ECLIPSES by Daniel Hui
Newcomers @ 10th Asian Film Festival, Italy
19th March, 2.30pm, Cinema Alcorso

DANCING THE LOVE – A TRILOGY by Sherman Ong
In Competition @ 10th Asian Film Festival, Italy
22nd March, 6.30pm, Cinema Alcorso

I HAVE LOVED by Lai Weijie & Elizabeth Wijaya
In Competition @ 10th Asian Film Festival, Italy
18th March, 6.45pm, Cinema Alcorso.

Films from the 13 Little Pictures Film Lab at the Singapore International Film Festival on the 13 Little Pictures Youtube Channel!

Vanishing Air by
Colin Tan (Singapore), Joenathann Alandy (Philippines), Ng Yi Qin (Singapore), Sorayos Prapapan (Thailand), Tan Jingliang (Singapore)
*also screened at the 23rd CCP Independent Film and Video Festival*

Water by
Vivien Koh (Singapore), Kuba Morawski (Poland), Faraz Hussain (India), Gary Yong (Malaysia), Tay Hongcheng (Singapore)

Selamat Datang by
Ashish Ravinran (Singapore), Echo He Yingshu (China), Juan Manuel Alcazaren (Philippines), Maenam Chagasik (Thailand), Shyan Tan (Singapore), Sorayos Prapapan (Thailand)

Meanwhile at 13 Little Pictures:

Tan Bee Thiam presents ‘Why We Make Movies’ @ TEDxYouth@Singapore

Liao Jiekai @ Berlinale Talent Campus#10

Sindie interviews Wesley Leon Aroozoo on LUNCHBOX #10

Sherman Ong’s FLOODING IN THE TIME OF DROUGHT @ Crossing SEA(s), a fringe event of Art Stage Singapore 2012

I WANT TO REMEMBER by Sherman Ong @ The 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam

KISSING FACES by Wesley Leon Aroozoo wins Experimental Award at NextFrame Film Festival

I WANT TO REMEMBER by Sherman Ong and MICKEY by Wesley Leon Aroozoo at Heart Shaped Box @ My Arts Space

With that one gutsy punch line, 25 year old Daniel Hui opened his debut feature, Eclipses.

There is no better way to start talking about the film than from its title – deceptively simple yet so rich with meaning and thought. Structurally, the film functions in two wholes, the first being an apparent fictional story about a woman (Vel Ng) mourning the loss of her husband; the second, where the woman disappears, splinters into a documentary about the people around her (Vel) and the filmmaker.

Yet, save for the abrupt cut to black in the middle of the film that signals the film’s transition, or eclipse of the initial other, the film’s fiction/documentary dichotomy holds little bearing to genre defining labels. Here, the lines between documentary and fiction are blurred not because of the film’s apparent schizophrenia, but because the filmmaker sees little difference between the two.

With Eclipses, Daniel seeks to make a film that transcends cinema or what little has become of it, rather than to conform. Cinema appears to have forgotten its roots as a medium to document, to listen, to simply, allow for its audience to see what they want to see rather than to tell them what to see.

At its heart, Eclipses is a film that reflects a process that is deeply rooted in kindness. Daniel shares that Eclipses was made after a hiatus and disillusionment from filmmaking after the passing of his close friend, Yasmin Ahmad. Almost none of the film was scripted because Daniel simply allowed the performers to say what they wanted to say. Daniel did not want to be taking something away from his performers, he wanted them to be giving something instead. Eclipses listens to its performers because its filmmaker listens. In turn, the audience is put into a conversation with both the film and its maker.

A common aesthetic thread follows through Eclipses from Daniel’s earlier films, and that is his wide use of the close-up. Two particular close-ups stood out for me – both of which were monologues, the first delivered by Vel Ng and the second, Daniel’s grandfather.

Never before has cinema spoken to me in ways as such, and the experience from having two characters speak straight to you is both liberating and intimate.

For all its merits, Eclipses is not an easy film to watch. It stretches the patience of its audience, and is more likely to speak to audiences who are not there to be entertained, nor to be told how to think or what to see. Like an eclipse that enters with darkness and leaves with light, Eclipses puts a banket over our eyes only to give its audiences and cinema an opportunity to be reborn again.

http://sindieonly.blogspot.com/2011/10/eclipses-by-daniel-hui.html

Participants share their thoughts with SINdie about the recent 13 Little Pictures Film Lab.

Ashish Ravinran (Singapore)
Colin Tan (Singapore)
Echo He Yingshu (China)
Faraz Hussain (India)
Gary Yong (Malaysia)
Joenathann Alandy (Philippines)
Juan Manuel Alcazaren (Philippines)
Kuba Morawski (Poland)
Maenam Chagasik (Thailand)
Ng Yiqin (Singapore)
Shyan Tan (Singapore)
Sorayos Prapapan (Thailand)
Tan Jingliang (Singapore)
Tay Hong Cheng (Singapore)
Vivien Koh (Singapore)

VANISHING AIR, a film project from the 13 Little Pictures Film Lab screens at the 23rd CCP Independent Film and Video. Congrats Joe, Jingliang, Colin, Yiqin & Yossy!

Download Issue 7 of One Imperative—Who Gives a Shit About Art is out; just for you. Featuring Wesley Leon Aroozoo’s TWO FINGERS IMITATING LEGS WALKING.

KISSING FACES by Wesley Leon Aroozoo at Nepal Cine-Symposium on 21st November.

