Yew Kwang
Feb 11 - White Days (NC16) by Lei Yuan Bin Feb 25 - Invisible Children (PG) by Brian Gothong Tan
March 11 - Lucky 7 (R21) an exquisite-corpse feature by 7 SG directors - Sun Koh, K Rajagopal, Boo Junfeng, Brian Gothong Tan, Chew Tze Chuan, Ho Tzu Nyen & Tania Sng
March 25 - DownLeft Dirty (R21) 5 Short Films Bedroom Dancing & Dirty Bitch by Sun Koh A Family Portrait (Un Retrato De Familia) & Tanjong Rhu by Boo Junfeng Haze by Anthony Chen
The Asian Hot Shots Berlin Festival for Film and Video (whoa, that's a mouthful!) is here again. A strong supporter of Singapore films, they turn the spotlight on Singapore this year. The previous was Indonesia. Mathias Ortmann who is a guest writer for SINdie and also for sinema.sg curated this year's crop of Singapore films at this festival. From the number of Singaporeans going there, looks like an Olympic contingent - Royston Tan, Eva Tang, Victric Thng, Ho Tzu Nyen, Lei Yuan Bin, Wesley Leon Aroozoo and many more! I caught up with Mathias to dig some honest opinions about Singapore films.
Jeremy (J): Why the focus on Singapore? There are plenty of robust film movements going around in Asia.
Mathias (M): True, Asia certainly is a world in itself and definitely when it comes to cinema, the wealth of productions and movements is virtually boundless. That is why there is a need for an Asian-themed festival like AHSB to have a focus in the first place, to cast a spotlight on one country, for instance, and work from there. The point is to put quality ahead of quantity and to limit yourself in one area to allow for a more scrupulous and in-depth assessment. Singapore has been a natural choice for us for a number of reasons. Firstly, we have had a strong connection to her filmmaking scene from the start. This isn't a blitz kind of approach but one continuous effort. We've had good entries from Singapore in previous years and I think it is fair to say that given our mission to foster young, independent cinema, we try to do pioneer work in the field. It is a first in Germany - and that's Europe's biggest market! So, it is an adventure; it is a challenge and I'm always one to take on a new challenge when there is something to discover.
Another aspect is that Singapore is struggling as far as communicating a distinct image goes. They call it "uniquely" but no-one really seems to know what that is supposed to mean. Look at South Korea for one, they are very smart in this respect. They have original cultural assets and they understand how to capitalize on it through advancing its film industry. I am not talking about box office success and revenues primarily. But it is important we recognize that filmic expression is more than just the creation of commercial value. How do foreigners relate to another country? Through their people, right? It all comes down to the human element, whether it speaks to you or not. Only the most 'robust' of tourists would enjoy being processed like goods. The rest of us, we want to feel a reality that may or may not be quite different from our everyday. Film is the medium to transport this experience most powerfully.
Now look at Singapore - and try to adopt an outward point of view! The social and cultural dynamics at play are intriguing. A lot is bubbling under the seemingly smooth surface. And I am fascinated by it, I am fascinated by those little fissures and first cracks in the gloss where we get to see something more, something deeper and much stronger than what is seen on billboards or in television ads. As far as the human element is concerned, I think we all can relate to it; it really is universal. But the particulars, the telling detail, need an authentic voice to reveal it and bring it to light. When I see that in a film, the mismatch or any instance of awkwardness, that draws my attention and captivates my imagination because I can see there is some issue that matters to people. At the end of the day film is about reality, the lives we live and the world around us, and that's the funny thing. What fiction do Singaporeans indulge in? Well, I think it worth having a look at her films to give us some clues!
J: How would you characterise/describe the film movement/scene that is brewing in Singapore now?
M:Brewing is the word here. There are many ingredients and no clear, straightforward recipe. So the outcome is uncertain and while sometimes we already get to taste something that is rich and colourful with a strong individual flavour, well, the occasional tasteless bowl can't always be avoided. I think there is a lot of characteristic talent in Singapore, in every department, that just need to become more self-confident and assertive. From what I observe, the obstacles are real but not huge. The problems a Singaporean filmmaker faces today are not unique. Other professionals in other places face similar and oftentimes worse conditions or repression.
