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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Check out the two clips from Woo Ming Jin's THE TIGER FACTORY

In exactly 12 hours I'll be flying off to Rotterdam. Aside from my own short film EXHALATION, I'm also there for Ming Jin's THE TIGER FACTORY, which is the feature film spin-off of my short, INHALATION (hah). Since he can't make it to the festival, it's all up to me to handle his Q and A sessions as well after each screening. Fun.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Discussing my short film 'EXHALATION' with Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

Less than two days left before I head off to Rotterdam International Film Festival, so pardon the onslaught of EXHALATION stuff here.

[Exhalation] Sayuri (Tomoe Shinohara) contemplates as Naoko (Kiki Sugino) is asleep


While preparing an EXHALATION press kit for the festival last week, I enlisted the help of Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow's Marc Saint-Cyr to conduct a short interview regarding the film.

Marc Saint-Cyr had previously reviewed EXHALATION.

The short interview is here.

I'll share an exchange from the Q and A regarding why I alternated between black-and-white and colour in the film.

MSC: How did you decide which sequences in the film would be in black-and-white or color?

EY: The black-and-white, was, in fact, a last-minute decision made during post-production. I remembered reading an interview with Andrei Tarkovsky where he pointed out that a black-and-white film immediately creates the impression that your attention is concentrated on what is most important. On the screen, color imposes itself on you.

In order to underline the melancholic undertone of the film, I decided to drain most scenes of their colors. I inserted colours in certain scenes when I needed to accentuate the emotional states of the protagonists. A feeling of brief warmth, or lingering sadness, or an abrupt break from monotony. In the end it was an experiment of sorts for storytelling.

(UPDATED: The Tarkovsky interview I was referring to is here.)

Monday, January 24, 2011

5-minute previews of my short films EXHALATION and INHALATION

If you are one of the 3 people who had been following my filmmaking escapades so far, you'll know that I've made two short films, EXHALATION and INHALATION. Both are similarly titled and shared many common themes, but are ultimately two (vastly) different films.

Friday, January 21, 2011

我是个比较孤独的人-好戏网专访马来西亚新锐导演杨毅恒(我) "I'm quite a loner" - My interview in China's Mask9

Me, before the opening ceremony


Switching to Mandarin...

嗨, 朋友们。

最近接受了中国的《好戏网》访问。 他们已经将采访专题发布在《好戏网》的首页推荐。

若有兴趣的话, 请通过以下链接查看。 呵呵。

我是个比较孤独的人-好戏网专访马来西亚新锐导演杨毅恒

问的问题很仔细,很深奥, 我喜欢。 但是也必须用一点时间思考了才能好好的回答他们。

跟你们分享该文章的摘录。

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Rest in peace, Bryan Chiel

I was writing the screenplay for my new short film when my sister suddenly messaged me on Facebook Chat.

"Do you remember Bryan? Aunt Amy's son?" She asked.

I instantly had a bad feeling, and hoped silently that the conversation wouldn't be going to a direction that I didn't want it to go.

Ashita no Joe baby

As you can see from the post filled with photos of kimono-glad young women, I was at the Meiji Shrine for the Seijin no Hi (Coming-Of-Age Day).

While I was at the shrine, I saw a baby sleeping in his stroller.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Girl drinks milk, lots of feathers appear

A serious Teng Fei with Rilakkuma 2


Yesterday afternoon, Kong filmed the conclusion of his 3-scene short film (that started with Girl In Shower Meets Slasher and Men Throwing Stuff at Helpless Hobo Boxer)

Of course, I was there to chronicle it all.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Men throwing stuff at helpless hobo boxer

Yesterday afternoon, Kong continued shooting the second scene of his 3-scene one-minute short film. (the first scene is of a girl in a shower encountering a slasher).

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Monday, January 10, 2011

Young Women in Kimono at Meiji Shrine during Seijin No Hi (Coming Of Age Day) 2011

A young woman celebrating Seijin No Hi


Today is Seijin No Hi (Coming Of Age Day), it is the day when young women who are turning 20 this year celebrate their coming of age by going to shrines for prayers.

No, I will NOT vote for you on Facebook.

I'm a heavy Facebook user.

I've synced all my other social network accounts (Youtube, Twitter, Flickr etc.) with my Facebook account so that friends of mine on Facebook will know whenever I've uploaded a photo, or a video, or posted a tweet.

Although I'm highly secretive with my own short films (as in, I don't upload them on Youtube for public viewing) because most of them had been circulating at the film fest circle, I don't mind sharing my own experiences with others, it's my way of keeping in touch with others, allowing others to keep track on my misadventures, and on the other hand, I can keep track on what the others were doing as well.

Many of my relatives, former schoolmates and classmates, and other people I've met throughout the course of my life are Facebook users too, and sadly, this might just be the only way for me to remain 'visible' for them (since I'm constantly flying about, it's really hard for some to keep track on where I am these days). Yes, I don't disagree that this has turned into a form of exhibitionism, and I can absolutely understand why people who crave privacy don't really like the use of Facebook.

I myself try to maintain some form of privacy too, despite having 1400+ friends, every time someone tries to add me and I cannot really recognize them, nor seem to have any mutual friends, I usually message them first and ask them to identify themselves. If there's none, I'll probably ignore the friend request.

Recently, people I've never spoken to for years have begun speaking to me via Facebook Chat, out of the blue. But the conversation is usually like this:

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Girl in shower meets a slasher

Yesterday, Kong began to shoot a new short film (it's for some event in Thailand called the Postcard Cinema where a couple of chosen Thai filmmakers have to make 60-second short films, or 'video postcards').

