Swifty, Writing

The CON-CAN Movie Festival Awards Ceremony and Ando Lab screening in Waseda

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:19:14 PST

Last month, the people of CON-CAN Movie Festival decided to hold an awards ceremony in Waseda University because, aside from me, another award winner Nishihara, was also a Waseda student.

A couple of stuff happened, and my professor Ando, who was already planning for a public screening of productions from our lab, made this a joint event with CON-CAN Movie Festival.

The event was held last Tuesday (15th of December), just a day after the screening in Keio University.

Once again, the four award-winning films of the CON-CAN Movie Festival were screened. Along with six productions from the members of Ando Laboratory.

The event began with the Ando Laboratory screenings. The films screened were:

1) Kong's debut short film CENSORED (I took some really nice photos of the production)

2) Zifeng's short film BUBBLES (shot by THE WHITE FLOWER cinematographer Niklas)

3) My often-underrated and overlooked short film LOVE SUICIDES

Then there was a break. Then the rest of the films screened were:

4) MIURO by Erika Matsushita (cinematographer of my 'lost' short film, 3PM)

5) A documentary called SHAOLIN KUNGFU, edited by ZiFeng and Yang Yang that also picked up an award at the Eibunren Awards.

6) My KINGYO... not going to talk much about it.

That was followed by the CON-CAN Movie Festival events.

I managed to meet Junko, who did the wonderful Japanese translations of FLEETING IMAGES. Here's a photo of me and her, with Ando-sensei.

CON-CAN Movie Fest jury member and filmmaker Naomi Kawase left a video message commenting on each of the four award-winning films. Here's when she commented on FLEETING IMAGES:

(click here if you cannot view embedded video)

A (very) rough (and possibly inaccurate) translation:

"In 10 minutes, the director made it clear what his thoughts were. And the title gave an idea what the film was about as well. The images were very beautiful."

After that, jury member and film critic Chris Fujiwara came onstage to talk about the role of short films and film festivals. To him, the main purpose of film festivals is to educate audiences.

Here's Nishihara, winner of Best Fiction Film.

And here's Monica, Special Jury Prize winner.

I finally went up to retrieve my award.

And then I gathered myself to give an acceptance speech. Not realizing that I looked like an idiot then.

I finally revealed that I actually knew about the CON-CAN Movie Festival since 2005, during my days in Perth. At that time, I had just made my ah, home video, FORCED LABOUR (... you can watch it here, but it's not for the faint of heart), and thinking that I had just made a supreme gangster film, I went around to look for short film festivals that I could submit the film to.

That was probably how i found CON-CAN by accident. Yet when I looked at the films selected by the festival, I was shocked by their quality and production values, and I knew I wasn't ready. And that was why I decided to stay in Perth for another year to do a one-year course in filmmaking. Therefore Chris was right, I was indeed one of the people educated by this festival.

Since then I continued making short films, hoping that one day I could make a short film worthy of the CON-CAN Movie Festival. So it was a tremendous honour, and surprise, to be there, picking up the Grand Prix award.

FLEETING IMAGES was a one-man film, but I wouldn't have gotten it done without the help of my Chinese translators, but most importantly, it was my 2007 trip in India that gave me something to say. To see the school of the visually-impaired children and also the nursing home of the Tibetan refugees, I was reminded of the world's imperfection. We all live in an imperfect world, that's why we all have something to say, perhaps that is why we exist.

But saying that, I feel a little hesitant about my self-importance, therefore I can only assure you that I am humbly dedicated to my arts, and to be standing here, before others who are chasing after the same dreams as well, I am inspired. Therefore I will continue to make films.

So that was what I remembered about my largely-improvised speech. I don't have a video of it, but An-chan does, so I will get it from her later.

And after that. A party was held. Many came. I was suddenly approached by a few people who turned out to be ex-staff members from CON-CAN 2005, they told me that they were very moved by my speech, not expecting what they did back then could lead to what I'm doing right now.

It was a great night.

Here's me with Juan the videographer and Yumi the photographer.

Then with CON-CAN Movie Festival director Tanimoto.

My trophy.

The CON-CAN logo

I then headed off for the (much-delayed) KINGYO wrap party. (couldn't have that because main actor Takao was always touring around for his dance performances, and I went back to Malaysia the day after the shoot back in January). More on that later, yup.

The CON-CAN Movie Festival Screening in Keio University

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:24:48 PST

I just got back from Shenzhen, China, two nights ago. Was there a couple of days for the China Mobile Film Fest, was mortified to be reminded again that Facebook, Youtube, Blogspot and even Twitter were blocked, hence the lack of updates. I picked up an award from the festival, but I'll get back to that later.

Last Monday (14th of December, 2009), I headed off to Keio University for a screening of FLEETING IMAGES (watch entire film here) organized by the CON-CAN Movie Festival. My film, along with 3 of the award-winning films of the festival, were screened. But that night, only me and Monica Gallab of Belgium (Special Jury Prize winner for NICE DAY FOR A PICNIC, film embedded at the bottom of the post) were present for the event.

This is Yumi the Photographer, she studied French literature.

There wasn't anything to do as they were setting up the screening, so I went out to check the rest of Keio University.

Stylish.

Keio University, and my university, Waseda, are arch-rivals, especially in baseball. The annual Keio - Waseda baseball match is usually a major event, I heard that if Keio wins it, Keio students and fans would flock in Roppongi (not sure) to celebrate, if Waseda wins, Shinjuku will be infested by the Waseda fans and students.

The screening was held in a classroom.

Keio professors Sugihara and Sato were here to give an introduction first.

That was the first time I ever got to watch the other award-winning films in their entirety. I was more surprised by the enthusiastic response for FLEETING IMAGES, since that and LOVE SUICIDES are among my most divisive films. People either liked it, or hated it. Poetic to some, pretentious to some others, unflinchingly sympathetic look at poverty to some, poverty porn to some others. Perhaps Sebastian said it best, it was a film that was more suitable for Japanese sensibilities.

Here's a video of the Q and A session held after the screening. Moderated by the two professors and with Tanimoto the festival director doing the translation.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

The following day, another CON-CAN Movie Festival screening was held in Waseda University, along with its awards ceremony. I'll get to that in my next post.

FLEETING IMAGES trailer

Monica's NICE DAY FOR A PICNIC

My return to the ruins of Sun Hills Hotel and Fujino

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:50:15 PST

Back in May, I explored the ruins at Sagamihara. It was an unforgettable adventure that stayed with me, so I decided to return to the ruins of Sun Hills Hotel again, for location scouting.

Before that I went past the beautiful Tsukui lake.

Got carried away there.

Anyway, I felt a strange feeling of warmth and familiarity when i returned to the cursed and possibly haunted ruins of Sun Hills Hotel.

This time I felt good because I got to take photos of it with my more badass camera.

There was a bamboo forest nearby. Perfect for the epic martial arts scene that I haven't written into my script yet.

Continued exploring the town of Fujino because I didn't do that last time.

The Tsukui tunnel was built before World War 2.

