Tuesday, October 16, 2007

this what we really called "Malaysia Boleh"

Liew Seng Tat's double win of the New Currents Award and the KNN Audience Award at PIFF with Flower in the Pocket tends to overshadow the substantial Malaysian presence there this year.
PIFF's Special Programs in Focus had 3 sections:
1. Three Colors of New Malaysian Cinema
2. Remapping of New Asian Auteur Cinema 3: Dariush Mehrjui
3. Edward Yang: The Memory of Taipei.
In the Malaysian section, apart from Flower in the Pocket which was in competition for the New Currents Award, 8 other films were shown:
5 features:
Mukhsin (Yasmin Ahmad)
Apa Khabar Orang Kampung (Amir Muhammad)
Waiting for Love (James Lee; world premiere)
Dancing Bells (Deepak Menon)
Cinta (Kabir Bhatia)
...and 3 short films (all world premieres):
1. As I Lay Dying (Ho Yuhang)
2. Nobody's Girlfriend (Tan Chui Mui)
3. Blue Roof (Woo Ming Jin)
Yasmin, Yuhang, James & Seng Tat and myself were present at PIFF as festival guests.
PIFF also co-hosted with Pusan National University a seminar on Three Colors of New Malaysian Cinema at which the Malaysian panelists (James, Yuhang, Yasmin, Seng Tat and myself) spoke on various aspects of the indie scene. PIFF also published a nice booklet with nice pics titled (what else) Three Colors of New Malaysian Cinema, with essays by Hassan Muthalib, Khoo Gaik Cheng & myself.
We also sponsored a Malaysian party on night of Sunday 7 Oct! Unfortunately, the rain prevented the full complement of guests from attending, after a leaking roof at the original venue, the PIFF Pavilion, forced us to move to Monaco Bar & Restaurant. Variety's daily paper reported in its Pusan parties round-up: "Throughout the night, rumors of what was happening in the Malaysian party trickled out, the most consistent one being that the best sushi in town was served there". Yeah, the food was nice, but then there were at least 3 other parties that night, so people were spoilt for choice.
Despite the inclement weather, spirits were not dampened, and it was gratifying to welcome supporters of the new Malaysian cinema (friends, fans, programmers, journalists, scholars, festival directors) as guests, including festival warrior Kim Dong-ho and Asian Film Market director Park Kwang-su. We were honoured and humbled by their presence.
There never was weather like this before at PIFF. Opening night in the huge Outdoor Theater at the Yachting Center looked set to be a disaster, but remarkably guests brave enough to venture to the seats in the rain found packets containing plastic raincoats there ready to shield them from the intermittent rain that plagued the night's proceedings.
The party was listed in the events list as being hosted by the Malaysian Embassy. Not true. There was no official Malaysian involvement in any part of the program at all - no press, no sponsorship, nothing.
PIFF's Special Focus aims to showcase new Asian indie cinema every year. When it focused on Indonesia a few years ago, the Indonesian Embassy hosted a reception. It did so even this year although there was only a couple of Indonesian films in the program. Our party was sponsored by kind souls Yasmin and Pete Teo and friends, and Kelab Seni Filem. PIFF paid for the rental of the alternative venue (Monaco) - a cool 2,000,000 won.
Pete Teo was supposed to perform at the PIFF Village next to PIFF Pavilion one hour before the Malaysian party. He too got washed out. But no matter; Pete had had his moment of glory when he was introduced as an actor on 3 gigantic screens and walked the red carpet on the opening night in full glare of the bright lights and a crowd of thousands in the Outdoor Theater.
Korean audiences went gaga over our films. They're certainly some of the most serious, devoted and intelligent cinema audiences in the world. Yuhang and James already have fan followings at Pusan. To them this year were added Yasmin's and Seng Tat's. Signing fan autographs must now be a bore for Yasmin, but Seng Tat was elated by the experience.
Seng Tat's win is a great (and perhaps unprecedented) encore for Malaysian cinema. Mui won the same award last year with Love Conquers All (shared with Yang Heng's Betelnut (China)). Although initial post-screening feedback was favourable for Flower in the Pocket, we thought strong vibes for Thailand's Wonderful Town (dir Aditya Assarat) indicated a convincing victory. Almost everyone we met was singing its praises. As it turned out, Seng Tat swept the field by winning both the New Currents Award (USD30,000) as well as the KNN Audience Award (USD20,000, given by the KNN Cultural Foundation to the most popular film in the New Currents section). Astonishingly, it was the top choice of the three titles in the jury vote, over Wonderful Town and Life Track (dir Jin Guang Hao, China/Korea). (The jury deliberated for 5 hours, according to inside info provided by Tony Rayns.) According to an AFP report posted by Amir Muhammad, jury head Dariush Mehrjui said, "We had great difficulty finding the winners, even though there were three to find. Luckily things did not get violent in the jury room but we had long debates". Obviously new-fangled cinema did not go down well for some of them (perhaps Dariush Mehrjui, veteran Iranian director?). Perhaps younger members of the jury won the day for Seng Tat - like Nan Yu (China's award-winning actress who starred in Lunar Eclipse and this year's Berlinale Golden Bear winner Tuya's Marriage (both directed by Wang Quan An), and Cristian Mungiu (Romanian director of this year's Palme d'Or winner 4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days).
Flower was funded by Tan Chui Mui's 2006 New Currents prize money. In true Malaysian indie spirit, Seng Tat said his money would fund Mui's next film.
There were many more Malaysians present at PIFF this year -
Mahyidin Mustakim & Bala (Finas) for AFCNet meeting
Kamil & Ismal (MDeC) for AFCNet meeting, who again kindly provided space at the market for our filmmakers to put up promo materials
Michael Chuah & Winnie (promoting their film Seed of Darkness)
Zahrin & Norman (KL Int Film Festival)
Zarina Abdullah & Ummi Khaltoum Abdullah (team from "Chermin")
Actress Deanna Yusof
Irwan, Vignes & Liang Huei (students at Korean National Univ of Arts)
Abdul Mutalib Awang (Dir of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Bd, Seoul)
Darryl (this year's sole PIFF Asian Film Academy candidate from Malaysia)
- yes, a very large Malaysian presence at Pusan. Would that there was more unity of purpose and action.