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Hatsumode at Meiji Shrine

5 days have passed since 2011 started, I have yet to have my hatsumode (first shrine visit of the year). In the past two years, I did it on New Year's Day. Two years ago, I was at the Todai-ji of Nara. Last year, I went to Tsukui Kannon Zen Temple.

This year, a lady friend of mine who had yet to do her hatsumode as well said to do it at Meiji Shrine.

I have written about Meiji Shrine, which is filled with young women in kimono during Seijin No Hi (Coming Of Age Day), (... and that was the top-viewed blog post of last year), which is the number one destination in Japan for hatsumode. Been there a few times, but thought it's a great idea to finally go there for my hatsumode.

So I went.

The first three days of the new year would have been overcrowded, but today, it was decent.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Top 10 Most-Viewed Posts of 2010

Curious to know which blog post had attracted the most views in 2010, I went to check my Google Analytics.

Here's the top 10.

Monday, January 03, 2011

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love 2011

Happy 2011, everyone.

After posting my epic Part 1 and Part 2 of the 2010 recap, (which you SHOULD read, if you haven't already, because it took me a lot of time to write that), I put on the exact same shirt I wore on the first day of 2010...

Friday, December 31, 2010

Thoughts on 2010, and its recap (part 2)

CONTINUED FROM PART 1

July


Pia Film Festival and Skip City D-Cinema Movie Festival happened. One in Tokyo, the other in Saitama.

I was happy to see Kazue Fukiishi at the premiere of Gegege Nyobo in Pia.

Director Takuji Suzuki speaking to Kazue Fukiishi. Gegege No Nyobo world premiere at the Pia Film Festival


She didn't see me, though.

Thoughts on 2010, and its recap (part 1)

It is 5:39am, 31st of December, 2010 as I am writing this. Less than 18 hours left for the year. I guess I'll just take a bit of time to reflect on the past year and make some sense out of it.

My life is probably defined now, by my filmmaking career. Ever since I started actually directing in 2008, I had derived a lot of joy from creativity, to be surrounded by like-minded people, to indulge myself in films, to further my own craft. My last tweet was laced with some sort of irony-induced nostalgia.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Yadako's Christmas performance

It's quite a contrast, a year ago and today. A year ago, I had just finished the EXHALATION shoot and capped an unbelievable 2009. 2010 had been an incredible year as well (I am referring only to my own filmmaking career, anything outside that is a tragedy to describe), but as I am few hours away from the last day of 2010, I realize how quiet it is ending for me.

Solitude is fine, all the peace and stuff, yet to be occasionally being surrounded by like-minded people during film shoots is a warm feeling, maybe that's why I enjoy them.

Before I go for a more proper year-end blog entry, I'll just share with you all a very nice performance I had the pleasure of witnessing on Christmas day, of a lady named Yadako (you can follow her on Twitter).

Monday, December 27, 2010

(VIDEO) Bowling games of great intensity in Christmas Eve

I posted about a bowling game in Christmas Eve yesterday.

Kan was better with bowling


At that time, I was trying to find an editing software for my laptop that could help me edit the videos that I shot that night.

In the past, I used the Adobe Premiere Pro for PC. Edited my first few short films (Chicken Rice Mystery, Fleeting Images, Love Suicides) with it, also edited telemovies like Cinta Tiga Segi with that too.

But once I switched to shooting stuff on HD, I had to use Final Cut Pro on Mac, which felt immensely more convenient. (Ming Jin's two films WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER and THE TIGER FACTORY, and my short films beginning from KINGYO, all done with Final Cut Pro)

I still use a PC laptop, and I don't have Adobe Premiere Pro anymore, so I scoured the net, trying to find a good free editing software that could help me. Downloaded a few (I won't name them), but none of them seemed to be able to edit Canon 7D videos.

The only good one I ended up using in the end was EDIUS, but it took a while for me to familiarize myself with the layout.

In the end I lost my patience and decided to just come to my editing lab at Waseda today to swiftly put together this video with Final Cut Pro. After almost an hour, I managed to slap this video together using the music from Nico Spahni's MUSIC FOR SEPT ELLES album.

The bowling alley was so psychedelic that I felt like I was in TRON: LEGACY.


Sunday, December 26, 2010

Bowling games of great intensity in Christmas Eve

On a Christmas Eve, I had some delicious food at a place called Hana Hana in Shibuya. The food was delicious.

There's this egg dish.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Dubai International Film Fest 2010 Closing Ceremony

This concludes my Dubai International Film Fest 2010 recap.

Before the closing ceremony, I was excited to meet the star of Lee Chang Dong's POETRY, Yun Jeong-Hee, seen here with her husband, the renowned pianist Paik Kun-Woo.

More snapshots of Dubai International Film Festival 2010

Beginning from the 16th of December, I was staying at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. It had a nice view of the Burj.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Exhalation's World Premiere

Okay, I'm back from Dubai, but I'll still have to give a quick recap on the very first screening of EXHALATION.

So here's a quickie.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

(Video) Colin Firth receiving Variety's Int'l Movie Star Of The Year award from Carey Mulligan

Here's Carey Mulligan, presenting Variety's International Movie Star of The Year award to Colin Firth, and also his acceptance speech, on the 13th of December, second day of the Dubai Film Fest.

He's really eloquent.


video page

Friday, December 17, 2010

Dubai International Film Fest 2010 Opening Ceremony

So, I'm now at Dubai. Today, my film EXHALATION will finally have its world premiere at the Dubai Film Fest.

But this will chronicle my first day in the place.

Here are some pretty photos of me right before the opening ceremony on the 12th of December, courtesy of Indonesian documentary filmmaker Daniel Rudi Haryanto.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Cinemanila International Film Festival 2010 recap

I'm now in Dubai, took numerous photos and videos. But before I give you all updates of my misadventures there, I'll do a recap of Cinemanila International Film Fest first.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I went to Cinemanila right after the Torino Film Festival/ Film Lab.