I don't see one particular movement as such that one could point to and say 'Look at this, this is completely new and unheard of'. Everybody is confronted with the same challenges and these are to do with questions like: 'Who is my target audience?', 'What is the level of sophistication?', 'Do I have to please everyone?', 'What risks am I ready to take?' - and 'Will I get to make another movie after this one?' The answers folks in Singapore come up with, frankly, are not always convincing. But you can begin to see two major directions that emerge, two lines of approach to solution finding in the matter. One is to stay as close to home as possible, the other is to be outward-bound and 'export-oriented'. Interestingly, I find the more original and daring works to belong to the first kind of films and filmmakers. Perhaps they are closer to their creative centre.
J: I notice that the selection is a mix of the major productions last year and a some really new names in the scene. Could you take us through the curation?
M: You are right, yes. The situation was that AHSB has moved its date back by more than half a year from before. Therefore, we had all of 2009 and 2010, first half, to draw upon. On top of that, since this is the Singapore Focus this year, but a concentrated one, I decided against a retrospective showcasing but wanted to give as wide a range as possible that reflects a very diverse silver screen landscape like I've said. This is what I see, that you cannot pigeonhole Singapore cinema as a whole, label it nicely and say 'This is it!'. That wouldn't be true to the situation. Plus, German audiences are very unfamiliar with productions from Singapore, may never have seen a film from your country and would have a hard time to identify one even while watching.
My approach was to avoid the well-known names. That was a conscious decision, a choice I made. Not to feature the usual festival headliners but to be more inclusive and put the spectacle and the silent cry side by side. If it turns out to be heterogeneous, I am happy!
The end result is eclectic, but in as far as it doesn't narrow down the perspective, I think it is also fairly representative. Clearly there is a preference for art-house over mainstream, for risk-takers over those films that like to play it safe. I am never looking for perfect films, or the ones with the highest production value. There has to be a precise way of expression, something where the images get back to you with force and tell you that there is a will to express behind it all. Some real concern. If it is handled on filmic terms, you know, in a manner that is one with the medium, then it has a soul and interests me. I believe that these are the films, from whatever country, that can move people and impact an audience in a way that is more meaningful than consumption. Also, social themes are very important. A social agenda and societal, let's call it 'uneasiness', be it subtle or outspoken, will definitely add to any film. We are bringing back these films to Berlin, after all, and Berliners are very political in their outlook.
J: What were some of the natural choices and some of the more difficult choices?
M: Ho Tzu Nyen's debut feature, HERE, was a natural choice, and so were "Dreaming Kester" by Martin Hong and "White Days" by Lei Yuan Bin. These were the first set entries on any preliminary list, but for different reasons. What they have in common, for me, is that they are simply 'true' in a very creative way. You can trace influences, of course, and assign them to certain schools if you will. The bottom-line is that they are very individualistic works, each of them, and they are Singaporean to the core. Also, they share a kind of lightness that I love very much and that I think can work to lessen the distance between an audience and the projection, so to speak.
I was looking for films, short or feature-length, that can serve as ambassadors for the Singaporean situation and way of looking at things. Amit Virmani's "Cowboys in Paradise" does two things: it shows that documentary filmmaking is strong in Singapore, and that for some strange reason, they tend to find their subject matter away from home. I find that interesting. As far as the short films are concerned, I noted a rise in quality from last year. My formula for a good short film is simple: it needs to be short and it needs to be film. That's all. And again there are some real gems and some of them we have assembled in our trademark Singapore Hot Shots which I am proud of!
The three competition shorts from Singapore for example, they are very different but all of them are noteworthy. "Baju" by Azhar Shukor was a real discovery and when I see a film like that it makes me hopeful for the future. It is real, it is uncompromising and short. It really has a punch and knows what it wants; a very male piece of film. "Madam Chan" by Wilson Yip is accomplished and mature filmmaking by a seasoned practitioner, you can see it right away. It holds a firm grip on its story line and even the little digressions are purposeful and cogent. "Promises in December" is both emotionally and socially relevant without any ambiguities. It is quite astounding how the film manages to create depth and avoids being fatalistic or sentimental at the same time. You see, these choices, each and every one of them, have to be made based on each film's own merits and achievements. It is an evaluation on a case by case basis - but the selection for a Singapore Focus calls for some form of coherence. If you look at the entire line-up you will see an attempt at striking the right balance between different and equally valid modes of visual expression.
Some choices never presented themselves as some films you may have been hoping for were never submitted; others you couldn't get because of availability or due to screening fees. So you work with what you got and, actually, I am quite happy with how it turned out. I think it is a strong representation of contemporary film from Singapore.