wong tuck cheong

Thursday, August 16, 2007

lama menyepi?...ku..ku..ku dari kejauhan

pastinya sebab malas..

....kenapa tak berkongsi coretan...?????

"mereput"..(kita belajar kimia tentang proses pereputan-sengaja mengelarkan diri ini haiwan@tumbuhan..)

aktiviti sepanjang musim cuti panas sekolah yang tak membawa pulangan duit melainkan kegembiraan, letih dan makan percuma..

ekstra ciput bersama director short sebelum ni(The Villians) satu indipenden feature..scene konon2 parti malam filem festival..

tgh prepare graduation show budak tari Korean - gua handle bahagian visual@camera..

tgh buat shortlist graduation project tuk short budak broadcast China - shoot pakai HD kot..gua handle camera

gua lama lagi grad sih!..cis

tolong cameo tuk muzik video DJ indipenden - director dia muda lagi, tua dalam 2 tahun umur gua..work dah sampai Cannes.. DJ tu cool gak..mula2 main heavy metal..tukar punya tukar..la ni one man band..shoot hunjung minggu ni..gaya ala2 Micheal Gondry..

belajar bahasa korea level 3 hari2 sampai cuti musim panas habis 28 ni..

wallet hilang..tak ada IC sampai skrg(IC digelar Alien Card kat sini..tuk pendatang..keji tak?)


*oh ya..kalau di sini..pasti tak ada masalah "negaraku"..sebab di sini hanya ada "negara kami"...contoh bila berbicara..kita pakai "isteri saya"..di sini jadi "isteri kami"...segalanya kami(bank kami..keluarga kami..rumah kami)...pelik tapi benar..itu yang terjadi bila diterjemah secara literal..

jumpa takashi miike..yg buat audition, ichi the killer....berapa malam tak tidor..gembira punya pasal...

ok..selamat!

Monday, May 14, 2007

hidup kadangkala lakonan...

http://www.indieforum.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=movie&wr_id=22
sila copy dan tampal sebab saya tak pandai nak buat link automatik..terima kasih.

ni filem yg termenyibuk berlakon..maaf maklumat semua dalam korea..
aku pun tak berapa paham apa diorang tulis..

sabtu lepas 12 Mei..gi tengok tayangan...yang datang, aku ajak che gubard(gerak) & vignes(DOP aku) - malaysia, pimpaka wartawan thailand..jessica makcik human right filipina dan bono India. Banyak gak orang yang tergelak..aku doakan filem ni pergi jauh..boleh aku tumpang..hehehe..

cerita dia bercorak spageti vampire(aku punya istilah)..disampaikan dalam 2 act.
act pertama ala2 dokumentari..perkenalkan karakter...semua karakter(4 orang) aku sbg. osama - malaysia, guanse sbg. guanse - vietnam, ziyar sbg. momo - myanmar, syakir sbg. tona - bangladesh. ada inter cut stock footage..ada caption.. sedikit komidi.


act kedua..
waktu kami berempat tgh di pub, time perlawanan korea dan perancis, orang-orang korea bertukar jadi vampire..makan orang..ganas2..guanse dan momo mati kena kunyah dek vampire..aku dan momo terselamat dalam kejar mengejar yang menghiburkan..

ending tak kata menang atau kalah..hanya memaparkan..aku dan momo berjalan di Gangwhamun, kereta senua di padamkan melalui kesan khas..tatkala vampire korea lari menyorok diri waktu fajar menyinsing..

dirakam menggunakan panasonic P2..durasi lebih kurang 30 min. filem ni merupakan projek akhir pelajar master yg merupakan bekas filem kritik/filem review majalah legendary KINO(akhir dekad 90-an, dah tak ada majalah ni...dia punya kepentingan macam majalah cahiers du cinema perancis untuk orang korea)
best gak tgk diri sendiri di layar lebar..pengalaman yang macam mustahil dah nak dapat..hehehe..

