Edmund Yeo

The year is about to end, before it does I want to write about the International Film Festival of Kerala, which happened from Dec 8 to Dec 15, 2017 (I was there from Dec 7 to Dec 16, stayed throughout the duration of the festival). AQÉRAT was having its Indian premiere at the festival, as an opening film of its brand new section, Uprooted: Films on Identity & Space , which are mostly films about refugees, displacement and search for identity. The last time I ever been to India was 2007, so it took ten years to revisit the country. And Trivandrum, the city where the festival was held, was both familiar (reminds me of certain places in Malaysia) and not (the amazing audiences, the passion people have for cinema, it's one of a kind) Each screening venue were huge auditoriums or theatres with a capacity of more than 800 people, with some of them seemingly meant for thousand over audiences. And having attended many screenings at the festival, it was amazing to see that the s

I am now waiting to fly off to India for the Kerala International Film Festival. I haven't been to India for 10 years, so I'm quite excited. I have to say that my previous trip was a memorable one. It was a month, I went to cities like Bangalore, New Delhi, and then going to places like Varanasi, Bodh Gaya etc. to make my pilgrimage. I was traveling with a Tibetan Rinpoche and a lama, I experienced the country in many different ways, from its beauty to its horrors, with images that seared into my mind until now. 10 years ago, I went to India, and after that, to Chile, I was 23. it was 2007. That was the year I met Woo Ming Jin and started a decade of collaboration, that was a year before I continued my studies in 2008. It cannot believe it's already been 10 years even though it did feel like a lifetime ago. But before India, I would like to share with you all a video recap painstakingly shot by TK Cheng, Aqérat's line producer, assistant director, production designer

This journal has existed since 2004, witnessing my days as a university student in Perth with dreams of filmmaking to the actual embarkation of my filmmaking journey. And thus it has witnessed many of my adventures and greatest triumphs, from my student short films in Murdoch during 2006 to directing a Japanese short film, KINGYO, that got into Venice Film Festival in 2009 to writing and producing Woo Ming Jin's TIGER FACTORY that got invited to the Director's Fortnight at Cannes Film Fest in 2010, and then winning the Sonje Award for Best Asian Short Film the same year at Busan Film Fest with another short film, INHALATION. There are a lot of ups and downs, though I'm sure I don't really write the downs that much. Exactly a month ago, November 3rd 2017, I received an award for Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival, for my latest film AQÉRAT (We, The Dead). My lead actress Daphne Low, who had worked with me since 2013 for the short film FLOATING

When it comes to filmmaking, I always have this yearning to shoot it at places I've never been to before. Every new project, we'll have to go somewhere we've never been to before, I think it coincides with my love for traveling. The past few weeks I've been visiting Kampung Bagan Sungai Lima (the "fifth river" in Malay), the village on this island are mostly on stilts. A quiet sleepy town, where people travel around only by walking or bicycles, it's almost as if I were transported somewhere else in time. Location scouting A post shared by Edmund Yeo (@edmundyeo) on Aug 9, 2017 at 12:09am PDT Ocean of dried shrimps A post shared by Edmund Yeo (@edmundyeo) on Aug 9, 2017 at 6:38pm PDT Waiting for a storm that never came. A post shared by Edmund Yeo (@edmundyeo) on Aug 9, 2017 at 10:40pm PDT A room with a view. A post shared by Edmund Yeo (@edmundyeo) on Aug 12, 2017 at 1:03am PDT Jetty of Five Rivers A post shared by Edmund Yeo (@edmundyeo) on Au

The great filmmaker Edward Yang passed away exactly 10 years ago. That was 2007. I remember it most for being the year I got into the film industry. It was that one year between my return from Perth (late 2006) and my subsequent relocation to Tokyo (April Fool 2008). 5 years ago, to mark the 5th anniversary of his passing, I wrote this post about his films. In that post, I remembered and chronicled my experiences of watching four of his films. (in this order) YI YI, THE TERRORIZERS, BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY and A CONFUCIAN CONFUSION. On the first time I saw YI YI: In the course of the film's 3-hour running time, I found myself mesmerized and amazed by the novelistic scope of the film, which seemed to cover every single aspect of humanity in the film. It was an absolutely rich experience, that the film would follow the lives of a typical Taiwanese family in the span of a year, beginning with a wedding and ending with a death, and the middle of it, we see the Father reminis

Exactly a week ago, I was taking a plane to Langkawi for a wedding. A few hours before I flew off, I paid my respects to Auntie Tan, a dear family friend who passed away the night before. While I was flying I wrote a post to remember her. I am writing this while I’m flying to Langkawi for a wedding. It’s one of those pleasant flights where I’m fortunate enough to have an entire row for myself. Too bad the flight is so short. Right now, I want to write about a very dear family friend who had just passed away yesterday. All these years, I’ve called her “Auntie Tan”. A great friend of my mom’s, a person our entire family had been very fond of. This morning before going to the aiport, I went to her house to pay my last respects. That was the least I could do. I was going to miss her funeral for a wedding, it almost felt like a dark cosmic twist. “Always cheerful, always smiling and always laughing, this is how I will always remember you. Thank you.” I said in my heart as