J:How do you think the audience in Berlin will take to 'The Blue Mansion'?
M: I think they will be surprised at a film like that. I don't think that this is what they would expect to come out of Singapore. But, honestly, I don't know. The theatricality of its direction, I think, is something you have to either accept or not. If you reject it you will miss the whole fun of the film. We'll see how it turns out. It certainly isn't standard fare to the cinema aficionado with a penchant for Asian films over here.
J: White Days?
M: 'White Days' is a fine piece of film with meticulous photography and some pristine cinematic moments. I am confident that it will speak to people - and this, the Singapore vernacular exactly, is a challenge that I gladly pose to the Berlin audience. The film is also in competition so we will get a reaction.
J: The Days?
M: Genre cinema has its place and a strong tradition in Asian cinema. "The Days" is a point in case for working within a chosen frame. It is also representative in that it shows how Singapore cinema is not explicit. So I think it will be a discovery as well and that people will enjoy it.
J: I hear from some curators and filmmakers that Singapore has one of the highest number of short films per capita. This is gathered from the number of entries from Singapore at several overseas film festivals. But some say our quantity has become our Achilles heel, with many works being not well-thought through and shoddy in its production. Be honest, do you see that in Singapore films relative to films from our neighbouring countries?
M: It may look like it on first glance. But quantity in itself is just that, a lot of young filmmakers turning out stuff. It is not the reason for low quality in many of them. What it means is simply more work and some painful preview sessions for programmers who are on the hunt for that one really gifted director, the big time discovery. I think it is the advantage you have as Singaporeans that you have such ready access to good professional equipment right from the start these days. If other countries could provide in like measure we would see an avalanche of randomly shot short films from Laos or more of that coming out of Vietnam in a fortnight. It's the entire infrastructure you have at your disposal, including the opportunity to travel to festivals and make contacts overseas, that can help you half of the way. Ultimately, though, only real talent will make it and persist beyond the lucky strike.
Flip through this nifty online AHSB Festival Program here.
J: Do you think we should continue making so many short films or stop the 'trigger-happy' mode and do more quality and less quantity?
M: Of course it has become too easy to make short films nowadays, especially for Singaporeans like I said. But this is the situation and a reality one has to accept. We don't want artificial restrictions, do we? So what is called for is development: the development of a filmmaker hopeful, their personality and their character - so much more essential than mere skill.
I've said it many times before that quality is a matter of appreciating time. It is more of a societal and a cultural fact that Singapore simply is too rush when it comes to projecting an image or to define it. And this reflects in the films we see. If people paid more attention to natural growth and the time it takes to evolve and to mature, I think this would be the key to seeing more developed works emerge. Inevitably there will be lesser and better short films made and this self-defeating sprinter's mentality could be overcome. You simply cannot produce something meaningful by just pressing a button. It doesn't work this way.
But I stick by it, if you comb through the Singapore harvest each year, there always is something that stands out, good quality works that are original and have an impact. The Singapore Hot Shots, I feel, are a point in case.
J: What's all time favourite Singapore film?
M: 4:30 by Royston Tan (see picture below).
Random page from the program..... Porn is available at the festival???
The festival runs from 20 to 24 October in Berlin of course. Check out the festival website here!
Based in Berlin, Mathias Ortmann writes profoundly and intensively about Singapore films. Many of his writings can be found on the Sinema website. This thought piece by Mathias is written exclusively for SINdie.
Well, not exactly. But people in St Petersburg will get a chance to learn a few Hokkien swear words from a Royston Tan short film retrospective at the ISAFF OPEN CINEMA International Short & Animation Film Festival. The retrospective is curated by Objectifs Films. Check out the website here but don't expect to understand much unless you know Russian. :p
It is 8.30 pm on Monday and I am about to call Royston Tan. He smsed me to call his home phone instead - which adds to the intimacy of the interview. I have not met seen Royston for about a year now, at least in person. The strange thing is, thanks to facebook, I feel so close to his recent activities and yet, I am technically not that close because we never had a chance to work together before.
Royston's been very of late nailing down shoot after shoot. Amidst a few random commercial projects, I hear of his new short film and even a music video involving a dozen men in drag. But this project of his called, Old Places or 老地方, seems very close to his heart. As many of us would agree, nobody does nostalgia better than Royston. His brand of very personal and intimate nostalgia (mostly seen in 'Sons', 'Mother', '12 Lotus', 'Hock Hiap Leong') had spawned of so many copycats among student works. SINdie's never interviewed Royston before, so this seemed like a great entry point.