3rd of December. I arrived in Manila during the afternoon, I was picked up at the airport. I intended the festival to be one where I could rest, since the Torino schedule was so hectic.

"Well, for tonight, I'll just relax, and maybe catch the SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD screening." I told Raymond, who was picking me up. His day job is actually as a TV writer.

"Oh, I'm afraid you can't do it. The awards ceremony is tonight." Raymond said.

"What? But today's only the second day of the festival!" I was flabbergasted.

"Yes, but they wanted to get the awards out of the way first." Raymond said.

So... that evening, we went to the award ceremony.

Here are the trophies.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Junko Kamata performing in Shinjuku, great voice, great songs.

I'll take a break briefly from the Torino recaps to write about something that happened last night.

Torino student protests remind me of Antonioni's Blow-Up

30th of November, my last day in Torino. It was an eventful day, so I'll need perhaps 3 blog entries to cover them all.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Torino Film Fest/ Film Lab 2010 recap (Nov 28-29)

It was snowing on the morning of November 28th.

Torino Film Fest/ Film Lab 2010 recap (Nov 25-27)

I flew to Torino on the 25th of November for the Torino Film Lab (which is part of the Torino Film Festival. 3 years ago, Ming Jin won a jury award in this festival for THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA).

When I arrived, it was already dark. I had to take a bus to the city center. The journey lasted around 45 minutes.

Back from Torino and Manila.

Yup, I came back from Manila two days ago. For the past two weeks I was in Torino (Italy) and Manila for the film festivals and other stuff.

The screenwriting workshop I've been attending throughout the year concluded its session in Torino (the first two rounds were in Bratislava, back in March, and Brignogan, France, back in June).

Then I just headed off immediately to Cinemanila Film Fest to present INHALATION and THE TIGER FACTORY.

Many photos, videos to share, many stories to tell.

My computer died (again) just when I reached Torino, hence the lack of updates. Frustrating, but it had happened so often that I've grown numb.

I'm leaving for Dubai on the 11th. Not a lot of time to rest from my constant flying, haha.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Yoyogi Park during Autumn Twilight

Almost exactly two years ago, I headed off to Yoyogi Park to look at the golden ginkgo leaves, I was unable to forget their beauty. Since then, I made a mental note to myself that I would always visit the place when the leaves were turning.

When I had an appointment with someone yesterday evening, I decided to go to Yoyogi Park first. To my consternation, the sky was already turning dark at 4pm. Nonetheless, the golden ginkgo leaves were still there.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Red Pepper Girls (Korean twins) performing in Shinjuku

I met up with old high school friend Sebastian yesterday evening in Shinjuku (he and his family were on a family trip in Japan and dropped by in Tokyo for two nights). After we had dinner, he left and I walked off to catch the bus.

As I walked past the Shinjuku Station West Exit, our conversation swirled in my mind, people from high school, those who had just gotten married, those who had just gotten engaged, previous loves, our careers in film (Sebastian works in RHYTHM AND HUES and had just made a short film called Hashshashin's Revolt, it was a valiant attempt), and the like.

Perhaps time was indeed passing me by, I thought in slight melancholy. Ah, memory, a constant source of pain.

It was Sunday evening, Shinjuku was characteristically crowded. Yet I walked in solitude, past the crowds of people, past lovers whispering sweet nothings to each other, past tourists mesmerized by the bustling energy of Shinjuku, past a pair of pretty twin sisters singing at the street, past a happy family, past a couple of homeless guys-

Eh?

I stopped, and looked back at the pair of pretty twin sisters.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Nov 17, 18, 19... lots of birthdays of family members

Since my epic food poisoning last week, I continued my semi-retreat into a writing session of my screenplay.

So the entire week just came and went.

I just came to a realization that Nov 17, 18 and 19 are birthdays of many people I know. In fact, I have 3 different family members and relatives celebrating their birthdays on these three successive days.

Friday, November 12, 2010

I haven't vomited since '05...

I felt that something was wrong two nights ago when I was suddenly afflicted with diarrhea. What could've caused it? The onigiri I bought in a convenience store for lunch? The bento from the nice elderly couple that I've had for dinner (a favourite of mine for the past two years)? The iced chocolate I drank two hours later during a meeting?

Not dwelling upon the issue, I quickly took the famed Po Chai pills. The discomfort lasted for two hours before everything subsided and I could sleep again.

When I woke up yesterday, I felt a little better, and assumed that I've recovered. I took a few gulps of water, then I was overwhelmed by a strong feeling of nausea.

Oh shit... was the words in my mind as I ran out of my room, hoping to reach the toilet in time.

I couldn't make it.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

A memory from primary school

Recently, during a Facebook chat session with some primary school friends (yes, we still keep in touch, someone was sweet enough to start a Facebook group for the class of 1996) and a certain incident started emerging from the deepest recesses of my memory.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Visiting Kamakura with Mom

22nd of September 2010, two days after my graduation ceremony, and 2 days before receiving news of my uncle's sudden passing. It was Mid-Autumn Festival.

No mooncakes or lanterns though, just me bringing mom to Kamakura to visit the Big Buddha.

Waseda Festival 2010

Yesterday was the Waseda Festival 2010. (read about Waseda Festival 2009)

Not much about the fair though, since the highlight of my day was clearly this:

With Tao Sha (in maid costume!)


Although I was quite amused by the folks at the Bodybuilding Club too. A group of muscular dudes were in the university campus, flexing their muscles, letting people touch them, while they hand out flyers.

