[SIFF08] Hashi (International Premiere)

Guess Who?

Just like how director Sherman Ong had to do without understanding the Japanese language when making the movie, and robbed of a communication tool, relying on his other senses and instincts, I had to struggle to convince my mind not to trust the signals sent by the eyes when interpreting the visuals of the movie. Seeing is believing, and having the eyes see something different will lead to the obvious, innate understanding that we're dealing with totally dissimilar issues, characters and motivations.

Which is not the case of course, but it's a war on the senses to continue convincing myself that the character in question is still the same, despite having the face, build and voice differing from time to time. While an exercise in production pragmaticism with constraints in place, Sherman has crafted a very delicate movie touhing on the issues of the modern woman in terms of love, marriage and even their dreams and fears. Imagine having 2 actresses for the character of Junko in the same movie, which probably could have been easily dealt with.

But 4 actresses for the character of Momo, the bento delivery girl, in the same movie, and interacting with a combination of the Junko character, it gets baffling and definitely not a pleasant experience to sit through (yes, there were the unfortunate walkouts). But if you can challenge yourself to transcend conventional story telling methods, especially with changes to the portrayal of characters from within the same movie, then you're in for a real treat as you now have to participate actively in blocking out mixed messages telling your mind to react differently, to try and convince yourself that it's the same person who, well, just look different. You'll have to work hard at looking past norms and conventions set in interpretation, in order to not get frustrated with it.

For those without a clue, it might be difficult to follow at times with no established markers such as addressing by name. However, if you manage to tackle the challenge put forth, then Hashi is a contemplative, and reflective tale, dealing with contemporary women issues on love and life, with classical arthouse sense and sensibilities. Through conversations over meals, secrets are shared and often leads into building the backstory of the characters involved. It's very Japanese like in its moments of restraint in expressing feelings, and what I would think to be very artistic with its style adopted, utilizing the still camera and long takes to allow the story to develop within an unmoving frame.

The characters too are crafted not without personal flaws, and I thought it allowed for a more faceted, and fascinating look at each character, especially with the change in facial and physical representation. Often it's like putting on masks, where we present ourselves differently depending on who we're interacting with. For instance, between Junko and Shino, Momo, if I recall, is represented differently, each time she takes it upon herself to deliver Junko's bento personally.

However, I felt that my own limited capacity of understanding these issues, perhaps because they're women issues for the most parts, didn't allow me to click instantly with the ongoing storyline. But for the visuals employed, and to experience something totally different from convention, then Hashi would get my vote as a test of one's ability and threshold to challenge one's norms at interpretion.

***

From Left: Tania Sng (SIFF), director Sherman Ong


There was a Q&A session after the screening with director Sherman Ong. As usual, I have paraphrased (for the better I hope) for clarity and readability. For those who are spoiler wary, please read something else. You have been warned.

Q: Could you tell us about how the film came about?
A: I was in Japan as an artist in residence, and part of my residency program, I had wanted to make a feature piece. There's a pragmatic reason why there were different persons casted in the same role, because most of them are working and are students, so they can't commit to the entire filming schedule. Also, 80% of the folks who turned up for the auditions turned out to be women, and therefore it became a women-centric story.

So it became a contemporary story about women and the issues they faced, and could have been set anywhere. The stories were actually from the cast, and they were playing themselves. To find out more about them, I had to ask them very personal questions, and at one stage my interpreter was reluctant to translate those personal questions because it was not the norm to do so. I gave ideas to them and the story structure, and they had a role in crafting what to say, and how to say it.

Q: Is it meant to be a documentary or a narrative film?
A: I feel that it's a mix of between both. Things like the dreams in the movie, were their own. I had to give one person's story to another person so that those who were having affairs, would not be found out! I have also made a photo series from it, and I had to remove the names. I had set out to make a fictional piece, though the process is like a documentary's.

Sherman also shared that Momo's character reflects the young Japanese of today, without holding down permanent jobs, and hopping from one to the other. He also wanted to show that these values are quite similar because of globalisation, regardless of language.

Q: Could you shed light on how the film footage you shot were used and determined during editing, and what were the ideas which you poured into the film?
A: The structure started with a 10 page scene breakdown with descriptions and about 50 scenes. I figured if one scene would take up to 2 minutes, then I would have about a 100 minute feature. As you would have noticed, some of the takes are quite long - the first one was about 6 minutes long. The actresses were given about an hour to write their thoughts down for the scene, and it was done in one take. In this film, it's usually the first or second take used. Was it confusing?

Sherman revealed that it was not deliberate to have casted different actresses in the role of Momo, because most couldn't commit their time for the entire production, and he took it further by having a lot more actresses playing the same role.

Q: What was the reaction to the film like in Japan?
A: Most surprising thing for the audience was, and many felt that the essence of the film is so Japanese, but it was a foreigner who made the movie. Probably because I had used feelings rather than language to make the film since I couldn't speak it. Film is after all a visual medium and sometimes language becomes secondary.

The Bangladeshi guy was actually another artist in residence who wanted to appear in the film, so I tried somehow to include him. The musician boyfriend was also the real life boyfriend of the actress, so that helped in not needing to break the ice between strangers.
Q: What was the reaction to intimacy in the subject matter?
A: I had always thought the Japanese were more kinky haha!

The movie was shot over 12 days, and with no crew, the camera tended to be static.

You can read more about Sherman's thoughts from an Interview I conducted earlier, or drop by the blog (address provided in the link below) to ask him questions / leave comments direct!


Related Links
Official Hashi Movie Website with behind the scenes / production stills
Sherman Ong’s Personal Website

There will be 1 more screening of Hashi at this year's SIFF on 13 April Sunday 7pm at Sinema Old School. Sherman will be in attendance for the 6 April session, and on 13 April, the director, producer and actress will be in attendance! Tickets are still available!

Book your tickets now by clicking here:
13 Apr Screening


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC
Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak
Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca

[SIFF08] Homeless FC

Hooray!

I believe James Leong and Lynn Lee have done it again, in coming up with a documentary which surpassed my expectations, even though it was built up from the anticipation of over a year to having finally been able to watch it on the big screen. Compared to their earlier works, Homeless FC has a very assured hand in crafting the documentary from a diverse pool of characters and their backgrounds, which isn't easy to begin with given that they had to open up quite a bit of their lives, and unglamourous past, to be scrutinized.