As Royston shares, Old Places which will screen on Okto Channel on 8 August 10 pm, is an MDA supported project. But my instincts were also right in identifying it as a very personal project of Royston's. He is truly a champion of this. I think he, like me (we are 1 year apart) belong to a special age group that got to see the last vestiges of old Singapore while we are just in time to catch the train that is new Singapore. The most classic example is we got to see the National Theatre before its demolition in 1986. And would have seen how boat quay and clarke quay in form not too different from how they appear in the movie Saint Jack.
I asked him to share some of the places that project's brought him to. He mentioned examples like the dragon kiln (didn't it appear some of our social studies textbooks?), a Shanghai dry cleaning shop, a flour mill, some mama shops, Katong swimming pool (which was built in 1965) and others. You can begin to imagine the ripple effect this documentary is going to have on the filmmmakers here. For a industry so starved of location scouts, this will be a perfect watershed for new landscapes to be seen on film.
'Old Places' is not about Royston's romance with the vontage in Singapore but really a collective romance. The places featured are suggested by the public. Chuan Pictures put out a call for suggestions months ago and people phoned in with a wealth of info on these hidden gems. In this documentary, we can expect to hear 'horses' mouth' accounts of these places and in a range of different languages as well. Royston shares an account from a caller about the Capitol cinema. She has a soft spot for it because on several occasions after watching a movie she always won something. Incidentally, The British Council is also organising Depict!, a 90 sec video competition in which people can send in their 90 sec clip about an old place.
'Old Places' is not single-handedly the artistic vision of Royston. He's roped in Eva Tang and Victric Thng to cut up the Singapore pie. The idea was conceived he met them casually for a meal and decided to collaborate in this. In the documentary, the 3 filmmakers can be distinguised by their different treatments. Eva has the most logical mind, probably honed from her journalist days. Victric is a skilled hand in handling visuals. Royston is Mr touch-feely-emo. Their assigned places are simply split by regions.
While so much painstaking effort has been put into this, it seems quite a waste that the masses can only see it on an obscure channel like Okto and given the National Day eve long weekend, chances are that your parents are more likely to catch it. So, stay at home for once will ya!?
On the other hand, Royston is not about to let it all go to the shelves after teh Okto screening. He is looking at possibilities on screening it in public on a big screen with live orchestra. Royston was thinking a big indoor place like Esplanade theatre. I was thinking a bog outdoor place like the National Stadium. There begins our little sidetrack about the National Stadium... a place Old Places was forbidden to include because it is about to go. Perhaps someone reading this help write in to the authorities about putting up 'Old Places' as its final swansong.
While his last major outing '12 Lotus' left us a little fatigued from the getai fever, I am sure many of us are starting to Royston and want him to return. He shares he is indeed beginning to thaw from his state of hibernation. Not that he's been inactive, in fact, the 'bread and butter' side of a filmmaker's life in Singapore can be quite exhausting and even worse uninspiring. I daringly told Royston I heard a rumour about him wanting to do horror. His reply was the rumour is true. he is in fact working with Lim Yep, a writer on a script now. His eye for people and places is undeniably poetic and very grounded in 'kampong' sensibilities and sensitivities. My theory is that's why he can bring a different angle to an ordinary HDB setting. Therefore, I can only wait in great anticipation as he reaches deeper into his mental closet to bring out some truly creepy skeletons for us to behold.
The “Live On Short Film Competition”, organised by the Ministry of Health (MOH), aims to raise awareness of organ donation amongst the youth in a meaningful and creative way using an emotive platform to engage people at all levels. Through creative story-telling, we hope the short films can promote discussion on organ donation and address some of the concerns regarding organ donation.
Every year, there are more than 500 patients waiting to receive a life-saving transplant in Singapore. For these patients, the wait is not only agonising but also emotionally draining. We hope the films can convey the importance of organ donation and how a life-saving transplant can change the lives of patients in need. Through the films, we also hope to encourage discussions on altruistic living organ donations, and how all of us have the power to help our family and loved ones should they require an organ transplant.
Organ donation is also an emotional issue with many concerns on the ground. For example, some may be less open towards the idea of organ donation because of set beliefs and traditional values, while others may have certain misconceptions on organ donation. Participants are encouraged to think about some of these issues and discuss them in their films.