Friday, November 05, 2010

Re-introducing my short film, AFTERNOON RIVER, EVENING SKY

The Bratislava International Film Festival begins today.

My short film, AFTERNOON RIVER, EVENING SKY, will make its world premiere in competition. It is the only Asian entry among the selected short films.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

My films, LOVE SUICIDES and KINGYO receive awards at the Doi Saket International Film Festival

Now, this is a surprise!

Just received news that I won two awards at the inaugural Doi Saket International Film Festival (facebook page here). The festival actually ended on the same day as the Tokyo International Film Fest (Oct 31st), but the folks were so busy that they didn't announce the results publicly until few moments ago.

I won a Best Editing Award for KINGYO (2009).

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

The last day of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2010

31st of October.

I headed to Roppongi to wait for the Green Carpet event prior to the closing ceremony. I was at the TIFF Movie Cafe with Prof. Ando.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

THE TIGER FACTORY receives Jury Special Mention at Tokyo International Film Festival

The Tokyo International Film Festival ended yesterday (... or two days ago, since it's 1:37am when I'm writing this).

I went to the awards ceremony and to my surprise, THE TIGER FACTORY received a Jury Special Mention for the Winds Of Asia category! Basically it happened when the jury members were presenting the Best Asian Film award to Korean filmmaker Shin Su-Won for her film PASSERBY #3, then jury member and film director Akira Ogata mentioned that the jury would like to specially mention THE TIGER FACTORY as well. So, I realized that a 'special mention' is literally, you know, a special mention.

When the 'award winners' were invited onto the stage for a photography session, not entirely sure whether someone who got a 'special mention' is considered an 'award winner', I headed off to the toilet. Then I came out and heard people calling out my name, so I went back into the hall and people were waiting for me!

So I took some photos with the winners and was whisked off to the press conference.

Me and Su-Won addressed the press and took questions.

The Tokyo International Film Fest website quoted some stuff I said. But slightly different in both the Japanese and English pages.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

The 2nd screening of INHALATION + THE TIGER FACTORY in Tokyo International Film Festival

The TPG meetings from the 26th to 28th of Oct went by in a blur. I think it's much more fruitful than the one two years ago, I got to meet more people, got more input for the project, it was a very educational experience.

No photos though, just a photo of Ming Jin and I, with Dustin Nguyen. In between meetings.

Friday, October 29, 2010

The 1st screening of INHALATION + THE TIGER FACTORY in Tokyo International Film Festival

26th of Oct. The 1st screening of INHALATION and THE TIGER FACTORY.

The day began with the TPG (Tokyo Project Gathering) reception. Just like two years ago, Ming Jin and I had a project called 'THE BOOK KEEPER' in the TPG. Some changes were made since then, for example, the opening reception was held on the TIFF Movie Cafe instead of the ballroom in the 49th floor of Roppongi Hills, and that meetings of TPG had been integrated into TIFFCOM (at the 40th floor) instead of being in a separate space at the 49th floor. I elaborated a lot more about the TPG in this blog two years ago.

Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang has a new project called Headshot.

Sylvia Chang, Wilson Chen Bolin and Lin Zaizai (again) at the Taiwan Cinema Party in Tokyo Film Fest 2010

Been quite behind with my updates because I've been so busy at the Tokyo Film Festival in the past few days. Both screenings of INHALATION + THE TIGER FACTORY had ended, so is the TPG (Tokyo Project Gathering) at TIFFCOM, so I have a bit more time now. (still have to head there later this afternoon to be interviewed)

On the 24th of June, the Taiwanese folks had a Taiwan Cinema Party in the Tokyo Film Fest.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Vivian Hsu, Yoshino Kimura and the Tokyo International Film Fest 2010 Green Carpet Event

Yesterday was the opening of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2010.

My recent Pusan Film Fest-winning short film INHALATION (which Ming Jin produced) and Ming Jin's THE TIGER FACTORY (which I produced) are screening under the WINDS OF ASIA section.

Before the green carpet event, we took photos with Vivian Hsu.

With Vivian Hsu, before the Green Carpet event

With Vivian Hsu, before the Green Carpet event 2


I told her that I saw the short film, JULIET'S CHOICE, which she starred in at the Pusan International Film Festival (it was also under the Asian Short Film Competition). JULIET'S CHOICE was initially conceived as part of an omnibus called Juliets, and Juliets is also screening at the Tokyo International Film Fest.

We walked down the green carpet. The TRON 2 folks were in front of us.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Dancing with Juliet Binoche

Yeah, it's not everyday that you get to share the same dance floor with an Oscar-winning actress.

But there I was, last night, at the Wide Angle party in Pusan International Film Fest. Just after the screening of INHALATION.

You'll spot Juliet Binoche, and my sista Kkobbi Kim (from "Breathless", who is probably the poster girl of this year's Pusan Film Fest cos she's in THREE films: MAGIC AND LOSS, ASHAMED and an anime), and also festival director Kim Dong Ho. This festival is Kim Dong Ho's swansong (he had been in charge for 15 years, since its founding).

Oh, Abbas Kiarostami appeared at the 0:34 mark too.


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Hamburg snapshots

Before I launch into my barrage of photos from the Pusan Film Fest, I'm going to post up some photos I took in Hamburg during my time there on 1st-5th Oct.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Rest in peace, Zeg Zeg.

As I've mentioned in my previous post, my uncle, passed away early in the morning yesterday of cardiac arrest. He was 56.

Friday, September 24, 2010

A death in the family

I wanted to post photos of my graduation day on the 20th, or photos of me and mom hanging out at Kamakura on Mid-Autumn Festival two days ago, unfortunately I have to post about this instead.