"The train came out of the long tunnel into the snow country."

No train and no snow though.

"April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers..."

I don't think my handwriting is THAT ugly

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:57:31 PST

Another sleepless night.

I developed an outline for my new film two nights ago.

Yesterday evening, I tried to come up with a rough film treatment. (it's typically the step before the first draft of a screenplay)

Maiko and Kong, along with An-chan, were having discussions about Kong's new short film, which was scheduled for shooting this month.

Me, knowing that it was a rare moment where I could concentrate without having any other distractions, took some papers and started scribbling some notes.

A total of 7 pages to help me visualize my upcoming film better.

I then brought these notes home. Took a brief nap. Woke up at midnight, and started typing out what I've scribbled.

I haven't been able to sleep since then.

I'm also very narcissistic, so I wanted to appreciate my own artsy handwriting on these notes. Before i make a decision on whether I want to throw them or not. My handwriting, unfortunately, had always been deemed 'ugly' by the teachers from primary to high school. But then, isn't the fact that I still write like I did when I was 5 a thing of beauty itself? No one understands me.

TOKYO FILMeX 2009, Sell Out! director Yeo Joon Han's Q and A session.

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:33:04 PST

I felt a sense of nationalistic pride when I went to catch SELL OUT! at TOKYO FILMeX on the 24th, last month. Took me quite a while to finally catch the film since I wasn't around during the film's local theatrical release in Malaysia couple of months ago. I enjoyed the film, though I liked the satirical, comedic parts more than the musical parts. SELL OUT! Lead actress Jerrica Lai, who had a great voice and was awesome in the film, would later give another wonderful performance at the stunning WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER, produced by, well, me.

(Sell Out! trailer. Click here if you can't see embedded video)

I was also excited to spot Chye Yang (CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY main actor) in the hilarious film-within-a-film art film parody, and Mei Fen (CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY assistant director... also played the transsexual uncle in my film) as one of the TV audiences (the one who was watching with her boyfriend/husband, and was so immersed in the dying poet's song that her bf/husband pretended to be just as moved as she was). I was so excited that I immediately whispered to Japanese actress/producer Kiki Sugino, seated beside me, about who they were. Kiki was befuddled by my excitement.

For the past few months I've been amused by how some Malaysian Chinese message boards had mixed me up with SELL OUT! director Yeo Joon Han (no relation!!!) They assumed there is a single entity named 'Edmund Yeo Joon Han'. There were posts like "here are some films that Edmund Yeo made", and then they listed Joon Han's filmography, or "Yeo Joon Han won a Nobel Prize? wow!" (people got confused by a previous post that stated that "Edmund Yeo had been doing short film adaptations of Nobel Prize laureate Yasunari Kawabata like LOVE SUICIDES and KINGYO") Thus in some people's minds, that is a godly filmmaking figure called Edmund Yeo Joon Han who won, well, a Nobel Prize.

I never met Joon Han until October's Pusan Film Festival, then I hung out with him when he came to the Tokyo Film Festival a few weeks later, he was quite busy at Tokyo FILMeX but I've uploaded two videos from the Q and A session after the SELL OUT! screening. Out of respect for the film festival, and also, ahem, to the director Joon Han, I'll only post the first few questions and last few questions of the sessions.

(Part 1. Click here if you cannot see embedded video)

(Part 2. Click here if you cannot see embedded video)

Difficult to sleep because of another new project

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:41:20 PST

I've been having problems sleeping again.

The past week when my family were around, I had my most normal sleeping schedule in MONTHS. Sleeping around 1am, waking up around 8-9am, it was healthy.

After finishing my latest THE WHITE FLOWER (I now have the film in screener DVDs, but there will still be some minor tweaks here and there before it really premieres), its month-long post-production leading to some of the craziest, most irregular sleeping time for myself (I would take a brief nap from 11pm to 1-2am, wake up, orchestrate net meetings with Niklas the cinematographer and Woan Foong the composer, getting materials for them to continue the progress of the film, and then updating them by uploading some footage online for them to view etc.) I started having breakfast before I sleep at around 9-10am.

still from THE WHITE FLOWER

The best thing is that I get to skip lunch (which isn't served for free in my dorm, haha) since I often sleep through the noon and wake up around 2pm. I live like a peasant because my deluded romanticized view of struggling artists is one where everything is shoved aside for the sake of his craft or art.

So yes, after THE WHITE FLOWER was done, family came to visit, and I slept properly. They returned to Malaysia on Saturday morning.

I then started planning the storyline for my latest short film. Yes, my 7th short film of the year. A project that happened suddenly (more details in future posts, if I can remember) during a conversation in a cafe when I went to the TOKYO FILMeX end of last month.

My new film is called EXHALATION. I wrote the script back in April when I was in Malaysia just after the WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER shoot. It's an original script, and not another Yasunari Kawabata adaptation. The script was rather simple and I had planned to shoot it only in one night. Unfortunately, things didn't work out with the film's intended main actress, so I ended up making AFTERNOON RIVER instead (the first half of my upcoming short film AFTERNOON RIVER, EVENING SKY).

Since EXHALATION was written before I finished KINGYO, 3PM, AFTERNOON RIVER, EVENING SKY and THE WHITE FLOWER, I think I might have grown more as a filmmaker in the past 8 months (well, I hope so anyway), so I decided to resurrect the project but transplant the story to Japanese settings, and also to increase the scale of the film.

On Sunday, the day after my family left, I spent the entire day in my room, watching films, doing research, reading Yukio Mishima's DEATH IN MIDSUMMER anthology which I just bought two days earlier (funnily, as I try to find reviews of the book, I would end up finding a 3-year-old entry ON MY OWN BLOG written by guestblogger Justin). There was an idea of turning the story from a solo one-woman piece (initial plan was that all secondary characters were either out of focus, or off-screen, audiences can only see the main actress) to a two-hander (instead of being about one character, it's about two, Kong would point out that it's consistent with my usual theme with 'dualism')

By then, my body clock has already been disrupted. Again.

On Monday (that's yesterday), I hung out in the uni lab to do the Japanese subtitles for LOVE SUICIDES. Film will be screening in Waseda University (along with my KINGYO and FLEETING IMAGES on the 15th of December). Maiko the producer and Liu Jin (assistant producer for THE WHITE FLOWER) were there, so I had a few hours of brainstorming session with them. The film became increasingly dark, elements of child porn, child and teenage prostitution, incest etc. were discussed as possibilities for the film's plot. The film went from a nihilistic drama to a murder thriller, then to a soap opera, and then to didactic sociopolitical bore.

My head was spinning.

In the end we figured it was a bit too much, so we took a more melancholic route instead. With that, a story outline started to take its form. So excited with its materialization that I started typing it out and sent to Ming Jin. I then went home at 11:30pm and took a nap at midnight. I woke up this morning at 3am. Ming Jin said he liked the idea. I became more excited and started to think and think and think. Discussing more ideas with Woan Foong, looking at other films, reading about articles, all these to grab hold of the film's essence.

... and then, it's 10:30am.