Participants are required to send in their original script and proposed production budget by 16th August at www.liveonfilms.sg. Five teams with the best short film proposal will be selected in August and be given up to $3,000 funding plus the prize of a Seagate external hard-drive each for the production of the short films. In addition, the selected teams will participate in a mentoring workshop with renowned Director Royston Tan. The teams will be given two months for the production of the films. All final works are to be submitted by 30 November on the Seagate external hard drive which will be returned to them after the competition. The final winner will be announced in December.
If so, you will find the opening of the Birdsong Trilogy familiar. :p And with this, we sit through a lot of drama, tears and beeeuutifool shots. And song and dance makes a come back too! Here is just my 2-cents worth of what I think about the Birdsong Trilogy that was shown on Okto. Just 2-cents, nothing more... :)
Part 1-Passion
Storyline:
A love story between a baker and doctor told through 3 songs composed specially for this production. This delightful musical pairs one of the most prolific stage actresses Denise Tan with up and coming star Eric Gwee. Filmed in the heartland, the innocence of love is captured in the most unlikely of places.
In a way, the baker reminds me of Giselle in Enchanted. which is in a way exaggerated more than usual.Understanding it is working in a musical manner,but it seems quite off,and looks like the local version of High School Musical,only that it’s in a confectionery.So in a way it is like Enchanted meets High School Musical in adult version.
When my mom actually sees this part,especially the baker keeps singing, she actually says..."Siao Zhar Boh"(Crazy Woman in Hokkien),which is kind of true that I agree.
Part 2-Betrayal
Storyline:A young man relishes being in a triangle with 2 different women - an older woman whom he loves, and a younger woman whom he beds. A simple story about a cougar, a nubile girl and a young man dictated by lust. Set entirely in a bedroom, watch the sexy drama unfold with a series of twist and turns.
Too Chim to UNDERSTAND...
Part 3-Forgiveness
Storyline: An intimate telling of a story about a boy of 10 who is terminally ill, and is abandoned in the hospital. A counsellor is assigned to him and she is quickly touched by his gregarious spirit despite the pain that he is going through. She resolves to ensure that he is surrounded by love even as he slowly fades away. As the 2 individuals share those final days together, it appears that the boy is not the only one being caged in by pain.
Can cry lor. The interaction between the counsellor and Zijun is extremely touching! And this third part of the feature is more like a silent movie,with minimal conversation.
Being a Royston fan, I guess I just want to take this chance to congratulate Royston on the successful TV premiere of his 1st English Feature made for TV.
In a groundswell of support for CheckMATE (and a clear nod to its own title), Mohd Yahssir's film bagged the Best Film, Best Promising Director, Best Cinematography and Audience Favourite Film awards at this year's Panasonic Digital Film Fiesta (DFF). Congrats to the whole crew!
Yahssir receives the Audience Favourite Film award from panel judge Royston Tan
And a little cosier!
Filmmaking finalists (left) and mentors (right) of the DFF
Catch CheckMATE and the other DFF shorts at the DFF website, and check out my dialogue with Jeremy on each of the various shorts, and then hang out at the Facebook groups for CheckMATE and the DFF!
This seems like a twin brother to Royston Tan's Little Note, though the latter is of course made by a more seasoned pair of hands and eyes.Similar to Royston's film, it tells about a son who is leaving the kampung (village) to further his studies and face the world and though the son does not bring much, he brings her spirit along in his heart. One big difference between the two films is that the lady in 'Letting Go' is a closer physical epitomy of the mother role that the one in 'Little Note'. She has such a disarming and benevolent look that I really had something to take home with that film, even though you feel you have seen this story in a dozen other manifestations.
Best Director Winner: Sun Koh (Dirty Bitch) Nominees: Basil Mironer (Rare Fish), Jmin (The Girl with the Red Balloons), Kirsten Tan (Cold Noodles), Wu Ruojing (Home?) Comments: Can't argue with the win for Sun Koh, whose visual sense truly enervates her pastiche of sex fantasies, torture porn, French rap and social satire. Atop that, Kat Goh surely deserved a nomination for orchestrating those well-blocked, single-take scenes in Swimming Lesson.