However, Homeless FC doesn't pass judgement on the characters whom through the course of the documentary we would come to get acquainted with, and some, like Chor Pat the gambler, whom I believe most audiences would elect as the crowd favourite, given his usually jovial nature, despite the immense challenges both personally and professionally. Everyone in the Dawn Team are homeless (therefore the title), but have their own personal, painful stories on how they get to their current predicament. Like Hung who's an ex-jailbird for being involved in triad activities, David finding it hard to look for work given his job hopping tendencies, and Ah Lung, a relative good looking young chap whose aspirations go beyond just being a delivery man.

For most, family has turned a blind eye and left them, and they struggle to regain acceptance not only from society, but more importantly, from that of their loved ones. There's no equivalent of a Yellow Ribbon project, and it's up to Wai Tung their social worker to help them tide through their difficulties, and at times, to even cajole, persuade and convince, to varying degrees of success, the Dawn Team in their quest to face up to their problems, and take active steps in resolving them. And it's very clear that, not looking down on them, they have different levels of understanding situations on hand, and their explosive attitudes most times do not help at all.

As mentioned earlier, Homeless FC doesn't pass judgement on the folks constituting the Dawn Team, and doesn't allow the audience to do so too (well, unless you really want to). For most, they are a victim of circumstances, and are tempted out of desperation to break out of the vicious circle of poverty, and to rebuild their lives. Etching out a living with a past society frowns upon, is never easy, as they face discrimination and even opportunities of exploitation should they manage to secure a job offer. It reminds us that nobody's perfect, and sometimes in life we're dealt with a bad card, and worse of course, be caught cheating at the table.

What of the football matches you say? Yes they're included of course, but takes a more secondary role up until the last 20 minutes. This was the first time I witnessed a Homeless World Cup competition, and it's more of a street soccer game rather than a full fledged 11-a-side tournament on a football pitch. The 4th edition took place in South Africa, and travelling to a foreign land allowed the lucky few to broaden their horizons, and see that the world is their oyster, should they work hard and change their attitudes, lives and set out to achieve goals, all of which are criteria of being selected into the team representing Hong Kong, and selection is not just based on ball skills alone.

Watching this documentary also makes you want to count your blessings, especially for those of us who are leading fairly comfortable lives, with support from family and friends, and in not worrying about where the next meal would come from. Homeless FC is not just a documentary about football, but about the lives of the downtrodden, and the provision of opportunities to pick oneself up, and believing in yourself again, despite adversities that life dishes out.

So how did they fare in the tournament? You'll have to watch the film to find out!

Trailer


There are still 2 more screenings of Homeless FC at this year's SIFF. The first is on 8 April Tuesday 7pm and the second is on 11 April Friday 9:15pm. All screenings are at Sinema Old School. Tickets are still available!

Book your tickets now by clicking here:
8 Apr Screening
11 Apr Screening

Related Links
Official Homeless FC Movie Website with Embedded Trailer
Trailer on YouTube
Excerpt on YouTube


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC
Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak
Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca

[SIFF08] Musings - Day One

This is where I list down random thoughts from the experience of the festival. Sometimes irrelevant, and the usual raves and rants that form part of the experience.

1. Stay until the end of every movie. Lucky 7 has a coda which 2/3 of the audience from the first screening missed because they walked out of the hall far too early. Too bad for them! BTW It's anyone's guess who directed that bit of it!

2. The screenings were dangerously not starting on time. Lucky 7 at the National Museum was about 20-25 minutes late, although it's a morning movie and the next screening doesn't happen until 2pm.

3. It takes about 20 minutes on foot to walk from Sinema Old School to The Substation, so do the math to get to National Museum from Sinema Old School.

4. For those walking, you have no choice but to tackle all the 136 steps. One of the alternatives involving the Cathay Cineplex, a fireman lift and a car park ramp, has a guard stationed to turn all pedestrians back to where they came from. So plan your foot journey wisely. The risk adverse should seek good exercise from negotiating the 136 steps, where I still continue to hear curses from those trekking up, and even from those trekking down!

5. The mixing of genres is bad, specially when you have a known target audience for a particular movie, who probably might not be as gung-ho about broadening and opening up to questionable sexual morals. Lesson learnt of course, while there's good intentions and exercising of freedom of expression yadda yadda, respecting the sensitivities of different communities, go a long way, especially when they're caught totally offguard as to what they're gonna see on the big screen.

6. The SIFF Trailer is shown prior to every screening, so for those who are watching 100 movies, you get to see it 100 times. For those who can't get enough, then you can watch it on YouTube too! It's a good introduction to some of the local filmmakers as well, so see if you can spot any of them during your festival screenings!

[SIFF08] Waiting for Love

I'm Bored

Having not enjoyed James Lee's earlier two movies Before We Fall in Love Again and Things We Do When We Fall in Love, I had chosen to watch this because I'm a completist and want to experience in their entirety, his Love trilogy. Waiting for Love is the last component, and if I were to put them all together, I would gladly say this one would rank on top.

But it's again not an easy movie to sit through, exhibiting the usual styles employed in James' earlier movies. It's an extremely talky movie, which I thought at times resembled The Art of Flirting. Technically it consists of very long takes with no fancy editing involved, and the camera hardly moves here, akin to watching a play where the actors inhabit the frame, and nowhere else, since it involves all interior, living room sets.

In Waiting for Love, he crafts 3 separate segments, each its own short story, but dwelling on the same themes throughout involving couples in love. The first segment had the girl on "strike". and we see the guy go about finishing up all the household chores, before sitting down and revealing that he discovered a love letter written to her from an admirer.

The second involves a bummer of a guy who's afflicted with a urinary problem, and the girl, a successful career woman, having to wonder where their relationship will end up. And the last short contains an amalgamation of the plot points from the previous 2 segments, which really seemed to contain a sense of deja-vu in some of the dialogue exchanged, and themes discussed.

The meandering dialogue really tested one's patience, like in the first segment it went around the bush repeatedly about the throwing away of the letter, or not to, and it just continued without an end in sight. For the most parts, the common theme threaded throughout involved marriage, and about the fear of tying the knot, with all the insecurities that come to it, and the uncertainties of the modern perspective of it. While one had hoped that different perspectives would probably be experienced amongst the different characters, they did somehow became similar, as if to say that these issues are common issues that every couple at this point of the crossroads, would experience, regardless of their background of their relationship and the context they are in.