I'm now hanging out at Starbucks, supposedly trying to write. What I'm supposed to write: New script. A tale of two sisters told through multiple timelines, a merging of past and present, dream and reality. It is supposed to happen in Japan and Malaysia. What I am writing now instead: This journal entry. An observation of an old man seated next to me. For the past two hours, ever since I came in, the old man had been sitting here, his table covered entirely with newspapers. He had been staring at the papers, but I'm not sure whether he is reading it. He hasn't been flipping the pages, so I'm really curious whether he is reading or staring. There are two cups before him, paper cups from Starbucks. He was just drinking water, no coffee in sight. He had not been ordering anything at all. I think I've seen a similar old man in a Starbucks at a different mall, I wonder whether it's the same guy. I find myself remembering those sleepless nights tha

Whenever I'm in the midst of writing a new script, I often try to dig into my own memories. Either they are events from my past, or people I've met, or something I've read. It becomes some heightened state of awareness, where I begin remembering things I thought I remember. At the same time too, I wonder whether what I remember had really happened or were they just product of my imagination manifested because of my loneliness. There's always my memory of a person whose existence I gradually starting to question, as no one else seem to remember her at all. No sign of her on Facebook (her name was too common). No memory of her voice as we had never spoken to one another. (I was shy ...?) My last memory of her was my last day as the president of the English Language Club in high school. I was Form 5 and stepping down, my (handpicked) successor was someone from Form 6. (my choice was either a Form 4 junior whose work ethics I questioned, or a Form 6 outsi

It is 3:30 am in the morning. I was trying to write on this journal an entry about a new project of mine called YASMIN-SAN, which is either a documentary or a film essay. I thought I had to write about it because I was about to start recording my own voiceovers for the film. I'm generally camera-shy and self-conscious (I don't appear in my own films), the idea of recording MY OWN VOICE for a film project left me a little uncomfortable. But YASMIN-SAN is going to be screened in public two weeks from now, so I don't have much of a choice! 9 years ago, I attempted a film essay called FLEETING IMAGES. It happened a few weeks after I moved to Tokyo. Adjusting to a new life in a new country, I clung on to my lifelong love: cinema and literature. I brought many DVDs with me to watch, one of them happened to be Chris Marker's SANS SOLEIL. After I watched it in one lovely Spring afternoon, I realized my life was changed, my senses realigned, and it opened up to me the infinite

Last month, I suddenly made the decision to go to Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, firstly because I've never been to Yubari before, secondly because the festival coincided with my birthday, and I thought spending my birthday in the snow would be great. I will now post these to help myself remember. And so I went. Due to my flight getting delayed, I ended up having to take the more convoluted route there. Usually there would be a direct bus to Yubari from Shin-Chitose Airport (close to Sapporo), but the bus only runs until 6pm. After that I had no choice but to take the train, which involved switching lines, and waiting in near empty stations. It was quite atmospheric. Shin Yubari station. I was happy to see the snow. For a while I thought I was the only person there. A post shared by Edmund Yeo (@edmundyeo) on Mar 4, 2017 at 3:23am PST

Ah yes, during the end of February, I was directing four documentary shorts for Channel News Asia, it was a one week shoot and each segment is only 2-3 minutes. The shoot took me to a few different cities and places, time for preparation was pretty short. I believed I was approached to direct them less than a week before the actual shoot. Nevertheless, I had fun. And here are some photos (and videos) I took during the shoot.

When was the last time I have actually posted here? Probably nearly 6 months ago, during the Tokyo International Film Festival. The truth is, ever since I figured that I can automatically post my Instagram posts here, I have gotten lazy. But somehow, my Instagram pictures stopped appearing it, it's quite a bummer, but it means that I have to return and actually WRITE here. To my imaginary audience of one. In that amount of time since I was gone, I have shot my new feature film, "Aqérat". That was late December. Been working on it since then. "Aqérat", which means "life after death" in the Rohingyan language, tells the story of a desperate young woman named Hui Ling (played by regular collaborator Daphne Low) who gets involved in human trafficking. It's about the recent Rohingyan migrant crisis that had been happening the past few years, it's also a love story. Film is shot in the Northern state of Kelantan, which is really close to th

House across the road is on fire (Check out more photos from my Instagram account .)

For the first day of Chinese New Year, we always eat vegetarian food. Usually it's a delicious pot of "Vegetarian Bah Kut Teh" made by Auntie Hui Qing and brought to us in the morning. (Check out more photos from my Instagram account .)

Love pineapple tarts during Chinese New Year. Chicken shaped pineapple tarts? Even better. (Check out more photos from my Instagram account .)

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! (Check out more photos from my Instagram account .)

He's planking. (Check out more photos from my Instagram account .)

Looking forward to going to school (Check out more photos from my Instagram account .)

Been staying here for nearly 30 years, still like the view a lot. (Check out more photos from my Instagram account .)