This morning I received a call from mom. My uncle, dad's youngest brother, had just passed away a few hours before dawn. Cardiac arrest. He was 56. My parents are flying back to Malaysia tomorrow, a day earlier than planned. More about this later.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Babes of Tokyo Game Show 2010

Dear readers, do not be deceived by the title of this blog post. I am definitely NOT encouraging the objectifying of beautiful booth women at the this year's edition of Tokyo Game Show. Like my 'Babes of Tokyo Game Show 2008' post from two years ago, I am now getting up my high horse to voice my personal conflicted feelings towards the beautiful booth women of the Tokyo Game Show.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Trailer of INHALATION

[INHALATION] Mei (Susan Lee Fong Zhi) musing in a butcher shop


Edited this together two nights ago. The music you here in the trailer is the main theme of the short film and is composed by my now-frequent collaborator Wong Woan Foong. Cello performed by Mark Shuping.


video page

Saturday, September 18, 2010

KINGYO cinematographer Josha shot the new SPEED music video, Yubiwa

Now, finally, something not about the screenings of my film.

A few years ago I mentioned my teenage love for the Japanese pop group SPEED.


Speed


They started in 1996, then disbanded in 2000. I was crushed. In 2008, they came back again, I was skeptical. Yet the intensity of my love for SPEED, especially lead vocalist Hiroko Shimabukuro (the tall one), was so intense that I composed silly haiku for her.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Catch KINGYO and a sneak peek of INHALATION at Malaysian Shorts, 20th Sept

UPDATED: This is my short film Kingyo, in its entirety


A while ago, Allan Koay the journalist once asked whether I noticed that my short films looked alike.

I disagree.

Aside from having scenes of brooding young women.


The Maid (Luchino Fujisaki) has a solitary moment
Luchino Fujisaki in KINGYO

[INHALATION] Mei (Susan Lee Fong Zhi) musing in a butcher shop
Susan Lee in INHALATION


And regularly centering around two protagonists walking around somewhere at night, chit-chatting, and reopening old wounds etc etc.

[kingyo] A nocturnal conversation at the carpark

[INHALATION] Seng (Ernest Chong) confronts Mei (Susan Lee)


I think each and every single one of my shorts look different!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

First minute of LOVE SUICIDES at FILMINUTE 2010

[Love Suicides] The woman (Kimmy Kiew) is pensive


(After such a long period of inactivity, I am now bombarding this blog with festival announcements, eek.)

This actually started at the beginning of September, but I didn't mention it due to some, er, distractions.

Anyway. a one-minute incarnation (or rather, the first scene) of my older short film, LOVE SUICIDES (2009), was one of the 25 finalists selected for FILMINUTE 2010, an international one-minute short film festival. I was a little surprised when I was informed last month by the people at the festival that the first scene of LOVE SUICIDES seemed like a 1-min film by itself!

So yeah, after that I decided to extract the scene and sent them as LOVE SUICIDES: PROLOGUE.

Watch it here on the Filminute website. (considering that it's only a minute long, I really don't that it'll waste that much of your time. Hah)

INHALATION also playing at Vancouver and Tokyo International Film Festivals (with THE TIGER FACTORY)

[INHALATION] Seng (Ernest Chong) and Mei (Susan Lee) share a quiet moment at the dock


I mentioned in my previous post that my latest short, INHALATION, is finally making its premiere in competition at the Pusan International Film Festival on the 8th of October.

Actually on the same day (but slightly later, due to timezones), INHALATION will also be opening before THE TIGER FACTORY at the Vancouver International Film Festival. And later in the month of October, INHALATION will also be playing before THE TIGER FACTORY at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

INHALATION on Vancouver International Film Festival site

THE TIGER FACTORY on Vancouver International Film Festival site

I liked the INHALATION synopsis given on the VIFF website.

An alternate version of The Tiger Factory’s narrative, compressed, stretched, and flipped, by its writer/producer.

Monday, September 13, 2010

INHALATION premiering in competition at Pusan International Film Festival

[INHALATION] Seng (Ernest Chong) confronts Mei (Susan Lee)


It's not everyday that you get to plug your own SHORT FILM (!!) at the Cannes Film Festival. But I did just that with INHALATION, back in May, during the press conference of THE TIGER FACTORY, when I was asked about it by Jeremy Segay the moderator and programmer.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Review of THE WHITE FLOWER at J-FIlm Pow-Wow

Zhu Dan and Toru Inamura in THE WHITE FLOWER


Marc Saint-Cyr had posted a review of THE WHITE FLOWER at J-Film Pow-Wow. Here's an excerpt:

Suitably, the still photography used throughout “The White Flower” is incredibly beautiful, possessing much richness, crisp clarity and great attention to framing and lighting in every shot. In fact, viewers are likely to be doubly grateful for the slideshow-like manner in which the shots progress, as it allows them to better savor each image while seeming to magnify and expand each of the contemplative, intimate moments that comprise the film’s episodic structure.

Read the full review!

THE WHITE FLOWER was recently screened at the InDPanda International Short Film Festival in Hong Kong.

Friday, September 03, 2010

THE WHITE FLOWER screening at InDPanda International Short Film Festival

Me, pointing at the still photo of my film, THE WHITE FLOWER
me pointing at the WHITE FLOWER still


Leaving from Hong Kong to Guangzhou the day after the world premiere of THE WHITE FLOWER left me Twitter-less, Facebook-less, Youtube-less and Blogger-less, hence the lack of updates.