Best Fiction Winner:Dirty Bitch (Sun Koh) Nominees:Fighting Fit (Sulaiman Salamon), Master of His Domain (Eric Elofson), Rare Fish (Basil Mironer), Swimming Lesson (Kat Goh) Comments:Dirty Bitch was the only double award-winner of the night, but that's inevitable if you have both a Best Director and Best Film category. I can't fathom a great film without a sure directorial hand, and it makes even less sense for the film with the best direction not to snag its own trophy.
Best Animation Winner:Hush Baby (Tan Wei Keong) Nominees:Come Out and Play! 2 (Joo Choon Lin), The Mothcatcher (Iyvone Khoo & Miguel Guzman) Comments:Hush Baby likely won because it was the best narrative among the three, involving a drawing of a baby being kept from climbing to the edges of the paper on which it's drawn, but even the losing nominees boasted exceptionally high-calibre stop-motion animation! I was especially impressed by the technical difficulty of Come Out and Play! 2, which features a potent animated mixture of wall-length graffiti and floating oil-on-water art.
Best Documentary Winner:Special Pass (Vicknesh Varan) Nominees:Black Friday (Wan), Forgotten Merlion (Ghazi Alqudcy & Ezzam Rahman), Home? (Wu Ruojing), She Shapes A Nation (Dana Lam) Comments: I wasn't a fan of She Shapes A Nation, which flits from one subject to another without letting us ride on any strong narrative arc through the film; this marginalises the women it features more than it promotes them. All the other nominees, though, cover a wide but precise range of tones and minority subjects, and I would have been happy with any of them as the winner. I'm especially glad for Special Pass' win, though. The non-Singaporean soldiers of World War 2, our neglected anthem, and victims of the Chinese earthquake surely deserve their turn in the sun, but Special Pass tackles a greater blind spot in our society: the messy bureaucratic plight of our foreign workers.
Best Cinematography Winner:Sink (Chananun Chotrungroj) Nominees:A Hole in the Bed (Tay Yuxian), Blue Date (Eugene Koh), Home? (Isabel Wong Liliing, Lydia), Threshold (Lim Teck Siang) Comments: Can't argue with the austere black-&-white photography of Sink, but check out the similar but even more jaw-dropping B&W photography of Cold Noodles (also by the same director, Kirsten Tan), which I think was exempt because its cinematographer Jose Avila Del Pino isn't Singaporean.
Best Editing Winner:5 Films in an Anthology of a Film a Month (Jack Haycox) Nominees:Cold Noodles (Kirsten Tan), My Underwear My World (Alicia Yang & Danny Lim), Outing (Daniel Hidajat), The Girl with the Red Balloons (Chen Junbin) Comments:5 Films is another film that deserved a wider spread of nominations than its lone, deserved one here, although not if its director David Shiyang Liu makes good on his "promise" to leave it at this accomplished film. (No pressure, David!) Its five different chapters about desire in the modern city are at turns funny and touching.
Best Soundtrack Winner:Newton (Matthew Koh, Lim Tingli, Ho Tzu Nyen) Nominees:Dirty Bitch (Felix Huang, Anne-Laure Sibon), The Karma of the Tree Sentinel who Awakes (The Observatory), Threshold (Benjamin Lim Yi, Oxley String Quartet) Comments: By far the oddest category in this year's awards. First, the category combined its nods to both sound design and musical score composition, even though most of the nominees are more obviously accomplished in one or the other. Second, The Karma of the Tree Sentinel who Awakes is pretty much a music video for The Observatory's song "Mind Roots", so nominating the band for writing the film's score is a little backwards. (Surely the director's visual conception is a more relevant contribution to local film?) Third, awarding a self-conscious piece like Newton, with its slightly unsync-ed sound effects resembling some of the earliest foley work, muddles an important message about the seamless, almost unnoticeable work to which most sound designers have to commit. Despite the understandable impulse to spread the wealth, I think both Dirty Bitch's score and sound design are far more accomplished. Who can forget the film's enigmatic musical theme and central French rap sequence, or its overlaid narration, gasps, whip-cracks, screams and spluttering blood?
Best Script Winner:Threshold (Loo Zihan) Nominees:A Perfect Harmony (Christopher Broe), Dreaming Kester (Martin Hong), Master of His Domain (Eric Elofson) Comments: Whatever the strengths of A Perfect Harmony and Dreaming Kester are, they do not lie in those two film's scripts. (A Perfect Harmony harnesses bizarre, unconvincing meet-cutes between a boy and a girl; Dreaming Kester is too blunt in its message of "adultism" and lost childhood innocence). I'd have to stump for the more polished, adventurous scripts of 5 Films in an Anthology in a Month, Dirty Bitch and Swimming Lesson.