*filem gua (video aja sebenarnya) tgh editing..mimpi jugak tayang kat panggung...tapi yang penting habiskan editing dulu..hehehe

* oh ya..jumpa pengarah indie korea yg bercakap tentang pengarah Zai Kuning, malaysia..aku pun tgh checkout background pengarah ni..sebab dengar2 summer ni ada projek nak shoot kat singapura..prijek koloborasi..boleh menyelit sanan sini pun cara..(cis opportunis betul!)
sekian!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

wajar?

안녕하세요.



내일 오후 3시부터 4시까지 성교육이 있습니다.

꼭 참석해주세요.



Special Education Series for AMA students



First Education Series



"Education on Sexuality"



- English teaching Education

- Date: 5. 4(Friday, tomorrow)

- Time: 3:00~4:00 (1 hour only)

- Place : New Film School Room #139



*Class absense document is prepared.



내일 봅시다. 꼭 오세요.

좋은 하루 되세요.



입학교류팀 정진임 드림

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

perlawanan filem...(sedikit tentang festival)



Bermula di Venice sekitar tahun 1930'an pada era Mussolini. Ianya merupakan hiburan mewah untuk golongan atasan dan hanya sebuah filem ditayangkan dalam sehari. Lepas menonton, mereka akan bersosial dan membicarakan filem yang dilihat. Waktu itu tidak ramai orang yang mampu melancong, biarpun kaya. Maka mereka pun melanconglah menerusi medium filem. Kemudian lahir pula Cannes, Berlin, Moscow (bukan tertib sebenar) dll.
Memandangkan pensyarah saya orang Jerman dan bawa pula seorang kawan German(tak sempat nak catat..tapi bukan Wim Wanders), seketeriat Festival Filem Berlin(bahagian menemukan filem-filem untuk dijemput masuk festival); dah sah perbincangan lebih terarah kepada Festival Filem Berlin khususnya dan lain-lain festival amnya.

Festival Filem Berlin diasaskan oleh warga Amerika, 1951. Diadakan pada musim panas(akhir Jun hingga awal Julai) setiap tahun untuk mempromosikan budaya dan kefahaman tentang budaya. Selang beberapa tahun kemudian, warga Jerman mengambil alih sendiri pengurusan festival dan juga agenda distribusi. Meremang bulu roma saya saat mamat Jerman ni sebut nama Amir Muhammad, Yasmin dan Tan Chui Mui. Satu nikmat pada saya penggemar filem warga Malaysia yang mungkin sama nikmatnya dengan orang Muslim yamg dengar azan.

Festival merupakan tempat berkomunikasi, beriadah, bergumbira ; maka tidak hairanlah En. Truffaut, En. Godard dan rakan-rakan gelombang baru mengganggu kelansungan Festival Filem Cannes 1968. Sebabnya adalah kerna tika itu, sosio-politik Perancis tengah tegang dan pembikin filem yang sentiasa berceritakan aspek kemanusiaan harus ada bersama-sama manusia di jalanan. Maka komunikasi warga bawah wajar diteliti untuk seketika. Lanjutan daripada itu, muncullah kategori Director Fourtnight di Cannes.

Rakyat Malaysia menolak filem mereka sendiri?..tidak mengapa.. Festival Filem Berlin juga kadangkala menolak filem-filem Jerman yang menang Oskar. Kim-ki Duk dan Hoo-sang Soo juga lebih disanjung oleh orang luar berbanding rakyat Korea sendiri. Maka fenomena ini agak normal bagi filem2 yang dianggap membuka pekung di dada. Dah pekung..tentulah orang tempatan nak selindung dan orang luar yang lain konsep bau pekung gembira dengan menadahkan nyiru. Pokoknya soal estetika individu, maka beranaklah istilah seperti "festival nyamuk" dan seumpamanya. Tak ada yang betul dan tak ada yang salah. Yang menariknya, al-kisah di Malaysia sama seperti di Jerman...individu yang ribut menuding aspek bobrok beberapa scene daripada keseluruhan filem; rata-rata tak menonton filem.