So, back to the screening of THE WHITE FLOWER. On the night of the 26th, I finally got to screen my experimental THE WHITE FLOWER to the public at the Broadway Cinematheque.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong

After hearing so much about the Avenue of Stars (it's modeled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), I decided to pay a visit yesterday. I was greeted by the huge replica of the Hong Kong Film Awards statuette.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I was Crossing Hennessy in Hong Kong

Arrived at Hong Kong two days ago, staying at an interesting hotel at Wan Chai called MINGLE BY THE PARK. Here's dad.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Visiting a horror film set.

I arrived in Hong Kong yesterday afternoon (it's 2am when I'm writing this), the night before, Lesly the Cinematographer and Moon Lai the actress of THE TIGER FACTORY and NOW (the 1-min epic I shot last week) went to visit a horror film set.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Trailer of THE WHITE FLOWER

Zhu Dan in THE WHITE FLOWER


This was actually posted on Twitch a while ago (my friends at Toronto J-Film Pow Wow covered it too), but I've been so busy with my own shoots back in Malaysia that I didn't get around to sharing it with you guys.

My experimental short, THE WHITE FLOWER, which I shot last year, is finally making its world premiere at the Hong Kong InDpanda Short Film Festival next week. To commemorate this, I cut together a trailer for the short.

It's an experimental film based on Yasunari Kawabata's short story of the same title, constructed mostly with still photos like Chris Marker's LA JETEE. It's my third Kawabata adaptation after LOVE SUICIDES and KINGYO.

Here's a synopsis.

A young Chinese woman living in Tokyo is haunted by remnants of a forbidden relationship and a dark family past. She ends up in a sanitarium and meets a doctor conflicted between his job and his personal feelings. After being discharged, she meets a wandering Thai filmmaker contemplating the relationship between art and love. Her encounters with them lead to unexpected revelations.



THE WHITE FLOWER is written, directed and edited by me. Produced by Maiko Itagaki. Cinematographer by Niklas Kullstrom (who just got married, congratulations, dude).

Starring Zhu Dan, Toru Inamura and Kong Pahurak (who also took the photo above).

Information of the film from the InDpanda website can be viewed here

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Film shoot for a one-minute epic. Day 2

Moon Lai and Arika, happy to finish the shoot


6 days have passed since I wrapped the shoot of my one-minute epic, titled 'NOW'. Spent two days editing it. It was a tough slog, so many materials I've shot, yet I had to toss most of them away to fit into the 1 minute length. Nonetheless, it was worth the challenge.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Film shoot for a one-minute epic. Day 1

I was shooting my 1-minute epic last night.

Lust, Caution. Moon Lai.


Yes, you read that right. I was making an epic short film that is 1-minute in length. It's not the easiest thing to do, hence the pained expression etched upon my movie star-like face.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Malaysia fattens me.

I've been back in Malaysia for nearly a week. Had been putting together a video shoot for the weekend, pondering the screenplay for my feature-length script, watching movies at home (watched HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, the new KARATE KID, Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA and Herzog's THE WILD BLUE YONDER) and the cinema (well, I just got back from watching DESPICABLE ME)... and er, eating a lot of nice stuff.

I don't really 'miss' Malaysian food when I'm in Tokyo. There are Malaysian restaurants in Tokyo, but I'm happy enough with my usual bentos and ramen (... or McDonald's).

But now that I'm back here, I make the most out of enjoying the food here.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Ah. Catharsis.

On the 3rd of August, I finally put the finishing touch on the music + video installation project I mentioned earlier.

Tao Sha, the actress I used earlier, returned for a quick voice recording session. She was to recite a poem by Phyllis Lin Hui Yin.


Tao Sha going through her lines


The past two months went by in a blur, I can't even actually remember what had happened since I came back from Brest and Brignogan. A few days of being sick, then dealing with the Masters' Thesis presentation, and finally, quickly putting together a few projects to shake off my rust and ennui (that derived from the lack of filmmaking and creative endeavours).

Sunday, August 01, 2010

2nd Screening of KINGYO at SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-CINEMA FILM FESTIVAL

kingyo poster


31st of July, Saturday, was the 2nd screening of KINGYO at the Skip City International D-Cinema Film Fest.

When I reached Skip City, there was some baton twirling action going on.

Friday, July 30, 2010

My new video art project = Poems of Phyllis Lin Huiyin + Andy Warhol's Screen Test

Picture 11


A few weeks ago I was contacted by Huey Ching, also a Malaysian in Japan (and a composer), proposing a collaboration. An experimental festival for live performances and all sorts of music project's coming up soon in Tokyo, she intended to merge her own music performance with videos.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The first KINGYO screening at SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-CINEMA FESTIVAL 2010

27th of July, two days ago, the first screening of KINGYO was held as part of the short film competition program in the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2010.

I was surprised by the amount of audiences, being a Tuesday morning and all. Mine was the last one to play, so I got to watch the other three short films, which were all really diverse in tone and genres: A fantasy black comedy, a cyberpunk samurai actioner, and a coming-of-age tale. Left the hall when KINGYO started playing, so not entirely sure of its reception.

The filmmakers and cast members were all invited onto the stage after the screening to introduce themselves and what they wanted to say about their films.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Q and A session after the LOVE SUICIDES screening at Fuji TV, Odaiba

On Sunday (25th of July, just a day after the opening of the Skip City Film Fest mentioned in my previous post), I headed off to the Fuji TV headquarters in Odaiba for a screening of LOVE SUICIDES. It was part of the SF7 program. SF stands for 'Student Films', seven universities participated, hence the '7'.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The opening of Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2010

Went to the opening ceremony of Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2010. My short film, KINGYO, is in competition. 10 shorts were in competition, it's supposed to be a domestic competition for Japanese shorts only, KINGYO was a Japanese short, but its director ain't a Japanese, so that makes me the token foreigner among the nominees, awesome!