Best Performance Winner:The judges chose to abstain. Nominees: Damus Lim (Brazil), Oliver Mangham (Master of His Domain), Ong Xiu Ping (Madam Chan), Rebecca Dass (Bright) Comment: While I understand the motivations behind the judges not giving an award, their abstention exposed a loophole in the execution of these awards: who's coming up with the nominations? Clearly not the judges, if they found none of the nominated perfs impressive enough to award. The awards ceremony host, actor Yeo Yann Yann, half-jokingly commented: "Don't worry, we will work harder," but I think it was less that the best performances were unworthy than that the best performances weren't nominated. (Although out of the nominees, I was quite impressed by Ong Xiu Ping, who plays a patient caretaker in Madam Chan. Ong manages to trick us into seeing her character as a typical soft-hearted old woman while staying true to the real depth of the character's awareness, as a twist in the film finally reveals.) If the nominated child actors (Lim and Dass) didn't have many demands from their films to fulfil, why not pick the young Jerryl Tan in My Underwear My World instead, who had to parse sadness, anger, desperation and comic reluctance with impressive naturalism? And let's not forget the different forms of near-unreasonable manias that Kee Chiew Hiang and Serene Chen respectively inhabit in Swimming Lesson and Dirty Bitch.
Best Art Direction Winner:Rare Fish (Rene Pannevis) Nominees:H the Happy Robot (James Page), Rudra - Hymns from the Blazing Chariot (Jacen Tan), Public Phone (Eric Lim), The Robber (Eric Lin & Wong Munlai) Comments: Congrats to the stilt village and beached flotsam of Rare Fish. For me, the odd nomination here is for H the Happy Robot, whose art direction comprises a wall of stacked cardboard boxes, painted to look like a blackboard. Perhaps it might have been better placed in the Best Animation category, for its stop-motion depiction of the title robot's eventual decomposition. Conversely, I thought that the meticulously crafted The Mothcatcher deserved a nomination here.
Honorary Award For outstanding contribution to the film community through short films Recipient: Royston Tan Comments: What more can there be to say about our most well-known, prolific short filmmaker? Royston mentioned in his acceptance speech that short films aren't a stepping stone to features or "something greater", but an ends in itself, and especially after these screenings, I can't help but agree.
This is must be the last part of a Kelvin’s physical trilogy. The first being ‘Tanjong Rhu’ by Boo Junfeng, the second being ‘Anniversary’ by Royston Tan and finally ‘Man in Snow Globe’ by Koo Chia Meng. Kelvin is the actor playing the lead here and he seems to have reached some kind of ‘muse’ status. This time, it more physiological than physical – he is blind and slowly regaining his sight at the expense of losing parts of his memory (with the help of a kind of technology). It opened with a montage reminiscent of Julian Schnabel’s ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, flashing gauzy intimate images of people and scenes. Then, we are at pore-distance to the lead’s face, subjugating us into a journey of the man’s coming to terms with his loss.
The situation is grave. However, the actor looks a little too young and athletic to evoke a feeling of diminution. This is a pity because the Chia Meng has cleverly manipulated some visual tools to obliquely convey the pain of blindness. These included the girl (Julie) with her faced partially eclipsed with a birthmark as well as the sprinkling of powder over his body to elicit his sensitivity to touch since his ‘vision’ is failing him. In fact, the powdering scene was a signature moment that made the film and a thoughtful payout to the title. A tantric kind of feeling in both an emotional and sensual way (yes, it’s about his body again!). Aided by camera work that has a freehand sort of expressiveness and sure-footed editing, ‘Man in Snow Globe’ is a like pretty poetry. I only hoped it had more bite.
While so much painstaking effort has been put into this, it seems quite a waste that the masses can only see it on an obscure channel like Okto and given the National Day eve long weekend, chances are that your parents are more likely to catch it. So, stay at home for once will ya!?
Similar to Royston's film, it tells about a son who is leaving the kampung (village) to further his studies and face the world and though the son does not bring much, he brings her spirit along in his heart. One big difference between the two films is that the lady in 'Letting Go' is a closer physical epitomy of the mother role that the one in 'Little Note'. She has such a disarming and benevolent look that I really had something to take home with that film, even though you feel you have seen this story in a dozen other manifestations.