Creativity is sleep's greatest enemy.

The Eibunren Awards Ceremony 2009

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:14:28 PST

I went to the Eibunren Awards Ceremony yesterday morning with my family (who came to Tokyo for a 1-week visit). As I've mentioned before, KINGYO had won two awards, the Semi-Grand Prix and the Best New Creator award.

The Eibunren Awards is organized by the Japanese Ministry of Culture and the Japanese Association of Audiovisual Producers usually to honour documentaries or other videos dealing with sociopolitical or ecological issues. KINGYO is the first ever independent narrative short film to receive a major award from them, so they gave me the new individual award called the New Creator award.

Of course, that was a tremendous honour.

It was a bummer that Maiko the Producer was unable to make it yesterday because she had to give a presentation for a thesis. Would have been fun if the entire team were there though. (Lia the Artist/ assistant director/ translator was the only one among the team to be there)

This is me, waiting for the ceremony.

Still waiting.

Finally, I was there to accept my 'NEW CREATOR AWARD'. My speech was largely improvised because I wasn't sure of the allocated time for acceptance speeches. In the end I just spoke out whatever that was in my mind. Yup.

Acceptance speech for NEW CREATOR award. Click here if you cannot view embedded video.

After that, I went up for the Semi-Grand Prix award. You'll see me fumbling with a Chinese proverb I threw out randomly (which was corrected by my sister, who was filming the whole thing)

Acceptance speech for the SEMI-GRAND PRIX award. Click here if you cannot view embedded video.

After that there was a group photo session with the rest of the award winners.

Family photo.

Family + Lia.

My sister is very round and cute.

Team Waseda! My buddies Zhi Feng and Yang Yang (accompanied by Kobayashi-sensei) were also the editors of a documentary called Shaolin Kung-Fu that won a special jury mention. The documentary was a co-production between Waseda University and Beijing Film Academy.

I was happy that my friends, Zhang Qi (left) and Liu Jin (assistant producer of my new film THE WHITE FLOWER) were also there for the ceremony.

When we left the hall for lunch, the sky was clear, glistening in blue, the sun shone brightly. The weather was great.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" in Wakeijuku

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:17:54 PST

A few things had happened. I completed my new short film, THE WHITE FLOWER, I saw a few films at TOKYO FILMeX too (will try to write about them), parents + sister had also arrived in Tokyo for a visit (and also to attend the Eibunren Awards Ceremony on the 2nd of December).

I also intend to throw myself into my 7th short film of the year. I just need to conjure myself a script. More about that later, I hope.

I live in Wakeijuku dorm, that's the dorm Haruki Murakami lived in. The place had prided itself as the place where Norwegian Woods was based on. My feelings towards the place is a stormy one. But then, it IS situated at a pretty good location, and food and electricity are included in my not-too-unreasonable monthly rental fees.

Two nights ago, at the lounge of my building, there was this performance.

Too bad I don't get that everyday.

Finishing up THE WHITE FLOWER

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:02:11 PST

25th to 26th of November. That was the deadline I gave myself to finish my latest film THE WHITE FLOWER. Since KINGYO, I haven't had a film that had such a long post-production, and to think that KINGYO was only 6 months ago. So I've reached the final stages of tweaking the film before doing my first batch of preview screeners for the film.

Luckily for me, as everything was winding down, I find myself being able to sleep properly again. (as in, at my normal sleeping time of 4-5am, unlike the past few weeks where I could only sleep AFTER breakfast, and when the sky's already bright)

I've mentioned before that my key collaborators during the post-production period are Niklas the Cinematographer, who returned to Finland after the shoot, and my old pal Woan Foong the composer, who is now based in US. The film's pretty much worked upon by people in three different continents!

THE WHITE FLOWER shoot in end of July... no, I wasn't peeking

What's left with the film was 1) colour correction (which I swiftly did in a few hours last night) and 2) some missing photos for some scenes that needed some re-shoots.

Over on MSN, I quickly described to Niklas the type of shots I probably needed to insert into the film. And after that... well, Niklas summed up our process accurately:

this is fucking information age workflow, 7000km distance, brainstorm on msn, shoot straight away, download, adjust, upload to server, download on the other side of the world, insert into movie, all in a few hours. this would have taken a week 10 years ago

So now I've just downloaded the photos he had shot and looked at them. Those that work I will insert into the film tomorrow morning when I return to the editing studio. Things are looking good.

The end is near.

(I'm also lucky that Japanese internet connection is so insanely fast. If this is Streamyx, the whole process will probably take longer than a week too. And only if I'm lucky.)

TOKYO FILMeX 2009, Tsai Ming Liang and the opening film 'Visage'

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:13:59 PST

I had a lot of fun in last year's TOKYO FILMeX film festival. (can read about all my blog posts here, til this very day, my review of Sono Sion's LOVE EXPOSURE is still one of the most-read posts in this blog), so I definitely had to come this year. And this time, I even have a pass!

So yup, the opening ceremony was held yesterday evening, at 5:30pm (it's currently 3:20am as I'm writing this). Here are this year's jury members.

From left to right: film critic Jean Francois Rauger, Toronto Film Fest (Italy/ Asian Cinema) programmer Giovanna Fulvi, filmmaker Sai Yoichi, actress Chen Shiang-chyi and filmmaker Lou Ye (whom I met during my stay in Seoul during August)

The opening film was Tsai Ming Liang's new film VISAGE / FACE. You can read about a brief anecdote of my first meeting with TML 2 years ago if you want). Cheng shiang-chyi is, of course, a regular in Tsai Ming Liang's films. (During the shoot of my short film LOVE SUICIDES, I was heard constantly making instructions like "Cry like Cheng shiang-chyi in WHAT TIME IS IT THERE!".

My star, Arika, however, wasn't too fond of that.

But anyway, here's a video of both of them introducing VISAGE.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

VISAGE is the first TML film I've ever seen on a big screen (actually, I haven't really seen that many of his films, just WHAT TIME IS IT THERE, GOODBYE DRAGON INN and THE WAYWARD CLOUD), I have to say that the experience is quite different. Watching his films on a small computer screen, I was prone to lose some sort of attention to them, yet seeing it on a big screen, the visuals were more striking, the framing much easier for me to appreciate. It's still a very challenging watch, but there are many images from the film that just pop out. I might actually like this more than GOODBYE, DRAGON INN and THE WAYWARD CLOUD.

Trailer of VISAGE

Here are the two videos I shot of the Q and A session.

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

Since I understood Mandarin, I didn't bother to move to the 'whispering English translators' section, although I guess that would've been useful for the videos above. But anyway, I'll try some brief translations myself. In the first video, TML explained how he was approached by the Louvre back in 2005 (handpicked from a list of 200), during a Francois Truffaut film fest, to make a film for them (it's an art installation of sorts for the museum) TML heard that astronomical sum had to paid by the DA VINCI CODE film team to shoot there, so being able to shoot in the LOUVRE for free, and being able to use some of his cinematic idols? Hell yeah.