If I were to select my favourite segment, then it would have to be the first one, because of the unfortunate identification with it, along the lines of avoidance and rejection, and of the cruelties with having an inexplicable change of heart. Now that really hurts, and more often than not, difficult to find closure.


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC

[SIFF08] Road to Mecca (World Premiere)

Similar to road movies to Mecca like the 2006's Le Grand Voyage, which was a Pan-European travel from France to Saudi Arabia, Road to Mecca is director Harman Hussin's solo overland journey from Singapore to Saudi Arabia, but more so about the journey charted than the destination. Being an independent project, he started to raise funds though activities like selling T-shirts, and had to travel on a tight budget of planes, trains and automobiles, having resorted to selling his bike (his Plan A) to raise money.

Road to Mecca isn't about religion per se. It's about humanity in general, a demonstration of the epitome that this is a world without strangers, in the truest sense of the phrase. As a documentary, it employed the simplest of techniques with still images, and a number of talking heads with random strangers Harman chances across during the travels. It's also quite perculiar to have little or no voice narration accompanying the moving images, but being dependent on the subtitles by the director in sharing his thoughts and comments about any particular situation. For the most times, Harman's comments contained good natured humour involving laughing at ourselves,

The images captured too were richly textured, and deserves a second viewing to soak them all in. I was chuckling when he, more than once, captured the utilization of public toilets, and you have to keep your eyes peeled for a Mat Rempit fleetingly caught in his lens, performing a stunt. At times, he consciously lapses into "tourist" mode with his capturing of places and activities of interest, such as the changing of the guards at the India-Pakistan border, where most, if the media were to be believed 100%, would write off as being totally unsafe to be in. But he did.

Which brings to question that in life, it is always best to see and experience things for yourself rather than be relying on media skewed television coverage to bring the world to us. More often than not they have their own agenda, whatever it is. Harman, through his film, breaks down these set conventions, and asks point blank questions about conflict zones in the countries travelled to, and about the Muslim community in general relative to the community they're living in and are a part of, and these opinions are obtained from the man on the street. And when I say candid, I mean candid, where the Pakistani border guards do not mince their words to whom they regarded as their enemy.

Having done his travels during the Ramadan month, we get to share in his experience in breaking fast with different communities. This is something which I always appreciate when watching documentaries, where it provides a catalyst to spark interest in, and opening minds to different cultures and their customs. Conversations about fasting in general were extremely candid too, though I believe should the film travel overseas and be screened to foreigners not familiar with the rituals and intricasies of this aspect of the religion, to have the opportunity to ask questions, discover and clarify. After all, this is all part and parcel of understanding, isn't it?

But it's not always all about Islam, as Harman also had the opportunity to venture into the "mecca of the Sikh" community at Amritsar, and show us, as much as he could with wielding a camera, the sights and sounds over there. It's also not all on the road actually, as he had to resort to flying a bit part of the journey due to unexpected red tape. And I had initially thought that the film's running time printed might be in error, until its rather "shocking" conclusion, which I felt was a pity. However, we're reminded again, as the introduction of the movie would have it, it's about the journey and not the destination, and in that, being introduced to communities around the region, set to a beautiful theme music, was sufficient enough to say that this is highly recommended, perhaps to see that indeed we must "always have the right intentions", and set out to see that through.

***

From Left: Tania Sng (SIFF), Ellery Ngiam, director Harman Hussin and executive producer Isazaly Mohd Isa


The Q&A session after the screening was a combined one, but here are those questions that were relevant to Harman Hussin's movie. As usual, I have paraphrased (for the better I hope) for clarity and readability. For those who are spoiler wary, please read something else, though I have tried to be deliberately vague in the Questions posed. You have been warned.

Q: During the road trip, how many people were involved?
A: It's just me, alone with the video camera and the still camera.

Q: How did you get people to talk to you?
A: I just went up to them with the camera and talked to them. And to do that actually required a lot of energy. Sometimes I wanted to give up, because it was incredibly difficult to go at it alone, and without peer moral support available.

Q: Are you going to do the trip again?
A: Yes of course!

Q: Where did you stay throughout your journey?
A: I stayed with friends in Kuala Lumpur, and a cousin arranged my accomodation with a friend in Thailand. I travelled on a budget of S$3000, so it was guesthouses, and I had to cut down on food as much as possible. I had another S$3000 in the bank to be used for emergencies only, in case I needed to fly back home.

Q: What was the reason for the rejection?
A: It's probably the letter that didn't explain "To Whom it may concern". I learnt that different visas are required for different areas/activities.

Q: I suppose to have a lot of footage that you had to leave behind in order to come up with this 60 minute movie?
A: Yes it was difficult to decide what would make it to the final cut, but I had to make a stand, otherwise the movie wouldn't be completed on time!

[Here, Isazaly revealed that it was just a week ago that Harman had met with an accident where his bike was totally wrecked, and he was thankful Harman was relatively unscathed from the accident to have completed the movie.]

Q: What is your next project?
A: I took a lot of still images, some of which you've seen in the movie. I'll probably be publishing a collection of them, so am now looking for a publisher. I am also looking for space to hold a photography exhibition too. After that, I'll probably look for a new interest, and from there to make a film about it.


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC
Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak
Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca

[SIFF08] Dance of a Modern Marriage (Short)

I have to admit I was quite surprised that SFC had a hand in the production of this short, and I suppose it's one step forward in accepting that films with the usual objectionable content might still see the light of day. While there's nothing really quite risque about it, there were enough moments, at least a key one, which raised eyebrows and took a baby step in probably allowing a film like Solos to be screened, some years down the road.

Deborah Teng and Rodney Oliveiro star as Vanessa and Paul respectively, a married couple who certainly have marital issues of their own to address, given their cold attitude towards each other, and the constant bickering through two-thirds of the short. I'm gonna briefly touch on the premise, so the spoiler adverse are advised to stop reading right now.

It's something like a localised, short version of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, though of course, not as explicit. You can see something of a connection with the married couple and their lives here, and with that sexually deviant and unconventional swinger's party where almost half of this movie took place in. It did push some boundaries, but as I said earlier, with SFC having a hand in it, films of similar content might be given the OK, albeit with the R21 rating.

It's quite a stylish production with probably a huge budget to make it, though the crux with the screening, as a member of the audience pointed out similar feelings that I had, was with the pairing of this short with a movie like Road to Mecca. Yes you can say it's not that big of a deal, but I thought one should be conscious of the target audience each movie will attract. It's quite undeniable that those who bought tickets for today, did so because of the feature movie, and not the short (sad but true I guess), and you did have the more sensitive ones really giving audible disapprovals at the direction the short was developing, and some even walked out because the subject matter was a little too much for them to bear.