I was actually late, missed all of the opening speeches from the ceremony, but I arrived just in time to be introduced on-stage. When I walked into the place, the conversation between me and the staffer was like that:

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Kazue Fukiishi 吹石一恵 at the Gegege No Nyobo 『ゲゲゲの女房』 world premiere

Nine years ago, when I was just finishing high school, I went to Japan for a family trip. I remember being in a hotel that was known for the hot springs, but what I remember most then was the lobby, where a public service announcement poster of actress/ model Kazue Fukiishi from the fire department was pinned onto the wall.

I vaguely recognized her name (few years earlier I had seen her debut feature in the TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL, a film adapted from a dating simulation... er, yeah), but I was mostly mesmerized by her beauty. That large luminous eyes peering deep into my soul, telling me to be careful not to play with fire, the slight playful smile on her face hinted that she knew secrets of me and would be a willing co-conspirator.

Returning to my room, images of her lingered, and the question that haunted my mind then was... "what if I cannot see this poster again? What if, for the rest of my life, this poster would just be a fleeting image that would just fade off in my mind, along with her name?"

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

3PM, a short film exercise

[3PM] Mika (Yumiko Kitazawa) listens to music


3PM is an exercise from the cinematography class I was taking last year. I remember finishing it around the end of June. Then summer came, and I was mired into some sort of depression, which is what I am pretty much going through now. (Quite odd, it's as if I'm stuck in a time loop like the protagonist of the film.)

I digress.

Anyway, all my rushes (raw footages) of this film had been destroyed when my hard disk died last year (just a few weeks after the film was done), making this a 'lost work' of mine. And I wouldn't exactly classify this as part of my oeuvre since it's really just a class project of sorts.

The film only existed in the form of some DVDs that I managed to burn for myself. There are some works that I've done which I would rather it doesn't see the light of the day, but I had a lot of fun shooting 3PM, with the help of a nice cast and crew. And I wouldn't want the film to disappear just like that, so I might as well upload it online for fun.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I have suffered so long for nothing.

I might be a tormented artist like Van Gogh


It was getting increasingly hard to sleep recently, especially in the past few weeks. I could never understand why.

Monday, July 19, 2010

I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like by Justin Isis

My friend, author Quentin S Crisp, has an important announcement to make.

Dear Readers,

My name is Quentin, but please call me Quentin S. Crisp. I have had the privilege of being interviewed on this blog in the past, and now I would like to address you directly. For some time I have been in correspondence and creative collaboration with Justin Isis, guest writer on this blog. A significant overlap in our aesthetic concerns led us to found the dadaoist blogzine, Chômu. Catching the westering rays of that dying blog (which will perhaps rise again), and taking its name therefrom, a new celestial body has appeared in the publishing firmament: Chômu Press.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Mitama Matsuri at Yasukuni Shrine 2010

Yesterday, I noticed an increase of traffic for last year's blog post about the Mitama Matsuri (or Mitama Festival) at the Yasukuni Shrine. I checked the date and realized that it's exactly been a year (plus a day) since I went to the festival. Last year I went with two of my friends, Zifeng and Yang Yang, it was a fun experience. We went there in the evening, and left after sunset.

It took me a while to decide whether I wanted to go again or not, with a newer camera, I could take much better photos than last year's. Too bad I would be going alone, but then, it's always been the case anyway.

This time, I arrived at the shrine at around 7:30pm. It was already night.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Cannes leftovers

My old laptop died last month and I ended up being forced to get a new one. Well, it was about time anyway, the laptop had been with me for more than 3 years, a usual life span for laptops?

I just opened its hard disk and hooked it up to my new comp just now because I needed to extract some information needed for tomorrow's final Masters' Thesis presentation. Then I saw some of the photos from my last day in Cannes which I have yet to upload on Flickr, and also an earlier video, so here you go.

This video was taken on May 18th, when Professor Ando was bringing us to this nice place for dinner.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Last days in Brignogan

25th of June. Everyone were leaving Brignogan. Before that they were waiting at the hotel lobby, it was the only place where the Wi-Fi signal was decent.


Olga, Lorena and Anita at the unofficial internet room


By evening, almost everyone was gone.

I made my way through the beach...

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Sumptuous feast and fun party during last day of Brignogan workshop

24th of June, last day of the workshop in Brignogan. After the session ended, I was interviewed by a local paper! (Orsi of Hungary, served as translator)

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Trip day in Brignogan

The script workshop sessions in Brignogan were usually held outdoors. How could it be otherwise? The scenery was great, we get to look at the clear blue sea.

Man and Sea!

Me at a Brignogan beach


And here's my teammate Anita of Bratislava, Slovakia, enjoying herself.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Sunrise and sunset, Brignogan-Plages, France

Ah, it's good to be operating in full strength again. After my grievous bout of nosebleed, and the upset tummy that lasted for a couple of days. Every time when I was on the verge of recovering, I would eat something... unhealthy, prolonging the pain, so during the weekend I decided to cut down my meals. It was pretty horrible.

Brignogan-Plages, or simply Brignogan, was where I had my scriptwriting workshops. After spending two days in Brest, a car picked me and a few others up at the train station and took us to Brignogan, a village 30 km away.

It didn't take too long.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Nosebleed

Still suffering from jet lag, I found it difficult to sleep last night. I stayed up the whole night, watching both the Japan - Paraguay match, and the last half hour of the Spain - Portugal match. Stomach felt queasy, another bout of food poisoning-like symptoms were creeping over me, though back then I was unable to pinpoint the actual source of my discomfort, and believed I might be having trouble adjusting to my bed again. (I disregarded the fact that I slept pretty comfortably through the afternoon after I got back from the airport, I thought I was merely too exhausted then to notice the discomfort)

I dozed off finally at 9am and woke up less than 2 hours later, feeling a familiar sensation in my nose. Blood again, was pouring out of my right nostril, profusely. I said 'again', because obviously I am used to this occurrence.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Brest, France. A travelogue of sorts.