So yeah, after that he looked around the Louvre, finding places to shoot, even found out about the underground tunnel (an impressive place in the film, btw) from the fire department.

After that he explained that he wanted to make a film with Jean-Pierre Léaud. Then TML explained how when he first left Malaysia (yes, to the uninitiated, Tsai Ming Liang's Malaysian) and went to university in Taiwan, he saw 400 BLOWS. He was 20. Jean-Pierre Léaud was 14 in the film. But of course, he only discovered the film 20 years after its release. Tsai Ming Liang and Jean-Pierre Léaud first met when he asked him to cameo in WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?

(continued in the second video)

Over the years he realized that Jean-Pierre Léaud seemed to have aged too quickly. TML wanted to make another film with Jean-Pierre Léaud, but couldn't find any opportunities until VISAGE came along. He thought Jean-Pierre Léaud's face existed for film, and felt that he was given a chance by his (TML's) idol, Truffaut, to shoot an aged Jean-Pierre Léaud, which Truffaut never had the chance to do.

Truffaut's collaboration with Jean-Pierre Léaud reminded TML of his own collaboration with Lee Kang Sheng, whom he had worked with since he was 20. Since the faces of both men had been so important to him, he wanted to make sure he will immortalize them for the Louvre.

I stopped recording the session after this, because it's exhausting, and my hands were visibly shaking if you look at videos.

One audience member asked TML to explain some plot points of the film. TML said he hoped VISAGE will be picked up for theatrical distribution in Japan so that audiences can see it a few more times. Said that his film (like his other films) is opened for interpretation, and that he prefers it if they were like a book for someone to digest after reading.

Then he quoted a Taiwanese monk, who said: "If you don't understand now, you might understand it tomorrow, if you don't understand it tomorrow, you might understand it next year, if you don't understand it by next year, you'll understand it in ten years." So he urged audiences to take their time, no need to seek answers that soon.

After we left the hall, TML was mobbed by audiences.

(Click here if cannot see embedded video)

Me, kingyo, Eibunren Awards wins, mentioned in Uni Press newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:09:02 PST

I have blamed my recent sleeping problems on work (the heavily intense post-production of my short film THE WHITE FLOWER), I've even constantly tweeted (+facebook status update) about it. But moments ago, a guzheng-playing Twitter friend Seren Koo replied to me by suggesting that writing down my ideas and what I want to do would liberate thoughts from my mind, and thus making it easier to sleep.

I realized that my lack of sleep seems to correlate with my lack of blog updates. Many times, writing a blog post at night for me can be quite (mentally) exhausting (despite said post being deceptively mindless!), and I can just drift off to sleep after that. Thus I will start writing something long, and insightful and mentally taxing just so I can exhaust myself enough to sleep.

Alas, the blog post you're reading now is probably not one of them.

On the 5th of November, an article of me on the Japanese newsletter called Uni Press came out. Uni Press has something to do with Japan's Eibunren Awards, which recently bestowed upon me two awards for my short film KINGYO, one being the Semi-Grand Prix, the other an individual award called the New Creator award.

If you know Japanese, you can click each picture to get a larger version and read the text.

But for the others, now, in order to exhaust myself even further. I'll try to give a brief translation of the article.

First page of the article introduces me briefly, as a filmmaker who is working at the Malaysian production company GREENLIGHT PICTURES, and am also doing my Masters in Film in Waseda University. And then there's a synopsis of KINGYO, which is about a university professor taking a 'maid tour' in Akihabara, Tokyo during one winter night, and how his conversations with the tour guide dressed in maid costume gradually reveal memories of their past, and a love triangle that continues to haunt them etc. Film's inspired by the works of Yasunari Kawabata, with the plot of his short story 'Canaries' combined with certain elements of 'Snow Country'. Film is noted for its use of split screens in almost the entire length of its running time.

Asked how I felt about winning the 'New Creator' award, I said I was flattered but of course this all happened thanks to the cast and crew in KINGYO. As a director I believe I'm something like a conductor in an orchestra, without the rest of the team members, there won't be any music going on anyway.

In page 2, more of my background: How my dad being a film critic influenced me as a child, and how, until this very day, if I were Malaysia, I would catch at least a film a week with dad.

Asked when I wanted to be a director and I said I wanted to be one since I was 5-6, there were vague memories of watching a scary film (actually it was 'TREMORS', starring Kevin Bacon), when mom, in order to prevent me from freaking out, started deconstructing for me what I saw on the screen, telling me how these were all machinations and illusions conjured by the movie director. Assuming that movie directors were badasses, becoming one became a lifelong dream.

After doing my degree (majored in marketing, minored in English literature) in Murdoch University, Perth, I stayed around for another year to do a Graduate Diploma course in filmmaking. Mom gave me my first camcorder just before I went to Australia so I could film anything I thought was nice. I decided to teach myself how to edit, and got friends to make 'home videos' for me (some of them are still lying around on the Internet, and in fact, links are provided in some sections of this blog, but I won't reveal where, hah).

Went back to Malaysia in 2006, joined Greenlight Pictures in 2007. Started out as producer before switching back to directing in 2008 with CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY, which won two awards at BMW Shorties 2008 and also got selected for competition in the Dubai Film Festival 2008.

Shortly after shooting CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY I moved to Tokyo, and my subsequent films would be loose adaptations, or interpretations, of Yasunari Kawabata works.

My first one being LOVE SUICIDES, and then followed by KINGYO. (I made no mention of my video essay FLEETING IMAGES, which actually preceded LOVE SUICIDES, during the interview because that was a few weeks before I knew I won the Grand Prize for the film at the CON-CAN Movie Festival)

Nothing much in this page, just me explaining my love for Japanese literature from the early 20th century, and also how I grew up with Japanese films, drama, anime and manga, which may have influenced my decision to do my Masters in this country. I also pointed out that Japanese films had long made their mark on the international stage with the works of Ozu and Kurosawa, so I thought there would be a lot for me to learn here. I think I also made some mention about how, after learning from the West (Australia), I needed a balance from the East as well.

Then I spoke out some themes that KINGYO was about, love, loss, longing, regret, urban isolation etc.

In this page, I mentioned how being a foreigner allowed me to look at certain aspects of Japanese culture in an entirely different perspective. So instead of having prejudice against the cosplay maids of Akihabara, I initially likened them to modern-day geishas. I was fascinated by the nature of their work and the aesthetics of their costumes, more than just objectifying them or disregarding them as embodiment of the 'shameful' Otaku culture. (Of course, I didn't bother to mention how many native Japanese people had sniggered, scoffed, when I mentioned I was making a film about an Akihabara maid back then, thank you for being so classy, guys)

I then had to explain why I wanted to use split screens for the film.