While there might be good intentions involved in the decision to particularly pair the short and the feature togther, such as opening the eyes and the collective sharing of experiences in having watch an edgy movie, I still think it could do with a little bit more sense and sensibility. In any case, the director himself was thankful that those who found the subject matter in his movie objectionable, for most of them not to have walked out on it.

***
From Left: Tania Sng (SIFF), Ellery Ngiam, and the filmmakers from Road to Mecca director Harman Hussin and executive producer Isazaly Mohd Isa


The Q&A session after the screening was a combined one, but here are those questions that were relevant to Ellery Ngiam's short. As usual, I have paraphrased (for the better I hope) for clarity and readability. For those who are spoiler wary, please read something else. You have been warned.

Q: What was the inspiration for your film?
A: I haven't done anything as risky / risque (? I'm not sure which, but both applies anyway!) as this before. I wanted to explore marriage in a contemporary context, and wanted to make a love story although it was an unconventional one.

Q: Are you married?
A: No.
Q: That explains!
A: It's completely made up and not based on any life experiences of my own, because I'm not a swinger! I actually spoke to people who are involved in these things, and trust me it's not that hard to look for them really, just hit those chat rooms! I'm keen to explore the difficulties of staying in a relationship at this point in time.

Q: Who was David?
A: In the movie he's the son. It was a subplot developed which came from rehearsals with the actress, where the backstory had her having a past relationship with a man called David, whom of course she never got together with, but named her son after.

Q: I was wondering during the film whether you will decide to cross that invisible line to earn that rating, and finally those two guys kissed.
A: It's a tough film to make because of the strict censorship laws and the Singapore Film Commission funding. I didn't plan to cross any "invisible line" but was conscious not to include any scenes of frontal nudity. I wanted to imply and for it to be sensual instead, and as you can see, everyone's pretty much covered in the movie! As to why the two men kissed, 2 reasons - one, it's the husband's way of getting back at the wife, two, it's connecting the whole scheme of things where it led to a sort of reconciliation.

Q: How has your opinion of swinging change before and after making the film?
A: I'm not a swinger but I learn a lot of the different perspectives of love. I learnt the differing opinions of how people see things in a long term relationship or marriage. I don't regret making this movie, and would do it all over again. It delved into something which I'm not even comfortable to begin with, buit I see it as a challenge to myself to understand my own strengths and weaknesses as a director.

Q: What's your next project?
A: I have spent the last two years writing something to make into a feature film. There's no sex in this one! And currently I have directed a series for television called "En Bloc", so please do check that one out!


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC

[SIFF08] Lucky 7 (Asian Premiere)

Just The Two of Us

I want that ringtone!!!

That's the first reaction that Lucky 7 the film managed to elicit from me, where Sun Koh and 6 other directors - K Rajagopal, Boo Junfeng, Brian Gothong Tan, Chew Tze Chuan, Ho Tzu Nyen and Tania Sng, come together to create a movie in exquisite-corpse style. The last time I experienced a movie of such a nature, was with Hong Kong's Triangle, though the output from Lucky 7 is far more vast and varied compared to the three-man Hong Kong team. It's expected of course, having 7 individuals providing their own creative input and story spun from the criterias of having it between 10 to 12 minutes, and in having Sunny Pang (referred to as Mr Liang only in the opening segment) as the lead character throughout.

It's an experimental film, one that I felt was successful as a platform to allow extremely close collaboration between up and coming local indie filmmakers, to foster close camaraderie in sharing ideas, thoughts, and helping one another technically to complete a feature length movie. The intention and objective behind the Lucky 7 movement cannot be faulted at all. However, the end product, the film, is a bit of a mixed bag, which is literally, a roller coaster ride of emotions - fun, poignant, and bewilderment and exasperation all thrown into the mix.

Granted you can't expect a very coherent movie and narrative compared to having a film helmed by just a single filmmaker, but at the end of Lucky 7, if you're unaware of the movement behind the movie, it's easy to dismiss it as a big mess. I felt that if you're looking for one single story out of this, then you're barking up the wrong tree and will come out disappointed. Each individual segments are so diverse, it really is that you'll never gonna know just what you're gonna get. So if you're spoiler wary, then you might want to stop reading right here.

OK, so here I go. Sun started the movie very well, giving it plenty of room for the subsequent filmmakers to take the narrative through. Mr Liang (Sunny Pang) is given the task of looking after an aged father who has disappeared for most parts of his life, and of course there is natural resentment because primarily, his personal life is turned topsy-turvy, and we see as he grudgingly cancels appointment after appointment. With his discovery of a dated letter, Sun lets go and allows the next filmmaker to take over. (I shall refrain from telling you who did what, although you can refer to this from the official website anyway).

But the next segment really took things off to a different planet. The groundwork laid out by Sun, I felt, was totally wasted and thrown out of the window, and we're stuck with something surreal, out of this world, with homoerotic elements and vegetable sex all thrown in. Yes, while artistically, and story-wise, each filmmaker had full control over, but I thought it was a pity, until the next director had to bring things back to Earth again, in having a very poignant, touching story told, with a tinge and a hint at exploring sexual identity. I was initially told by a friend to prepare myself for a preoccupation with sex, and after watching the movie, I couldn't agree more. I guess with wanting to make a statement against the powers that be, such as the Board of Film Censors (quite obviously done in one of the segments), the sex portions just came steamrolling, which I thought was quite unnecessary, though one of the short had it as a primary theme, albeit redeemed with a hilarious computerized song and dance sequence in the mould of Second Life or the SIMS.

If you think the first few did not really fit and gel with one another, the last three will probably baffle you, though by all means, no less fun as I mean it in a positive manner. What I observed personally, and I may be incorrect, is that each filmmaker had tried to stamp their own mark on the movie, and did so by having Sunny's character wake up from moments of sleep. In doing so I thought had destroyed the narrative as a whole, as each segment literally wipes out what had gone before, and started afresh with possibly a new spin on the character, i.e., there is no continuity for the same Mr Liang character that Sun had crafted at the start. It tangents the story and characters in totally different direc\tions, and I would have preferred to see this "waking up" moments banished, possibly as one of the rules of the game to begin with.

