ShoutOUT!: Perspectives Film Festival 2010

Have a rockstar treatment in Perspective Film Festival 2010!

PERSPECTIVES Film Festival 2010 presents a series of films that break the boundaries of reality and story-telling as we know it. Documentary, fiction, experimental cinema – these films use bold and unconventional techniques to collapse and merge reality and fiction, creating a whole new world on screen. Enter this world with us.

Looks like "beetle" has found its old nature...

Into its 3rd year this year,we bring to you "Breaking Through Reality".

Titles to be featured in this festival...

Waltz With Bashir

Gimme Shelter

Russian Ark

24 City

Ten

—----------------------------------------------

The PERSPECTIVES Film Festival is an annual event organised by students of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, under the guidance of mentors from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information. Each year, a new committee is carefully screened and selected from the student population to undertake the behemoth task of organizing this event.

Just Come LAH!

Signing Off~!

Filament 2010 - A Light in the Darkness by Liew Shi Xiong

My heart sinks a little everytime I see a painstakingly put-together period short film (by a young group of people) not quite reaching the audiences it is meant to reach. They seem to occupy a strange spot in the whole ecosystem of films. They often reflect a certain fascination or fetish towards re-creating an old period on film, hence the payoff for the filmmakers is often in the fun of making these films. Yet, the young directors who are making these period shorts, often lack the life experience and maturity to pitch their stories at a credible level or to deliver the soul and spirit of a time in the distant past. And often, the budget do not suffice making it look commercially polished enough to reach out to a wider audience. 

But that is not discourage filmmakers from shooting what they care for, more to brace them for what may not seem so rosy after they have hung up the costumes, shelved the props and dropped the funny archaic mode of speech. 'A Light in the Darkness' carries a strong Buddhist overtone and message. It centres around a Buddhist monk in Singapore, during the Japanese Occupation, who supported relief efforts in China and also sheltered droves of refugees. In portraying this tiny episode of his life, we witness a beacon of courage in a dark period of history. The film does not tread new ground as there have been a dozen WWII films about acts of courage. But Shi Xiong's choice of a simple message and its singular focus on one character makes this film rather effective and well pitched for a relatively young person's understanding of a complex event. 

It is ironic that the film is actually quite visually dark for its title! This is where there seems a natural distinction between the works of the NTU ADM students and the NTU WKW Sch of Comms students. you would expect the latter to be less technically adept since the focus of their course is different. A lot more can also be done to enhance the production value of the film from the location to the shooting format. And I am sure not all are expensive to create.

Filament 2010 - Sol Chang (Elephants on the Streets) by Low Ting Yi

In comparison with the other films screened, this film stands out as the most meticulously painstakingly put-together piece. The back story is thoroughly researched. The filmmakers have spent time pulling enough strings to get close enough to the people and of course the gentle giants. The situations captured reflect a level patience form the filmmakers because those priceless screen moments take time to appear, and often without warning.

The core of the subject matter aside, what is also striking is that Ting Yi has thought about the issue from additional angles. This includes establishing a point about the religious reverene of elephants in Thai culture and also getting another facet of the story from an NGO that seeks to sustainably bring mahouts (and their elephants) back to the villages from they cam from. 

A competent documentary addresses an issue cogently and maturely. But sometimes, we love those transcendental moments where we indulge a little, get lost in the soul of the topic a little and even get emotionally connected. These are the gems that will make us remember the films as not just a presentation of hard facts. For me, there was one here - when the young elephant swayed to the rhythm of folksy Thai pop at the go go bar as it received its garland, as if it could identify itself as being as Thai as anyone out in the streets.

Filament 2010 - Riding East by Melissa Foo

This skit-ish crowd pleasing narrative drama demonstrates some common gimmicks a film could use to hold our suspension of belief in watching a film. It sounds unkind but it is apparent the film seeks to entertain deliberately and not without results. 

The story goes that Timothy and Beng (more imaginative names please) are two people brought together because of Timothy's sister Zoe being allegedly made pregnant by Beng. So they go find Zoe. The two boys get into a string of sticky situations as they bumble along on Beng's motorbike. A lot of goofy humour underlie this journey. They go from bumping into a 'uncle' who called them 'Ah Qua' to being extorted in a 7-11 store to losing their motorbike. Along the way, Timothy meets a waifish damsel in distress who needs help with her car. Complementing the whole 'road-movie' feel to this is a dash of coincidences, a peppering of misunderstandings and drizzlings of serendipitous meetings. 

Sounds formulaic? Not that the filmmakers care I think. The film is simply meant to take us for a good amusement ride. And what street-wise 'drivers' we have, cracking us up along the way with punchlines like 'You want your Honda or me?', 'I take you to see Santa Claus' and the reference to a 'Gold Tap' by the little girl. It's kooky, it's cheesy, it's campy. I give up. Just laugh along la.

Filament 2010 - Masperati by Valerie Toh

It was like being caught in the middle of 3 conversations. What a way to kick off Filament’s annual grad showcase. On one thread, there is the theme of domestic abuse, on another, is a Orwellean debate on cultural assimilation. The final thread is really a conversational autopsy (about the disappearance of their friends) between 3 filmmakers whose feelings tend to cloud our perception of the issues.

Are you already muddled? Well, ‘Masperati’ is a fictional town where people live in a sort of homogenous bliss, where pecularities are not tolerated and there is no concept of ethnicity. Its residents accept, with ambivalence, the unspoken rules of living what seems like a pseudo-utopia. 2 people brave some uncertain risks to document life in ‘Masperati’, interviewing people and sneaking forbidden shots into their camera. In their stay, they capture undercurrents of fear and an overriding sense of ‘cultural-genocide’. Unfortunately, their trip became fateful and all that was left was their footages.

The film operates on several levels and in fact, too many for a clear message to emerge. The re-creation of a culturally homogenous village is a brave attempt at realizing a hypothetical concept that may look awkward on screen unless it is meticulously directed. What appears in ‘Masperati’ is a more casual, free-wheeling play with a loose concept. The shoddy appearance of the production also points me towards the thought that I should appreciate it for its ideas. What is clearly and strongly delivered is the disturbing issue of cultural assimilation. I also like the fact that they did not overdo the utopia ‘look’ in the re-creation. It just looked like a remote village.

However, what diluted its message was the conversation between the 3 filmmakers which served to guide our understanding of what happened. I felt it did the opposite. 2 viewpoints were presented - one feels it is simply domestic abuse while the other discerns cultural killing. They don't quite measure up, in fact, the former seems to inconsequential to the point of the film. This makes one wonder what the point of the disagreement between the viewpoints is for.  

Getting lost in the village of Masperati is a intriguing, unnerving and even spooky experience. But there is something very compelling in it that leads you on to explore further. It even leaves you with questions about the society we live. But getting lost in the film 'Masperati' is less of a fulfilling experience. Literally following the arguments and the narrative leads to nausea. It seems a lot more can be felt when a lot less is done.

Filament 2010 - can we find the next Tan Pin Pin here?

Filament is an annual graduation showcase of the works of students from the NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communications. They are not to be confused with the students from the NTU ADM course. The ADM-ers get more technical and methodical in their pursuit of the film discipline. Here, stories and issues are key. Once you've got that, just grab the camera and go. 

The 2 hosts of the evening were sturdy and even funny. I would expect to see them on TV soon.

One of the guests of honour, Prof  Adam Knee waits in eager anticipation of his students labour of love.

Sandwiched by SINdie - Darren (left) and myself grabbed the effervescent host for a picture.