Ask me what I thought of Brest, two days earlier, when I was stuck there after missing my flight, I would have launch into an expletive-filled tirade. But now that I've reached Tokyo, and slept through the afternoon, I look at Brest, not with nostalgia, but with acceptance that the place played a rather big role in my latest trip.

My workshop was mostly in Brignogan, which is 30-45 mins away from Brest, by car. But due to circumstances I had never expected, I actually realized I have spent three and a half nights in Brest, compared to the 6 in Brignogan, I ended up becoming quite familiar with the city center. It's unlikely that I would ever return to Brest, it's not one of those places that I would go to for personal reasons. So acknowledging that fact does make me feel a little fonder of the place.

Anyway, a short chronicle of my days in Brest.

Monday, June 28, 2010

In LIMBO!

That was how I felt when I had to stay in Brest for another day.

The initial plan was simple. After writing my last post, I was supposed to go to the Brest station, catch a train to Paris, enjoy the beautiful countryside scenery during the 4-hour train ride, and then after reaching the Charles De Gaulle, sleep at the airport, and take the plane back to Tokyo.

Alas, things didn't work out, I was shell-shocked when there wasn't a train to be caught, and ended up being forced to reschedule my flight. Thus I ended up in Brest for an extra day. It's a frustrating feeling, when all your mind is prepared to go home, and BOOM! Some unforeseeable crap happened, and I ended up being stuck.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Leaving Brignogan, France

Heya folks, I've been in Brignogan, France, for the past week or so. Brignogan is this nice coastal village 30 mins away from Brest. Been so busy with my scripwriting workshop, so no time to really post anything here. I took many pretty photos too, no time to upload either.

It is now 10:53am, a car is supposed to pick me up at 3:30pm and take me to Brest station, where I will have to take a train to Paris (train ride lasts 3-5 hours). After I reach the Paris Airport, I will still wait for another couple of hours before I fly back to Tokyo (the flight is at 7am, next morning). I expect to, well, sleep in the airport.

I brought two books with me for the trip, David Mitchell's CLOUD ATLAS, and Vladimir Nabokov's THE REAL LIFE OF SEBASTIAN KNIGHT. I was already in the last quarter of CLOUD ATLAS, so I finished the book while I was still in the plane. SEBASTIAN KNIGHT turned out to be a much breezier read than expected, I finished that during my first two days in France, even before the beginning of the workshop!

I ended up having to download some e-books via Scribd, and was reading Nabokov's PALE FIRE, and Haruki Murakami's HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD. Despite having mixed feelings of Murakami's works (enjoyed NORWEGIAN WOODS, annoyed with WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLES, liked AFTER DARK, indifferent to most stories in THE ELEPHANT VANISHES), many have actually said that some of my works reminded them of his stories. I would say that it's coincidence, since, for the past two years, I live in the same dormitory that he used to live in, go the same university that he goes in. I like listening to jazz too. 9 years ago, when I was studying for SPM, the final government exams for secondary school in Malaysia, I had Duke Ellington blaring from my CD player. Sometimes, I would also humorously liken my improvisational filmmaking methods to those of a jazz musician.

Anyway, I'm enjoying HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD, although I would say that overall, I still prefer David Mitchell as a writer (though he's clearly influenced by Murakami). So yup, another day drifting by while I prepare my long trip back to Tokyo.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Cannes Day 9: Moon Lai's Photoshoot

The last day in Cannes was quite uneventful. All the pressure and stress we had leading towards our screening were finally gone. We could finally just enjoy the festival and the place, it's a little unfortunate that our screening took place towards the end of the festival, otherwise we could have had more relaxing days like this.

Monday, June 14, 2010

VIDEO: Talking about my new short, INHALATION at THE TIGER FACTORY press conference at Cannes Film Festival

Had been shutting myself away from the rest of the world working on a new film treatment.

Then, my comp died.

I ended up doing the writing at Saizerya (a Japanese "family restaurant" similar to Denny's) in the past few hours.

Will continue writing that.

But for now, take a look at a video from THE TIGER FACTORY press conference at the Cannes Film Festival on the 21st of May, 2001, just before its official screening. Jeremy Segay moderated the Q and A, those present were Ming Jin (the producer-writer-director), me (the producer-writer-editor) and Moon Lai (or Fooi Mun, the lead actress).

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Cannes Day 8: The Tiger Factory day!

Spent the entire last week trying to finish up my Master's Thesis. It's due end of this month, but I had other things to do, so had to get it done earlier. I succeeded.

Now, on with my penultimate post for the Cannes trip.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Cannes Day 7: Pretty uneventful aside from the Directors' Fortnight Party

Nothing happened on my 7th day in Cannes. That was the 20th of May, just a day before our press conference and screening. We continued going around giving out invitations to friends and people who were interested in catching THE TIGER FACTORY.

After that we bumped into Lee, editor of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's eventual Palm D'or winning 'UNCLE BOONME WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES', and the actress Wallapa (who played the princess in the film). We went off to have some kebab. Lee gave us tickets to the Uncle Boonme gala screening too, awesome!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Cannes Day 6: Lee Chang Dong's Poetry

Been busy writing my masters thesis (due end of June), giving my mid-term thesis presentation in Wednesday (just two days after I got back from Cannes) and being repeatedly pestered to give advice for someone else's graduate film project that I had no time to update my blog.

19th of May. Went to the gala screening of Lee Chang Dong's Poetry. That was probably the highlight of that day, I can't remember anything else from that day.