While the storyline could have gone in any direction, what took the cake was the pseudo-documentary segment which halted everything in its tracks, and did a recap of everything else that transpired prior to it. I would have thought this was the last segment, but I was wrong and quite surprised at the need to do a recap at this point. While it did hint at being lazy and out of ideas of what to do with the character, what with having him recount in a verbatim manner of discussing themes and the actor's favourite moments from each segment, it brought out something important, despite making it seem quite condescending to a discerning audience. That is to turn the spotlight on Sunny Pang the actor, and having him perform alone "accapella style" sans costumes and supporting cast. He's challenged to reproduce his earlier performances in a simple mime fashion, and here, you'd see why Sunny Pang deserves every bit of accolade he's been getting for his performing of all the different characters.

In all, Lucky 7 is a fun movie to sit through, just to see what kind of stories can get spun from the last minute of each segment, and makes you wonder how things would turn out should the order of the directors be changed. For starters, personally I would like to see how Boo Junfeng would have continued from where Sun Koh left off, and probably like to see how K Rajagopal would have followed up on Chew Tze Chuan's segment, but that's of course a story for another parallel universe.

Lucky 7 in fact is not just seven segments. Don't bolt out the door where the end credits roll. There's a coda after the end credits, and it's anyone's guess who directed that 8th segment!

***

LtoR: Yuni Hadi (SIFF), Sun Koh, Boo Junfeng, Chew Tze Chuan, Brian Gothong Tan, Ho Tzu Nyen, K Rajagopal, Tania Sng, and Sunny Pang the lead actor


All the directors involved in the project were present for a short Q&A segment after the screening, together with lead actor Sunny Pang. Here's most of the discussion points that were shared, after a brief introduction as to who did which segment (which you can discover here at the official movie website). Statements in parentheses are my own (bitchy) thoughts. As usual with any Q&A, spoiler are abound, so you have been warned!

Q: What was the reaction to the film at Rotterdam, and how does it differ from the one in Singapore (err.. hello? This is the first public screening outside of Rotterdam, shouldn't you be sharing your thoughts about the movie so that the filmmakers can have a good idea about the reception here?)
Sun Koh: They were watching very intensely, analysing every detail and looking out for connecting points which we thought were fairly obvious.

Q: Having seen the final product, would you have done your segments differently?
Boo Junfeng: Sun was the one in charge in terms of putting it all together. I would not have done anything differently for my segment.

Q: How did the production schedule work, given that each of you only saw the last minute of the previous segment?
Sun Koh: It was a 14 day shoot. We did everything at the script stage, where we would single out what we thought would be the last 1 minute, then shown to the next director who would then continue. It was shot in sequence, except for segment 6 due to scheduling and location issues.

Q: What is your fixation with the colour red, and how was the desert created?
K Rajagopal: I've always had an obsession with the colour and I don't know why. The desert is actually the sand quarry at Tampines, and with the sand crisis looming at the time, we had to shoot it before it was gone.

Q: I felt that the 6th segment watered down the interpretation of the movie for the audience. Were you afraid that the audience cannot appreciate the previous segments?
Ho Tzu Nyen: It was actually Sunny's own interpretation of the film, not mine. You can see it as either boxing or opening it all up, and the disparate nature was intentional, and a way of putting the narrative to a stop, hence the shooting location at the train depot. It was also a way for me to find out what the others are doing!

Sun Koh then commented that Lucky 7 was both the film movement, and the film itself. It was supposed to be extremely unpredictable, and a roller coaster ride, given that she had roped in totally different directors for this project. One audience member also commented that almost all the male directors had sex included in their segments, though Chew Tze chuan responded that he would have wanted to start an underground film cinema with sex, violence and gore!

Q: How much prompting did the directors give you, and how did it affect your interpretation of the story and character?
Sunny Pang: I'll talk to the director, read the script, and of course have to understand the direction that they're looking for... I'll not tell you who is the most difficult to work with amongst the seven lest I don't get my pay cheque!

Q: How did you put it all together, and did you consult the others if you had envisioned it correctly?
Sun Koh: Again it is less romantic in practice. Most of them, like Junfeng, Chew and Brian did their own first cut. What I'd do is to ensure that the segments are between 10 to 12 minutes long. I would have to cut some down, and then show it to the director, keeping my fingers crossed! IT was also simple to put them all together because the directors were also on each other's sets to continue the story.

There was also a question on what inspired them to start a movement on Lucky 7, which I again will point you to this link (and this one too, given that it's a broken link from the official page) so that you can read more about it.

Tickets to all four screenings to Lucky 7 are all sold out, but Yuni Hadi of SIFF mentioned that for those who are keen to turn up at the door as there might be some tickets left. This will also probably be the only opportunity to watch Lucky 7 uncut here in Singapore, so those interested, it's time to form that beeline!


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC
Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak
Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca

Singapore Panorama Cross Talk

Reviewing can be lonely, but with 2 people, you can do a whole song and dance. So watch Stefan and Jeremy `Sing and Dance' through their conversations on the Singapore Panorama line up at SIFF this year! Here are their humble biographies. First up, Lucky 7!

You can still expect the usual lowdowns here, but keep your eyes peeled as I engage in a cross talk with filmmaker Jeremy Sing. I suppose it's something refreshing from the usual reviews from my own POV. Jeremy's a filmmaker, so you'll have a totally different perspective altogether

Jeremy runs the blog SINdie, so do pop over for a quick look at some of the upcoming indie films as well!

Singapore International Film Festival 2008

This is my index page for my (hopefully) comprehensive coverage of this year's Singapore International Film Festival - Singapore Panorama section. Feel free to click on any of the links below to bring you to reviews, interviews, and musings!

Feature Film Reviews

18 Grams of Love - Han Yew Kwang
Click here to read my review.
Click here to read an interview with Han Yew Kwang.

Boomtown Beijing - Tan Siok Siok

Trailer


Diminishing Memories II - Eng Yee Peng (World Premiere)

Click here to read my review.
Click here to read an interview with Eng Yee Peng.

Trailer


Dirt Out - Yousry Mansour (World Premiere)
Click here to read my review.

Dreams from the Third World - Kan Lume (World Premiere)

Click here to read an Interview with Kan Lume.

Teaser


Hashi - Sherman Ong (International Premiere)


Click here to read my review.
Click here to read my interview with Sherman Ong.

Homeless FC - James Leong, Lynn Lee

Click here to read my review.
Click here to read my interview with James Leong and Lynn Lee.

