Q and A session for WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER at CineMalaysia

On the 30th of May, the screening of Woo Ming Jin's WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER was held right after the screening of my short films at CineMalaysia Film Festival (a film festival for Malaysian films held in Tokyo).

Q & A session for my short films screening at CineMalaysia Film Festival

I have just spent three nights in Tokyo to attend the CineMalaysia Film Festival シネ・マレーシア, a great film festival organized in Tokyo to show Malaysian films. This was its inaugural edition. The film festival ran from the 24th to the 31st of May. I was around for the last two days.

James Lee uploaded his entire 2009 feature film, CALL IF YOU NEED ME 黑夜行路 on Youtube

These days, the Malaysian director and independent film pioneer James Lee had been uploading his works on his Youtube channel Doghouse73pictures. Both short films and feature films, from his earliest to his latest.

Last month, in April, he uploaded his 2005 breakthrough film THE BEAUTIFUL WASHING MACHINE (one of the seminal films of the Malaysian New Wave) in its entirety.

Today, in conjunction with its screening at the CineMalaysia in Tokyo (a new film festival that is showing only Malaysian films), James has uploaded his 2009 gangster film CALL IF YOU NEED ME 黑夜行路 online for us all to see.

Set photos from the Buddyz 2 TV shoot

(On the set of Buddyz 2, with the iconic kombi van and some yellow umbrellas. The guy in yellow and seated in the background is actor Shaheizy Sam, reading the script)

Last year, I made a passing mention that I was involved in a TV shoot for a series of 5-minute episodes called Buddyz. The series started airing last June.

Discussing the short film medium

Back in January, I was on Kenneth Chaw's The Star article "Short Films starting to appeal to a bigger audience", discussing about my thoughts on short films. Filmmaker James Lee and Youtube sensation Jinnyboy were interviewed too.

Prior to that, Kenneth had actually done a very lengthy email interview with me in preparation for his article. While a number of my quotes were in the final article, I thought I would like to share our entire discussion with everyone. I'm doing it now, with Kenneth's permission. (In truth, I have wanted to do this since January, but, ah, I never had the time.)

So, here we go.

Kenneth's questions are in bold.
My answers will just be... normal text.

WATCH: James Lee's award-winning film, THE BEAUTIFUL WASHING MACHINE

The Malaysian director James Lee's Youtube channel, doghouse73pictures had become increasingly interesting recently. Not only is he uploading his short films online, both new and old, he's also uploading his full-length films online so that everyone can watch them.

RIP Roger Ebert

I woke up to sad news of Roger Ebert's passing.

Shibuya at dusk captivates me

I was in Shibuya yesterday evening before I headed off to Haneda Airport for my flight back to Malaysia.

Even though I have been in Tokyo for five years, I still find myself discovering something new all the time. And the joy and surprises of these tiny discoveries can sometimes accumulate into something wonderful.

For example, I don't think I've ever seen Shibuya at dusk looking like this.