But I guess Mark Saint-Cyr's review of KINGYO on J-Film Pow Wow explained my stylistic choice much better and eloquently than I can anyway. So here's an excerpt:

Easily the most remarkable feature of the film is its use of split-screen. I have long been of the opinion that such methods as multi-frame composition signify the next logical step in furthering the creative potential of the cinematic medium, with Canadian director Bruce McDonald’s "The Tracey Fragments" serving as a winning example of such experimentation in narrative film form. While that film often uses several images on the screen (arranged and edited in often complex patterns), Yeo keeps it to a maximum of only two at once for "Kingyo", but even then, the benefits of this stylistic choice are clearly seen. Its effectiveness simply comes from the way various shots play off of each other when juxtaposed on the same screen, communicating both their own meanings and different ones altogether when considered in relation to one another. Because of this element, composition and editing take on a new importance and yield more creative rewards for both the filmmaker and the viewer, and surely enough, Yeo’s careful control over the split-screen technique in his film creates a fascinating dynamic that, with the right cuts and selection of images, speaks volumes through purely visual means.

After that when asked about my future, I said that ideally, I would like to make films in both countries, Malaysia and Japan.

Wrapping up my Pusan Film Festival 2009 experience (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:28:19 PST

Oh, it seems that I only have 3 photos and two videos that I haven't uploaded from last month's Pusan Film Fest, so I'll do it now.

12th of October, 2009. Last night in Busan (I realized that I've been making a mistake by repeatedly referring to the place as 'Pusan' instead of 'Busan' when the city's official name has long been changed to the latter). There was a Wide Angle party. The Wide Angle program of the Pusan Film Festival includes the documentary and short film competitions.

This is Kirsten Tan, Singaporean filmmaker currently based in New York. She had a short film in competition.

Here's a short film 'Long Walks', which I assume is directed by the same Kirsten Tan I know.

(Click here if you can't see embedded video)

This is Singaporean filmmaker/ visual artist Ho Tzu Nyen.

We met at the Venice Film Fest a month earlier (he had a video installation there). Our paths kinda-sorta crossed again when both of our short films (my FLEETING IMAGES and his REFLECTIONS were screened at the same programme of the Singapore Short Film Festival in end of September, though I didn't see him then)

Tzu Nyen's feature film, HERE, which premiered at the Cannes Film Fest, was showing in PIFF.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

As I glanced outside, I saw the Busan bridge glistening beautiful in the night.

But actually, the real reason why I posted this blog post is to share with you all an awesome video of PIFF director Kim Dong Ho dancing.

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

As everyone was dancing, I caught sight of fireworks again and exited the bar.

I trudged through the sand, trying to get a better look. The loud music behind me, which I was never comfortable with, gradually faded away, replaced by the sounds of the gentle waves.

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

Wrapping up my Pusan Film Festival 2009 experience (part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:30:28 PST

The post-production of THE WHITE FLOWER had seriously made me insomniac (or gave me messed up sleep patterns), so aside from being able to catch a nap from 1 to 3am, I've been widely awake since then.

So I decided to try to unload the remainder of photos from last month's trip at the Pusan Film Festival. I think I'll finish everything in two posts.

After the screening of WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER, the rest of my days in Pusan were spent on attending functions, parties, meeting people, looking around the Asian Film Market, trying to see a film but missing it in the end (I ended up only seeing MUNDANE HISTORY at the festival, just one film in a festival! A personal low).

On the 11th of October. I think I sat through two interviews with the Korean press. it was during these interviews that I found out WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER is the first film in history that received both the SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT FUND and the POST-PRODUCTION FUND from the Asian Cinema Fund (established by the Pusan Film Festival to support Asian filmmakers, both financial support and also technical support, as in the case of WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER). And I think ACF's support throughout the production of WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER had been invaluable, especially for the post-production, whem they helped us with the digital intermediate, sound-mixing, and then the transfer to 35mm etc. (I described some of the process here).

That night we had the Asian Cinema Fund award ceremony, where a certificate (I think) was presented to Ming Jin.

These are all the recipients of the ACF. The Thai film MUNDANE HISTORY, which was competing at the New Currents, and was the only film I saw at the festival, is also supported by ACF.

This is the MUNDANE HISTORY lead actor Phakpoom Surapongsanuruk (he and I share the same birthday! Though we were born 3 years apart. He's young... but utterly daring in his performance in the film) and the somewhat super deformed-looking (it's really a compliment) WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER lead actress Foo Fei Ling

After that we headed straight to Thien See's birthday party. (She's the actress of Ho Yuhang's SANCTUARY and RAIN DOGS, James Lee's CALL IF YOU NEED ME, Tan Chui Mui's short EVERYDAY EVERYDAY). She was also the main actress of Charlotte Lim's MY DAUGHTER, which was competing at NEW CURRENTS too.

This is her with the male stripper.

(Yes, most Malaysian award-winning independent filmmakers are still struggling so much that occasionally they have to take side jobs as male strippers in birthday parties. It's sort of a Diablo Cody in reverse.)

A group photo from the party.

After that some of us headed straight to the Filmmakers' Night (or was it party?)

I met and spoke briefly to the director-actor of the much talked about Korean film, BREATHLESS (DDONGPARI) briefly (alas, I still haven't seen the film), Yang Ik-jun, and also the main actress Kim Kkot-bi.

We went to the roof and Ming Jin introduced us the buildings of Pusan which he had a hand in designing back in the 1920s.

17th of November. Mom's Birthday.

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:15:04 PST

It's 5am now. I'm supposed to wake up in 2 hours to go for an early (press?) screening of ZERO FOCUS at Shinjuku Wald 9.

But then, it's my mom's birthday, and for two consecutive years, I've always made an issue out of it on this blog (read my 2007 and 2008 blog post). This year will not be an exception, since I won't be able to dig out some lost videos of my mom floating around on the Internet like I did last year, I'll share some anecdotes with you all.

There's this restaurant called ORGANIC RECIPE. It's located in a condominium called Casa Utama, at Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya (note to international readers: Petaling Jaya is where I live in Malaysia, a city next to Kuala Lumpur)

It's a nice-looking vegetarian restaurant.

Serves some really good food.

That's Vegetarian spaghetti

Look on the right of the photo below. A newspaper clipping is framed upon its wall.

It's an article of its, ah, 'endorser'.

That's my mom.

Originally I was going to stop my blog post here. But then I realized that aside from photos of the restaurant above, which I visited sometime around August, just before my trip to Seoul, there are still a couple of videos and photos I shot in Malaysia that I've forgotten to upload.

On August 31st 2009, Malaysia celebrates its 52nd year of what we can reluctantly believe as independence.

Mom attended a Buddhist ceremony.

At the 15-second mark of the video below, you'll see my mom (well, her back anyway) and my grandma.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

When your friends and family are also at the ceremony (aside from Grandma, my cousins, my aunt etc. were there), how can you not enjoy the solidarity? My mom sure does.

Having grown up in such events (Buddhist praying ceremonies, I mean), and having attended a few myself. I always thought that they were endurance-testing processes, where you have to try to push away physical discomfort and impatience.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

When I was 13, I was brought to one ceremony where I had to shave my head and 'become' a monk for a week. I wasn't alone. I was with some of my cousins, and some dear friends too. There were seven of us, and being among the youngest in the temple then, we were later given the nicknames 'Seven Little Fortunes'.