Trailer

Anthem - Excerpt from Homeless FC


Keronchong For Pak Bakar - Abdul Nizam Hamid (World Premiere)
Click here to read my review.

Lucky 7 - Sun Koh, Rajagopal, Boo Junfeng, Brian Gothong Tan, Chew Tze Chuan, Ho Tzu Nyen and Tania Sng (Asian Premiere)

Click here to read my review.

Teaser

Behind a Scene


Road to Mecca - Harman Hussin (World Premiere)

Click here to read my review.

Trailer


To Speak - Craig Ower

Click here to read my review.
Click here to read my interview with Lionel Chok (Producer).

Veil of Dreams - Zaihirat Banu Codell (World Premiere)
Click here to read my review.

Women Who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore - Lim Mayling (World Premiere)
Click here to read my review.

Short Film Reviews

Dance of a Modern Marriage - Ellery Ngiam
Haze - Anthony Chen
Vivid - Sam Loh
After The Rain - Royston Tan

Musings

Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight

The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series

Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC
Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak
Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca

Singapore Panorama Cross Talk with Jeremy Sing

Road to Mecca
18 Grams of Love
Boomtown Beijing
Dreams From The Third World
After The Rain
Keronchong For Pak Bakar
To Speak
Homeless FC
Women Who Love Women
Lucky 7

Other Films Watched During the Festival

Waiting for Love - James Lee
Finishing The Game - Justin Lin
Flower in the Pocket - Liew Seng Tat
I'm Not There - Todd Haynes
Histeria - James Lee

Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

We Shall Not Be Moved

Sad to say, I've only read the epic Romance of the Three Kingdom novels once in my lifetime to date, and an abridged English version at that. My only other contacts with this classic Chinese literature is with the China television series that I had to struggle with because the initial episodes came without English subtitles (i.e. akin to watching a Shakespearean play for the very first time and marvelling at the richness in language used), and of course, the Koei computer game that so many peers of my generation would have played at one time or another.

And of course, one of my favourite general characters, was Zhao Zilong. Outside of the Liu-Bei-Guan-Yu-Zhang-Fei brotherhood together with their unsurpassed military strategist Zhuge Liang at their side, Zhao Yun had qualities like valour which I thought was exemplary, and an episode, though taken on a whole new spin in presentation where he goes rescue the infant son of Liu Bei, to demonstrate that, gets its fair share of airtime in this movie. As I mentioned in an earlier review of An Empress and The Warriors, we're getting plenty of such period war movies coming out in recent months, culminating perhaps with John Woo's highly anticipated Red Cliff, but amongst the recent releases, Three Kingdoms draws first blood.

But I suspect that Red Cliff will probably blow all competition out of the water going by the trailer, though the final product remains to be proven this Summer. Three Kingdoms rode on its star power to carry its relatively bland storyline forward, with Andy Lau as Zilong, Maggie Q as nemesis Cao Ying (who's male in the novel), Sammo Hung as newly created character/narrator Luo Pingan, and a whole host of supporting acts in Vanness Wu, Andy On, and even Ti Lung in a surprisingly nicely presented Guan Yu. You cannot fault the designs of the sets, the costumes (though of course some would complain it looks so Japanese), and I thought the weapons were eye-poppingly beautiful and intricately designed - you just have to take a look at Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade!

It's impossible to try and distill the entire classics into a 3-hour long movie, or even a trilogy would do its richness injustice, let alone a 2 hour one. While the runtime for John Woo's movies (in two parts?) is still not finalized, at least his focus is on one key, primary battle. Resurrection of the Dragon's focus is on one man - Zhao Zilong, and in doing so, fairly summarized his tale from beginning to end, with plenty of artistic and dramatic license taken of course, where purist will probably have a field day discussing all the inaccuracies and departure from the source material. However in doing this, we do get to see familiar characters sharing the stage, albeit some given very little screen time.

And I don't think it's me who's feeling quite jaded from the clanging of weapons against armour. Here the one on one action scenes between characters are wonderfully choreographed by Sammo Hung himself, but the quick cuts, close ups, tight shots and dizzying camera work marred it all. The battle sequences were worse, with fake blood splattered all over, and the usual hacking of limbs and demonstration of superhuman strength by its chief characters. It did offer some simple philosophical gems to ponder over in between all the chaotic fighting, but really the feeling you get out of the battle sequences, was that it was like a distant cousin to 300 styled choreography.

Don't expect any depth injected in most characters here too, as you can smell the plot revelation a mile away from the get go. I thought Maggie Q was wasted with a flower vase role that took less than 20 minutes of screen time just to snarl nastily, while Sammo Hung really relegated himself to the backseat choreographing the action. Andy Lau, a real life hero, was probably the top draw here in putting bums in seats, but even he can't save the story from having to insert a needless hint at unattainable romance because of Zilong's sense of duty and obligation to serve his country, putting it first before (the starting of) family.

On the whole, it's aesthetically beautiful but ringing really hollow. Let's hope John Woo's Red Cliff, with the return of some of our beloved characters from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, does some justice in its film adaptation of a key battle, even if we have to contend with flying doves and slow-motion handling and twirling of swords. Keep your fingers crossed!

[SIFF08] An Interview with James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC

This year's Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.

I came to experience James and Lynn’s documentaries back in 2006 at a festival screening of Passabe, which explored the themes of justice, reconciliation and forgiveness through the eyes of ordinary villages in remote East Timor. My very first impression was that it was very courageous of them to venture into the road less travelled, and was obviously out of their comfort zone in Singapore. Then their next feature documentary, Aki Ra’s Boys, brought them out to the mine fields of Cambodia, and to see them document Aki Ra up close as he goes about defusing live mines was nothing short of mind-boggling!

The directing duo has definitely earned my respect and admiration. And I got pretty much excited about their Homeless FC project, which makes its local premiere in this year’s SIFF. Despite being overseas at this point in time, they managed to spare me a few moments for this online interview:

Stefan: Hi James and Lynn, I'm pretty excited to be able to finally catch Homeless FC when it makes its Singapore debut, after missing out on its World Premiere at the Hong Kong International Film Festival last year. I believe the film has travelled the world for close to a year now. Would you like to share with us how the reception toward it had been so far?

James and Lynn: The reception's been good so far. We recently won an award in Hong Kong, which was very unexpected.

It's nice to be able to connect with your audience, to have people from all over the world write to you after that, asking after the main characters in your film.

