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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

We Have Lost Even This Twilight: Remembering my trip to Pablo Neruda's houses in 2007

Last night, a friend posted on Facebook a Chinese translation of Pablo Neruda's CLENCHED SOUL (which was retitled as "We have lost even this twilight", just like the original Spanish title).

我們甚至失去了黃昏
詩/聶魯達 譯/李宗榮

我們甚至失去了黃昏的顏色。
當藍色的夜墜落在世界時,
沒人看見我們手牽著手。

從我的窗戶中我已經看見
在遙遠的山頂上落日的祭典。

有時候一片太陽
在我的雙掌間如硬幣燃燒。

在你熟知的我的哀傷中
我憶及了你,靈魂肅斂。

彼時,你在哪裡呢?
那裡還有些什麼人?
說些什麼?
為什麼當我哀傷且感覺到你遠離時,
全部的愛會突如其然的來臨呢?

暮色中如常發生的,
書本掉落了下來,
我的披肩像受傷的小狗踡躺在腳邊。

總是如此,
朝暮色抹去雕像的方向
你總是藉黃昏隱沒。

Clenched Soul

We have lost even this twilight.
No one saw us this evening hand in hand
while the blue night dropped on the world.

I have seen from my window
the fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

Sometimes a piece of sun
burned like a coin in my hand.

I remembered you with my soul clenched
in that sadness of mine that you know.

Where were you then?
Who else was there?
Saying what?
Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly
when I am sad and feel you are far away?

The book fell that always closed at twilight
and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

Always, always you recede through the evenings
toward the twilight erasing statues.

Seeing the poem, I cannot help but remember my pilgrimage to his three houses, La Chascona, La Sebastiana and Isla Negra, in Chile back in 2007. Has it been six years already? It felt like another life. I was in Chile for the Santiago Film Festival (SANFIC), it was the first ever film festival I attended either as a producer or a director. I went there for Ming Jin's THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA, and stayed in Chile two days after the festival ended so that I could visit all of the houses.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

The idea of attending a friend's wedding had always been...

The idea of attending a friend's wedding had always been a scary one. They remind him of the passing of time, or his inability to find love.

Yet this was an invitation that he was unable to turn down.

Monday, September 09, 2013

Honen-in Temple and Junichiro Tanizaki


I'm at Kansai Airport while I'm writing this, waiting to fly away.

Yesterday, I visited the famed Ginkakuji Temple and took a stroll through the Philosopher's Path. I wasn't sure what to expect from this solitary journey, except to be alone with my thoughts as I absorb the sights, the sounds, the scent of this historic place.

There were some temples and shrines along the way, I decided to pick one randomly to visit.

A stroll through Ginkakuji Temple and the Philosopher's Path

By the time this is posted on the blog, I am a few hours away from flying back to Malaysia.

On Saturday, I got sidetracked by cheerleaders and cosplayers at Heian Temple, and then by a great art exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, when I was on my way to Ginkaku-ji 銀閣寺, the Temple of Silver Pavilion. By the time I reached Ginkaku-ji in the evening, I was already closed.

Therefore, Sunday, my final day in Kyoto, I decided to rectify this regret of mine by heading straight to Ginkaku-ji right after lunch.

To experience the place for myself.

So I entered Ginkakuji (which is officially known as Jisho-ji 慈照寺).

Sunday, September 08, 2013

GLORIA & LEON, a video installation by Miwa Yanagi

The original plan yesterday was to visit Ginkakuji and walk the Philosopher's Path, but my plans were foiled by a sudden afternoon rain.

So I took shelter at the National Museum of Modern Arts, Kyoto, and also bought a ticket to check out their "Reading Cinema, Finding Words: Art after Marcel Broodthaers" exhibition.

This is how the exhibition was described on the Museum website:

Cheerleaders and Cosplayers at Heian Shrine, Kyoto

Cosplayer girl at Heian Shrine

I've been in Kyoto the past few days because I was invited to screen my short films and give a talk at Kyoto University on the 6th of September.


The following day, I decided to explore Kyoto. (my last visit in Kyoto was December 31, 2008, and chronicled on this epic video, that's a lifetime ago) My first thought was to go to the Philosopher's Path and the legendary Ginkaku-ji for a leisurely stroll. My last visit there was in 1999-2000, my memories of that place were entirely hazy.

After lunch, I hopped onto a bus, heading towards my intended destination.

However, when I passed by Heian Shrine 平安神宮, a few things caught my eye:

Saturday, August 24, 2013

WATCH: Video of the 3 DOORS OF HORRORS world premiere

I mentioned that 3 DOORS OF HORRORS (which features my new short film FLOATING SUN) has been uploaded on Youtube last Saturday. But prior to that, we actually had two great physical screenings of the omnibus film.

WATCH: 3 DOORS OF HORRORS 鬼節:三重門, a 45-minute horror omnibus film (featuring my new short film FLOATING SUN)

The first poster of FLOATING SUN

3 DOORS OF HORRORS 鬼節:三重門, which my new short film FLOATING SUN is a part of, was uploaded on Youtube a week ago.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Directing 101 with Edmund Yeo

Another four more days and everyone will get to watch 3 DOORS OF HORRORS on Youtube, the omnibus film that my new short film FLOATING SUN is part of.

FLOATING SUN features a floating corpse, and it wasn't easy to tell my actress how to not just act as a floating corpse, but to become one.

Luckily, produce James Lee had managed to snap a few important shots of my efforts in directing these challenging scenes, and he had posted this on Facebook, which cracked me up.

Directing 101 with Edmund Yeo

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Introducing Ng Ken Kin and Leroy Low (the other two directors of the "3 Doors of Horrors" omnibus)

I first met Ng Ken Kin and Leroy Low, the other two directors of "3 DOORS OF HORRORS" in March, when James Lee gathered us all for a meeting about the omnibus project. Each of us has vastly different backgrounds, Ken Kin is a veteran in the film and TV industry who had done quite a lot of short films and TV programs. Leroy is a young music video director who had done a few music videos with some of the most popular Chinese pop stars in the country during the last two years.

"3 Doors of Horrors" (omnibus with my latest short film) on The Hollywood Reporter

August 17th, exactly a week from now, my new short film FLOATING SUN, which is part of the "3 DOORS OF HORRORS" omnibus horror will be launched online.

It's great to see this being covered by The Hollywood Reporter yesterday.