It was quite a test for me, but like I said, once you realize that you're not alone in this, the experience can be quite memorable. Enduring an entire day of non-stop praying and chanting together, and then enjoying the simple little pleasures together. Ah.

My attention often wandered during a prayer ceremony, I would look around, studying faces, look at those I know, spot the recognizable ones, and admire the fact that their attention never seem to waver like I do.

I digress, but my point is, this camaraderie, this solidarity, they are definitely something my mom cherishes in a Buddhist ceremony.

Here's mom with her mom.

(mom and grandma)

Happy birthday, mom.

(... now, leave your birthday wishes here)

Deciding upon the music for THE WHITE FLOWER

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:24:00 PST

Today's my mom's birthday. Happy birthday, mom. But I'll get to that later.

I am still knee deep in the post-production of my new film THE WHITE FLOWER, which I'm trying to complete by end of this month.

A shot from WHITE FLOWER

The two key participants during this whole process, aside from the main cast members (Zhu Dan, Kong and Toru Inamura, who played the doctor) whom I got back to do voiceovers with, had been Niklas the cinematographer/photographer and also my old secondary school friend, Woan Foong (WF), who had offered to do the music composing for me.

Niklas had returned to Finland after the shoot, while WF's been based in US for the past few years. I can only contact them via the net (the former with Facebook chat, the latter with Gmail chat).

Usually what I do is that I edit a sequence, and I'll email the video files to them, show them what I'm missing, ask for suggestions. Been working like that for the past few weeks, I could almost relate to the whole 'Wes Anderson directing FANTASTIC MR FOX via email' controversy. (more details here)

After that, Niklas would compile additional photos for me to use in the film, while WF would put together some music pieces. The former sending me via Facebook message, the latter via email. I'm fortunate that I have a messed up sleeping pattern (I usually fall asleep, or have a 'night nap' from 11pm and wake up around 2am, and then stay awake through the night before i sleep again after breakfast at 7:30am, yes, it's THAT messed up), so time difference isn't a major issue.

Now, here's a sample of how I make decisions on the music for THE WHITE FLOWER. From GMAIL chat.

2:50 AM
WF: i am giving you layerings for cello. Is there anything else that you want?

me: any suggestions? i'll probably stick with cello stuff for now

2:55 AM
WF: well, i was thinking i can give you some noise sounds from the cello
you can fit it in wherever to add more colour?

me: yessss!

WF: k
i am trying to avoid giving something rhythmic

me: something more like KRRROOOOOOO

WOOOOOOOOOOOO

or KROOOOOOOEEEEEEEEIIIIEEAAA is fine too

WF: LOL

KINGYO receives two awards at Eibunren Awards

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:16:39 PST

I actually knew about this back in September, when I was in Singapore for the Singapore Short Film Festival. Maiko the Producer called me then to tell about the good news, but since the awards ceremony is in December, I didn't think there was any need to announce this earlier.

But since I've already announced about FLEETING IMAGES winning the Grand Prix at the CON-CAN Movie Festival, I'll make a mention of this as well.

So yes, my Japanese short film KINGYO had picked up two awards from Japan's Eibunren Awards: The Semi-Grand Prix (or Silver Grand Prix) and Best New Creator (also occasionally referred to as the Best New Director award) awards.

Organized by the Japanese Ministry of Culture and the Japanese Association of Audiovisual Producers, I was told that this is the first time an independent narrative short film had ever received a major award from the association. And in order to commemorate this, I became their first ever recipient of the Best New Creator award.

Definitely very honoured by this.

The awards ceremony will be on the 2nd of December. Parents and sister are attending.

Trailer of KINGYO (click here if you cannot see embedded video)

Wayne Wang's film adaptation of Yiyun Li's A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:35:26 PST

Caught a free screening of A THOUSAND YEAR OF GOOD PRAYERS in uni yesterday evening (a day before it opens in Japanese theaters, check out Kaori Shoji's review on Japan Times). Went because I read Yiyun Li's anthology of short stories of the same name just a couple of weeks earlier (which I really enjoyed).

I liked parts of it, but the rest, I had mixed feelings. The original source material's pretty sparse, so I did enjoy some things that director Wayne Wang had expanded upon from the short story, like Mr Shi's comedic interaction with other people (aside from his conversations with the Iranian lady at the park, I don't think his misadventures with the Mormons, and the shopping for his daughter's present, were in the original text), but not so much with the others (most notably the somewhat hopeful ending). Even so, I was a little distracted by how characters would, you know, say one line in Mandarin, and then conveniently translate it into English (...for the non-Chinese speaking audiences). Or during a fight, one suddenly shouts something in English, then repeats line again in Mandarin. Kinda took me out of the film.

Henry O's a good actor, and yeah, he won the Best Actor award at the San Sebastian Film Fest 2007 (film was also honoured with the Golden Shell Award, as in, Best Film). Yet I started wondering whether the film would have benefited from a lead actor who, ya know, really had limited command of English.

trailer of A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS (click here if cannot see embedded video)

Wayne Wang actually made a companion piece for this film called PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA in the same year, also an adaptation of Yiyun Li's short story of the same title, which was actually an inspiration of sorts for my last short film, the unreleased AFTERNOON RIVER, EVENING SKY. I liked the PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA short story more, so am still quite intrigued to check out its film adaptation. Think the only person I know who had seen both was Sebastian (who ~~disliked both films~~, didn't like one much, and was somewhat indifferent to the other. Read his review).

Most reviews regarded this as the lesser film, and I think it seemed to take more creative liberties from the original text. Still intrigued. Will try to hunt this film now.

Princess of Nebraska trailer (click here if can't see embedded video player)

For the time being I'm going to continue watching the remaining 3.5 hours of Bela Tarr's 7-hour-film SATANTANGO (which I've been seeing on and off the past two weeks, not a recommended way to enjoy this film, I'll say)

Waseda Weekly Magazine (12th of November, 2009)

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:28:41 PST

There's a profile of Maiko the Producer and I on Waseda Weekly magazine that came out today (actually, yesterday, since it's 2am now).

The article is mostly about our personal backgrounds and KINGYO. Some stuff about how I met Maiko the Producer by random last year, and due to our shared tastes in films and literature, how we ended up making KINGYO together. Then there's also the reception for KINGYO we had at the Venice Film Festival.

A better view of the photo from the article:

A couple of people who had seen the photo remarked that Maiko should be standing in front instead of me since I made her look even tinier.

My short film FLEETING IMAGES wins Grand Prix at Japan's CON-CAN Movie Festival

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:29:08 PST

I received a phone call yesterday morning from the CON-CAN Movie Festival. They told me that my experimental short, FLEETING IMAGES, had won the Grand Prix.

I was shocked.

The award ceremony will be next month, along with the film's Japanese premiere.

In a year when one surprise after another had happened with my filmmaking career (LOVE SUICIDES getting into Paris Cinema Film Festival, KINGYO getting into the Venice Film Festival), the sudden festival life FLEETING IMAGES had gotten is one of the most surprising.