Stefan: And speaking of which, have you managed to screen Pasasbe in Passabe for the town folks who were featured in your documentary, and how are Boreak and Vannak from Aki Ra's Boys doing?

James and Lynn: Unfortunately, not yet. We tried to go back in early 2006 but the river was just impassable. We did show it on the near side of the river though. The turnout was pretty amazing - thousands, literally, thousands of people crowded into a school hall for the screening. It was clear to see that six years after the massacre, emotions were still very raw. People clearly wanted some kind of justice, or at the very least, an acknowledgement of their suffering from Indonesia and from their own government.

Vannak, we're told, is doing very well at school. Boreak, last we heard, is also studying hard. He's much more settled now. Not so naughty and not so focused on skipping school all the time! He's grown up quite a bit.

S: We have a handful of local filmmakers who are based overseas, and no doubt you are one of them, bringing back interesting insights of subject matters from the lands you film in! Your documentaries to date have been set in places outside of Singapore - Passabe dealt with subject matter from East Timor, Aki Ra's Boys from Cambodia and Homeless FC from Hong Kong. How do you decide on the subject matter to film about in these countries, is it based on picking up vibes from the countries you've been to, to explore the road less travelled? Is there a method to sniffing out engaging stories to tell, or do you already have the subject matter in mind, before hitting the road to the countries you've made documentaries in?

JL: We tend to spend quite a lot of time in pre-production before deciding to go ahead with an independent project. We have to be sure a film is going to be worth making before packing up and heading out. We might research up to five different ideas, but ultimately pick just one to turn into a feature documentary.

S: But I do suppose that the other ideas will also be developed at some point in time? Have you had an idea where you really wanted to turn into a feature, but constraints such as budget or other restrictions had to put it on (temporal) hold?

JL: Not really, actually. If there's a story we really really want to do, we'll just bite the bullet and fund it ourselves. It's always a struggle but we've learnt to strike a balance between doing commissioned pieces (which help pay the bills), and independent projects.

S: Have you considered making a documentary in Singapore anytime soon?

JL: Yes. Our current project, The Shortest Man in the Village who can Soar Like an Eagle, is partly set in Singapore. We're also researching a few other ideas.

S: Now that sounds interesting! Back to Homeless FC, which I've read from your blog that unfortunately the original website has been squattered on! How did you get to know the Dawn Team, and what was the experience like filming something which involves a deal of unpredictability like sports? After all they are taking part in the Homeless World Cup in Cape Town, and I suppose with filming a tournament, anything goes! (No, please don't tell us how it ends! We want to root for them all the way during the movie!) :-)

JL: I got to know Wai Tung, the social worker organizing the team, when I went for a TV shoot in Hong Kong in 2003. I spent a day filming him at work and he showed me a side of Hong Kong I'd never seen before. After the shoot, we kept in contact, and when I heard that he was organizing a Homeless Football team, both James and I thought we absolutely had to find out more. We flew in for a two-day meeting with Wai Tung and the team, and then a month later, packed up and moved to Hong Kong.

S: From the trailer, all the Dawn Team players seem to have certain charisma about them. What was the experience like in documenting their individual stories, given that they are real people with real issues, folks who have fallen by the wayside, but are looking forward to a new life through working at fulfilling their hopes and dreams?

JL: It was very rewarding but also very challenging. We started filming in January 06 but only used footage from June onwards. The first six months or so were spent getting to know the players, really winning their trust, getting them used to the camera... getting them to ignore the camera. The players' stories take some unexpected twists and turns. It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for all of us. But if anything, we hope the film will help overturn some pre-conceived notions about the homeless.

S: And I'll be asking all filmmakers in this interview series the same last question, what do you currently feel about the Singapore film industry (if we can already start to call it so!) at this point in time, given that the SIFF has finally enough material to come up with a Singapore Panorama section, with an unprecedented vast spectrum of 13 features and documentaries making their respective premieres in Singapore?


JL: It's great to see so many Singaporean films at the festival this year. It'll be even better if there was more official support for the SIFF!

S: And having more local audiences supporting local films too! Thanks for your time James and Lynn, hope to meet up with you soon in Singapore, and again, I can’t wait to see The Dawn Team in action!


Related Links
Official Homeless FC Movie Website with Embedded Trailer
Trailer on YouTube
Excerpt on YouTube

There will be 3 screenings of Homeless FC at this year's SIFF. The first screening is on 6 April Sunday 2pm, the second is on 8 April Tuesday 7pm and the third is on 11 April Friday 9:15pm. All screenings are at Sinema Old School. Tickets are still available!

Book your tickets now by clicking here:
6 Apr Screening
8 Apr Screening
11 Apr Screening


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC
Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak
Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca

[SIFF08] An Interview with Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi

Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Sherman Ong will present his latest movie Hashi in an International Premiere in this year's SIFF. Shot during his residency with the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, his debut feature in the Japanese language, going by the stills and behind the scenes snapshots, look incredibly gorgeous, in a story that ”weaves around issues of love, relationships, insecurity, death and the blurring between dreams and reality”. I got acquainted with Sherman last month during a retrospective of Yasmin Ahmad’s films here in Singapore, and recently caught up with him again to talk about Hashi.

Stefan: Hello Sherman, I guess we're all curious to know how you got offered the opportunity of making a feature film during your residency with the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan. If you could share, what the offer encompassed, and whether there were any strings attached?

Sherman Ong: I applied for the residency when the museum had an open call for Asian artists. I was there as an artist working in photography and film (moving images). More info at: http://faam.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/eng/residence/rdc_index.html

They cover flight, accommodation, monthly expenses and an exhibition of works produced at the end of the 3 month period.

I didn't set out to make a feature film as the museum has no funds nor the capability to support a feature film production. I started with the initial idea to make a film without knowing the final duration. So I had to work with full knowledge of the limitations in terms of crew, budget, actors, and languages. Like life, we make decisions every step of the way given the set of variables before us.

Stefan: You had started with a script, and then it seemed like a very organic process when you decided to conduct auditions for the lead actresses, before incorporating the experiences of the chosen ones into the storyline. What made you decide to develop the story in this manner, and was it an arduous process in trying to gel them all together?

Sherman Ong: Not really, it depends on how you look at it. For some people or those who treat the script as being set in stone, it could be a nightmare. For me, the script was just a roadmap to a vision/objective… there are many roads to Tokyo - by land, by air, by sea... you decide... In fact it was quite liberating actually to work in this manner.