Sebagai kesimpulan(kesimpulan saya), setiap festival ada objektif. Takda festival yang nak akan rugi. Cara perlaksaannya pun berbeza. Juadah rohani dan jiwa juga berbeza. Siapa yang tak pernah pergi filem festival, tanamkan keazaman untuk bertandang mana-mana festival terkemuka. Mungkin sebagai sukarelawan, pembikin filem, sebagai ahli perniagaan mahupun sebagai penonton...banyak faedahnya. tapi kalau asyik pandang negatif filem...tak dapat nak tolong.

Nak lebih lagi jenguklah wikipedia. Maklumat tentang bengkel-bengkel pendek tiap festival juga boleh didapati. Manalah tahu, peluang anda adalah seperti si sabut..bakal timbul di permukaan mana-mana festival nyamuk terkemuka.

..marilah tonton filem Malaysia di panggung wayang(tak kisah nukilan sutradara manapun) dan bukan hanya tunggu kemunculannya di kaca tv musim raya mahupun beli dvd(yang rata-rata tak asli sebab yang asli punya mahal). Dah tonton dua tiga kali di pawagam, kalau nak beli dvd yang tak ori tu, kira halallah.

*Teruja dengan aktivis perfileman di Korea(kuli, pengarah, produser dan penggemar) yang turun berpiket di jalanan menentang hegemoni Hollywood.

Andaikata mamat Jerman ni tipu saya, maka saya pula menipulah anda semua..
wassalam

Friday, March 23, 2007

Ayuh Jack... bikin filem ! (walau pun hanya angan-angan, ianya tetap indah)



sehari selembar benang...

cinematic success is not necessarily the result of good brain work, but of a harmony of existing elements in ourself that we may not have ever been consious of: a fortunate fusion of subject and our deeper feeling, an accidental coincidence of our own pre occupation at a certain moment of life and the public.

Definasi bijak susah dan subjektif, memang ada ujikaji yang menentukan tingkat kecerdasan IQ individu. Tapi perbandingan antara individu tidak praktikal. Ya untuk masuk universiti perlu lulus ujian, tetapi punca kegagalan tidak boleh dilihat hanya atas dasar kebodohan semata. Jikapun bodah itu ada dalam diri, kita masih punya elemen-elemen lain. misalkata bodoh+sombong, bodoh tapi terguris bila kena seranah, bodoh tapi hormat orang tua, bodoh tapi hensem. Nah segala macam jenis bodoh di campur elemen-elemen lain lagi.

Mengapa saya berbicara tentang kebodohan?..kerana sang bodoh juga punya mimpi.

Kembali kepada kata-kata En. Francois Truffaut di atas, kepada sesiapa yang merasa dirinya tidak pandai(kita dalam satu kapal) dan masih bercita-cita untuk jadi pengarah filem... teruskan.

Ayuh Jack bikin filem!

*Kepada individu yang tak berhasrat nak jadi pengarah filem dan ditakdirkan membaca blog ni, boleh disesuaikan mengikut citarasa masing-masing. Saya tak paksa agar semua orang buat filem. Nantinya terlebih kuah daripada sudu, akibat banyak sangatlah pulak filem-filem yang diterbitkan(tapi, bagus jugak meriah industri..maksud saya industri dalam ertikata sebenar).

*gambar di atas gambar rembat!
wassalam

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Strabismus (Juling)


Kemelut politika berikutan salah faham antara satu sama lain. aku cuba melihat persoalan ini dari pelbagai perspektif sebaik mungkin.
Kedua-duanya sayang akan benda (dalam hal ini, benda adalah negara) yang sama tetapi pendekatan yang diambil adalah berbeza.
bak kata pepatah... ada yang sayang bini tinggal-tinggalkan, ada yang sayang bini dibiarkan bini terus menerus tak tahu memasak dengan membeli makanan di kedai..
berdasarkan hanya dua pepatah ini dah dapat kita lihat dua konsep sayang yang berbeza...
*hidup Pepatah-Petitih - Pak Sako (zaman kehangatan Gila-Gila dulukala)
..keseragaman pasti akan membosankan...bukankah "gurau senda bawak bahagia?"
kepada yang kiri, teruskan dengan kekirian anda...dan kepada yang kanan, teruskan dengan kekananan anda....masing-masing punya tanggungjawab sebagai manusia di bumi bertuah..

anak itik berenang-renang,
dalam kubang di tepi paya,
adik saja terkenang-kenang,
abang sikit pun tak ingatkan saya.

*sapa kata abang tak ingat?..bukan abang saja..malah "our big brother" pun senantiasa ingat malah senantiasa memantau..wassalam!

Friday, March 16, 2007



aku dah bergelar pakcik...tua dah aku ni rupanya..tahniah kepada kak anne dan abang halim yang dah bergelar ibu dan bapa..tanggal 8 march 2007..dua hari lepas aku berangkat..