FLEETING IMAGES had the misfortune of being made between my narrative shorts, CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY and LOVE SUICIDES. So often I've overlooked its existence. Due to its unconventional nature (it is a video essay inspired by Chris Marker's SANS SOLEIL made using travel videos and additional footage I shot in Tokyo, with a somewhat stream-of-consciousness-like voiceover narration), it had the most divisive reactions among my audiences. Some liked it and called it dream-like and poetic. Most with traditional expectations for cinema and films hadn't been kind to FLEETING IMAGES, with accusations of it being a dishonest 'assemblage of recycled goods' or 'the Heaven's Gate of my short films'.

I respect everyone's feedback, and I guess because I was easily swayed by feedback then, I couldn't commit to my vision of the film, which was, I think, a youthful mistake, and so I left the film in the shelf after I went on with making my subsequent short films like LOVE SUICIDES and KINGYO. But then, film-viewing is indeed a subjective experience, so I was foolish to question the value of what I made.

FLEETING IMAGES' selection by this year's CON-CAN Movie Festival and Singapore Short Film Festival (the film had a simultaneous international premiere in both festivals on the same day) were pleasant surprises.

Here's the selection process of the CON-CAN Movie Festival as described by its website.

Running in parallel with the Audience Awards from July, 2009, the 6th CON-CAN Competition has finally come to a conclusion. The best 24 movies were first chosen by the preliminary juries in October and then from these 24, 1 Grand Prix Award, 1 Special Jury Award, and 4 Best Picture Awards for each category (Fiction, Documentary, Animation, & Experimental) were chosen by the 5 International Jury members, last week.

I'm really very honoured by this. And of course, I would also like to congratulate the other award-winners: Belgium's Monica Gallab, director of "Nice day for a picnic" [Special Jury Award], Japan's Takashi Nishara, director of "Jun and Ema" [Best Picture Awards (Fiction)] and China's Huaqing Jin, director of wa quan (Living with Shame) [Best Picture Awards (Documentary)]. And to the other filmmakers whose films were selected by the festival this year, congratulations too, since I am sure your shorts will be seen by audiences for years to come.

This is the trailer of FLEETING IMAGES.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

This is its SYNOPSIS:

A young woman narrates a series of emails from an old friend traveling in India and Japan. Some mundane, some rambling, some philosophical. He is seeking life's meaning in his travels, but perhaps all he wants to do is to view the sunset. Part documentary, part travelogue, maybe a love letter. An experimental essay-film.

Yes, Nicolekiss is in the film, though by accident.

Actually, I first knew about CON-CAN Movie Festival back in 2005 when I started dabbling in filmmaking, and had always wanted to submit a short film to them. Looking at the finalists then, I was floored by the quality of those films. They motivated me to improve myself, so CON-CAN Movie Festival has a special place in my heart, and receiving the award is like a dream.

You can watch the entire FLEETING IMAGES here once you sign up for the website.

Waseda Festival 2009

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:45:19 PST

I realized that last year, around this time, I was in Malaysia (for a brief trip to Rome and the Rome Film Festival), so I missed out the Waseda Festival.

I didn't even know about the Waseda Festival, which was held last weekend until I saw people setting up on Friday (as I was on my way to my lab to record Zhu Dan's guzheng performance).

The festival was held on Saturday and Sunday, but I was only there on Saturday.

This is the tiny North Gate of Waseda University. I was actually, once again, on my way to the editing lab.

I was trying to take a photo of the lolita maids. The chick, unfortunately, thought I was taking a photo of her, hence her "you make me sick" expression.

There were some singing performances.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

I had some yakitori from this booth.

... It was interesting to taste half-cooked chicken.

I went back to the festival again later during the day. This time with Maiko, Kong, Liu Jing (she's the assistant producer for THE WHITE FLOWER) and Zhang Qi (we're in the same campus, she occasionally helps the Shanghai International Film Fest).

(click here if you cannot see the embedded video)

This time I had some (fully-cooked, thankfully) yakitori in another booth. Some sausages, with tartar sauce and mayonnaise, and yakisoba (fried soba). They were decent.

After the sunset, I followed Kong and Maiko off, they were having an audition session for Kong's short film 'IN THE FLESH' (a loose adaptation of occasional ex-guestblogger and published writer Justin's short story 'I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like'. BTW: Go read writer Quentin S. Crisp's interview with Justin that was posted back in August)

I won't be posting videos of the auditions until Kong and Maiko have finalized their cast. Would be disrespectful to post up videos of those who didn't get selected anyway.

I was around to give some guidance on how to run the audition (and also to keep an eye out for possible candidates for my future projects, hah)

Cute kittens

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:05:27 PST

Saw these outside my editing lab in the evening just now.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

Zhu Dan touches her... Guzheng

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:54:51 PST

It's strange how quickly a week had just flown by like that. It happens all the time when I'm in post-production for a film. Each day just goes by in a blur, and I myself lose the concept of day and night, for the past few nights I had spent sleepless nights in the editing lab for my new short film THE WHITE FLOWER. I usually go home around 6am, sometimes I get to eat breakfast, and then sleep at around 8am, then waking up at 12pm, and then going back to work again.

THE WHITE FLOWER is a challenging film because, aside from it being constructed almost entirely with still photos (which is a nightmare to edit by itself), I myself still have to various sound jobs. Recording voiceover narrations from the three main characters, recording sound effects, downloading sound effects, discussing with my two primary collaborators, Niklas (the cinematographer) and Woan Foong (the composer) about what I need for the film through the net (Niklas is in Finland, Woan Foong is in US), because I'm a crazy nocturnal, the time difference doesn't affect me much.

I always believe that you learning something new whenever you make a film, and for me, making short films is a constant learning experience for filmmaking, that's why I've been so prolific this year (shot 6 short films this year, though only four will be in my official record this year, since I've merged two into one, and another was just a practice for a cinematographer course I took) For THE WHITE FLOWER, I can say that I learn the most when it came to sound, having to teach myself how to do sound mixing and all after recording.

Two days ago I had to record some guzheng music for the film. So I enlisted the only guzheng player I know in Japan, my good friend Zhu Dan, who is also the unfortunate main actress of THE WHITE FLOWER.

This is me carrying her guzheng into my lab.

(To the uninitiated, Zhu Dan plays a guzheng player in the film)

Back in this old post of mine, I posted these videos of the film shoot.

(Click here if you cannot see the embedded video player)

(Click here if you cannot see the embedded video player)

But anyway, back in Friday, I asked Zhu Dan to play a couple of pieces with her guzheng, and she did.

I have recorded our recording session on video, because I'm narcissistic and I felt that one of these days, I have to record myself in action and directing, so here you go. My buddy Kong, who was one of the three main actors of THE WHITE FLOWER, was there to help out as well.

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

At the 1:13 minute mark, she asked whether I've switched off the camera (she was paranoid about being filmed that day, being without make-up and all), I said "yup, switched off". She wasn't dumb enough to fall for that though, hence the laughter. Of course, I assured her that it was really about filming myself.