I try to work with 'typage' or casting by type. Typage refers to the selection of actors on the basis that their facial or bodily features readily convey the truth of the character the actor plays. Usually associated with the Soviet Montage School, these filmmakers thought that the life-experience of a non-actor guaranteed the authenticity of their performance when they attempt a dramatic role similar to their real social role. Typage is related to the use of stereotype in communicating the essential qualities of a character. [http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/mise-en-scene.htm]

Not knowing who I could get from the auditions, I wanted to make the story as fluid as possible, and changes to the script are still made during the shoot depending on the location and how the actors mould to the space. For me, the script can and should never be set in stone. It will be the death of the film, unless you are making a studio/Hollywood production where the whole film is completed at the storyboard stage.

'Typage' allows me to get a more natural feel with the actors, there are really no acting involved because they are doing the same thing in real life (except for one character which requires some acting). It was more like a documentary but even documentaries are almost always crafted and influenced by the agenda of the makes, very much like fiction films. For me, film (documentary or fiction) is never an objective medium.

I share Robert Bresson's idea of the director: the point is not to direct someone, but to direct oneself. The inputs and ideas from the people who come for audition form the collective experiences from which I could select and mould into a cohesive whole which finally ends up in the film. The process is no different than writing a script by oneself.

S: You had to rely on interpreters as you didn't speak Japanese (Do you now? :). Did you feel, during the making of the movie, that this served as a form of barrier for direct communications between you and your cast and crew members, or did it allow an opportunity for you to take a step back and look at things from a very neutral eye?

SO: I don't speak Japanese. Not knowing the language also has its advantages. In fact, it worked wonderfully for me. Not having to rely on language, allows me to use others forms and methods of communication during the filming process. I think language itself is a barrier to 'true' communication.

Humans at our most basic level, can sense fear, danger, sadness, happiness, of another individual just from the tone of the voice or from the presence/aura of the individual. You know/sense the state of being of the other even if you don't understand what he/say is saying. Animals are the clearest examples of this - dogs can immediate sense if we have good or bad intention towards them. Without language, I had to rely on my instincts, intuition, feelings which I don't have to rely on so much if I had the capability of language. It was liberating to work this way.

If you reflect on the writings of Gertrude Stein - I think it is not what you say, but how you say it which matters. The audience will get the meanings from the tone of voice, posture, facial expression - the whole being of the individual. Words fail humans, because language acts like a mask, a barrier to the real intentions of the individual.

[Increasingly, she developed her own highly idiosyncratic, playful, sometimes repetitive and sometimes humorous style. Typical quotes are: "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose"; "Out of kindness comes redness and out of rudeness comes rapid same question, out of an eye comes research, out of selection comes painful cattle"; about Oakland, "There is no there there"; and "The change of color is likely and a difference a very little difference is prepared. Sugar is not a vegetable."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein]

Using interpreters also mean that the process is slower which is not actually a bad thing, like editing on the Steinbeck. I guess you slow things down and choose simple words to convey your thoughts. I think during the pre-production/rehearsal periods where I have to rely on language to convey my initial ideas and concept, there was some miscommunication but once the actors get the essence of my ideas it was smoothly sailing. I gave the ideas/essence of a scene to them and they would write the script in their own words.

I watched Cafe Lumiere and realized that Hou Hsiao-hsien didn’t understand Japanese when he made Cafe Lumiere.

S: You once cited Taiwanese directors Tsai Ming-liang and Hou Hsiao-hsien as your influences. I haven't seen Hashi yet, but does the movie exhibit any obvious tribute or pay homage to the works of those Taiwanese auteurs?

SO: Not consciously, I think. Obviously there are influences from the Taiwanese New Wave and Japanese cinema like Ozu, Naomi Kawase, etc but mainly because being of Chinese descent, I am drawn to the essence of what constitute the East Asian culture in general. I think East Asian auteur cinema share so much similarities with other auteurs of world cinema from Europe, Central/South Asia, Latin American cinema or the American indie, which also form part of my influence.

S: And I'll be asking all filmmakers in this interview series the same last question, what do you currently feel about the Singapore film industry (if we can already start to call it so!) at this point in time, given that the SIFF has finally enough material to come up with a Singapore Panorama section, with an unprecedented vast spectrum of 13 features and documentaries making their respective premieres in Singapore?

SO: I think the 'industry' has definitely increased in output and with digital technology, the barriers to entry are lower. However, I think the main problem holding the industry back, at least in the beginning, is that we lack a local market to support the local films. As a small country, the small market is part of the DNA of Singapore. You can't change it without repercussions. To succeed as an industry, we can learn a lot from the history of Singapore Airlines.

But it is a different story for individual Singapore filmmakers trying to make their films. I think we still lack the full budget support schemes for emerging or budding filmmakers to make their first few films. Of course this is not a birth right but given that Singapore, categorized as a developed country, is no longer eligible for film funds available to filmmakers in developing countries, the local filmmakers may not be able to raise the rest of the budget to make their films. And private financing schemes are still patchy at best. Local filmmakers could still make a decent film with just a digital camera and a laptop. With enough indie films, maybe we could have an 'indie film' industry, but it will not make a film industry like Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia or even Malaysia.

If the Singapore film industry takes the route of Singapore Airlines, you don't really need local pilots to fly the planes, do you?

S: Haha, I think that’s a very succinct analogy you provided! You’ve got a point there too! Thank you for your time and for the sharing of your valuable insights, and I look forward to the screening of Hashi this weekend!


Related Links
Official Hashi Movie Website with behind the scenes / production stills
Sherman Ong’s Personal Website

There will be 2 screenings of Hashi at this year's SIFF. The first screening is on 6 April Sunday 4:15pm and the second is on 13 April Sunday 7pm at Sinema Old School. Sherman will be in attendance for the 6 April session, and on 13 April, the director, producer and actress will be in attendance! Tickets are still available!

Book your tickets now by clicking here:
6 Apr Screening
13 Apr Screening


The SIFF Singapore Filmmakers Interview Series
Kan Lume, Writer-Director of Dreams From The Third World
HAN Yew Kwang, Writer-Director of 18 Grams of Love
ENG Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II
Sherman ONG, Screenwriter-Director of Hashi
James LEONG and Lynn LEE, Directors of Homeless FC
Lionel CHOK, Producer of To Speak
Harman HUSSIN, Director of Road to Mecca