Zhu Dan touches herself... er, wait....

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:07:05 PDT

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the blog post title.

Last night was Halloween. I remained rooted in the editing lab, editing my new film THE WHITE FLOWER. Which, in case you don't know, starred my friends Zhu Dan and Kong.

Kong, at the meantime, had been prolific. After finishing his debut short film CENSORED (which was Zhu Dan's debut role, read here and here), he had been making his new experimental sci-fi short STARDUST MEMORIES (also starring Zhu Dan, she's really his muse, though alas, solely in a strictly professional manner). I was just whining to Zhu Dan that since she's been acting for everyone, I have to look at images of her everyday in the editing lab, not just from my computer, but also Kong's.

Two nights ago Kong was trying to finish up STARDUST MEMORIES with one last scene. My friends, Yang Yang (last seen here) and Ko-san (last seen here), visited the set too.

From left to right: Kong, Yang Yang, Ko-san and Zhu Dan

The scene's setup: Kong's previous film CENSORED was projected upon Zhu Dan, and she had to interact with the projected images.

Kong thought the whole setup was familiar.

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

I thought so too. I figured it was something Godard had done, though I had no idea which one.

Then I thought of Yoshishige Yoshida's film, EROS PLUS MASSACRE, which I watched a few months earlier. It wasn't exactly like that either.

(Although I guess EROS + MASSACRE crossed my mind because it opened with a scene of a woman sitting just like that, though without any projectors involved. And there was also a scene of the same woman watching something through a projector, so everything got mixed up)

Then Kong asked Zhu Dan to interact with the images of her from the projector. It was so totally meta, to see her interacting with images of her from a previous movie she did.

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

Of course, at the meantime, I was throwing suggestions too. Like "I know!!! Maybe she can, like, KISS the image or something!" which received "*sigh* there he goes again" looks from the rest of the gang before they went on with the shoot and disregarding my oh-so-invaluable suggestions.

(click here if you can't see embedded video)

After the shoot, as we returned to the editing room. Something struck Kong.

"I know! This was the opening of Ingmar Bergman's PERSONA! I just imitated him subconsciously!"

(go to the 4:30 min mark)

(Kong did a thesis on Ingmar Bergman when he was in Thailand)

My acceptance speech for WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER's Cinemanila International Film Fest special mention

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:54:47 PDT

Woman On Fire Looks For Water

This happened a few days ago, WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER (feature film directed by Woo Ming Jin, produced and edited by me) received a special mention at the Cinemanila International Film Festival under the Southeast Asian Competition. This year's a particularly strong year for Malaysia, the best Southeast Asian film went to the late Yasmin Ahmad's Talentime and the best short film went to Focal Point, a Malaysian short film by Iranian filmmakers Alireza Khatami and Ali Seifourri.

In addition to that, both my short films LOVE SUICIDES and KINGYO were also screened under the SEA SHORTS exhibition. (the latter, being a last-minute addition, wasn't listed in the catalog or the website, quite a bummer!)

Love Suicides

kingyo

I was asked to write an acceptance speech so they could post on the Cinemanila website. So this is what I wrote:

I'm honoured by the special mention given to us. Thank you very much,
Cinemanila. I would definitely love to share this with the cast and
crew of WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER, for making this film possible.
And also with the people of Kuala Selangor, who had so kindly let us
shoot at their places and even acted for us! A special thanks to the
financial support of Rotterdam Film Festival's Hubert Bals Fund and
Pusan Film Festival's Asian Cinema Fund, who believed in this modest
project of ours. We also received a lot of technical support for the
post-production of our film from the latter, which was an invaluably
educational experience! But I especially like to thank Woo Ming Jin,
this film sprang forth from his vision and creativity.

This year's South East Asian Cinema line-up, both feature films and
shorts, shows what a luminous collective of voices we are becoming on
the global stage, and a culmination of our dedication to our craft.
Despite this occasionally being in the name of competition, I believe
us all to be part of an artistic family aiming for excellence, we give
our all to reach for something beyond a paycheck. I'm excited to be
part of this with my neighbours, and as we continue to make films
together, I look forward to what the future of South East Asian Cinema
has to offer. Thanks.

Fireworks at Haeundae Beach at night

noreply@blogger.com (The Great Swifty) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:09:21 PDT

(What a clunky blog post title)

Argh, here lies the problem with my blogging these days. Because I do it so erratically, I have to struggle to remember things. The past few days was a blur. Attending the Tokyo Film Fest, and also editing my film. Heck, it's been nearly 2 weeks since I've gotten back to Tokyo.

10th of October, a day after the Johnnie To Master Class, WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER world premiere, and Pen-ek teaching me how to roll a tobacco, I went through a less eventful day.

Started the day with breakfast at one of the food stalls with Ming Jin, Seng Tat and Tuck Cheong. The food I had was one of the best I had in the trip, that's because it's one of the rare moments when I had authentic Korean food (the rest of them I was having party food, which were fine, but they ain't authentic Korean food).

It's a sort-of porridge. Not sure what it's really called. Here's more of us eating:

(click here if you can't see the embedded video)

In the afternoon, we went to see Thai filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong's New Currents-competing film MUNDANE HISTORY (we call her Mai). I didn't know then that MUNDANE HISTORY would end up being the only film I saw at the Pusan Film Fest...

Due to Mai's background as an experimental filmmaker, I felt that the film truly took off when she made use of her experimental skills for the really abstract scenes. At those moments, my jaws occasionally dropped open. And the ending... well, I won't spoil it. (When we told Seng Tat in the morning that we were going to catch the film, Seng Tat, who had seen a rough cut of the film earlier, remarked "watch out for the ending... it's... eeee...")

There were a lot of parties at night. I'm not really a partying type of person, and I seldom drink, so during the wee hours after midnight, as everyone went off to dance, and I felt a little suffocated being crammed with so many people in one place, and grimaced at the pulsating music that slammed against my head, I headed off.

I saw Namewee (he came along too because he acted in some segments at the 15Malaysia omnibus film) sitting at the corner, seemingly uncomfortable with the settings too. So I went over and asked whether he wanted to go for a walk outside.

He seemed relieved. We went out and started to speak.

Then Fred, his manager and also Ming Jin's friend, came over and dragged him off to another club. "What? Another club?" was Namewee's feeble protest before he entered the cab.

Alone again, I saw fireworks in the distance and started walking along Haeundae Beach.

I tried to follow the direction of the fireworks. There were different groups of people playing with them.

(click here if you cannot see the embedded video)

(click here if you cannot see the embedded video)

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

(click here if you cannot see embedded video)

Despite the building lights in the distance, Haeundae Beach was rather dark at night, and as I trudged through the sand, I spotted many people, mostly couples, sitting close to the gentle waves, then there were also some others gathered there for picnics and drinks. The sound of the crashing waves was, as usual, soothing, the occasional sight of fireworks was, to me, mesmerizing. And then the wind blew, and I wondered whether the sun in Pusan would rise as early as the one in Tokyo.