Review of Chris Yeo’s WAKING MONKEY & Wesley Leon Aroozoo’s DICK MARLOW at Everyone’s Gotta Start Somewhere – Singapore International Film Festival by Vicki Yang.

Meanwhile, the Philanthropic Museum features Sherman Ong and don’t forget to say a big hello to his elephant BULAN as part of the Elephant Parade.

And for the month of October catch Liao Jiekai’s AS WINTER ESCAPES ME on the 13 Little Pictures Youtube Channel.

Introduction

A devout Christian woman who goes on a drug-smuggling mission to save her son, an AIDS sufferer, is arrested at the Singapore-Malaysia Causeway. A Muslim reporter fights tirelessly for the Christian woman to be spared execution. And the man who has the power to decide their fates – the Hindu executioner at Changi Prison – is finally counting the cost of his actions.

Director Statement

Director Biography

Glen Goei (born 1962) is one of Singapore’s leading film and theatre directors. Goei’s film, FOREVER FEVER (1998), was the first Singapore film to be presented at Sundance and to achieve a worldwide commercial release. The film was distributed in America and the United Kingdom by Miramax, which then signed him on an exclusive three-picture deal. His second film, THE BLUE MANSION (2009), featured a cast comprising the cream of Singapore and Malaysia’s acting talent and an international production team. It premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival and won the Best Film and Best Director Awards at the SPH Singapore Entertainment Awards. Glen’s work in theatre started with his Olivier Award nominated performance in the title role of M. BUTTERFLY opposite Anthony Hopkins in London’s West End. As Associate Artistic Director of W!ld Rice, he won the Production of the Year for his daring restaging of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Award 2010. He also directed the hugely popular EMILY, and THE HISTORY OF SINGAPORE. He was the Creative Director of the National Day Parade (2003-2006). He graduated from Cambridge with a Masters of Art in History.

The Singapore International Film Festival

13 Little Pictures will world premiere two new feature-length films at the 24th Singapore International Film Festival. Tickets are  available on SISTIC and selling fast.

Weijie & Elizabeth Wijaya’s debut feature I HAVE LOVED @ Lido 5/7pm/18 Sep. Nominated for ‘Best Cinematography’ in the Asian Feature Film Competition. SOLD OUT.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJQjz6GY1cM

Daniel Hui’s debut feature ECLIPSES @ Lido 2/6.30pm/24 Sep. SOLD OUT.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPVtPvC9Uh4

In the Special Segment at SIFF - Everyone’s Gotta Start Somewhere, you can catch our early works. Liao Jiekai’s PARADISE, Chris Yeo’s WAKING MONKEY & COTTON ‘N’ CANDY, Sherman Ong’s STATE OF THINGS & Wesley Leon Aroozoo’s DICK MARLOW @ Sinema/ 9pm/16 Sep.

Independent filmmaking is the art of embracing limitations, working with available resources and making much with what one has. What are creative and financial responsibilities of filmmakers? How do one break free from the budget abyss? A panel of filmmakers from 13 Little Pictures will share their process and perspectives on THE VALUE OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING @ The POD, Level 16, National Library/7pm/20 Sep. Pre-register for this event by emailing your full name, age, and contact number to writetous@siff.sg with ’13LP Talk’ as the subject heading.

Last but not least, we will be working with 15 other filmmakers from Singapore and the region in the 13 Little Pictures FILM LAB from the 19-25 Sep 2011. If you are keen to watch our work in progress on 25 Sep at the Sinema, contact us.

Told on Tote has been specially commissioned to design a customized tote bag for a 5-day film lab organized by 13 Little Pictures as part of the Singapore International Film Festival. Exclusively designed for the participants and guests of the 13 Little Pictures Film Lab.

Catch a glimpse @ http://www.toldontote.sg

The Film Lab participants are:

Ashish Ravinran (Singapore)
Colin Tan (Singapore)
Echol He Yingshu (China)
Faraz Hussain (India)
Gary Yong (Malaysia)
Joenathann Alandy (Philippines)
Juan Manuel Alcazaren (Philippines)
Kuba Morawski (Poland)
Maenam Chagasik (Thailand)
Ng Yiqin (Singapore)
Shyan Tan (Singapore)
Sorayos Prapapan (Thailand)
Tan Jingliang (Singapore)
Tay Hong Cheng (Singapore)
Vivien Koh (Singapore)

Directed by Daniel Hui
Country of production: Singapore
Production Company: 13 Little Pictures
Format: 16mm
Genre: Drama
Estimated Running Time: 103 min

Synopsis

A woman begins to come to terms with society after having withdrawn into her own world to mourn her late husband. The film splinters away to document the characters surrounding her – people from different classes, including the director’s own family. An investigation of the landscapes in which we live, work, and play, this is Singapore seen through the prisms of family, class and race.

Director’s Statement

Eclipses was conceived at the juncture of the personal and the political, the individual and the collective, the particular and the universal. It will attempt to navigate the uncertain territory between Heidegger and Marx, taking as its starting point an amalgamation of Europa ’51 and The Man With A Movie Camera. It is a film about absence (hence, the title) – the absence of the husband that ignites the story, the absence of the world that the woman denies, and later the absence of the woman itself as she is subsumed into the world. It will be a sociological document that describes society at every level of production; at the same time, it will be an emotional document about the different stages of grieving, about realizing one’s place in the world around us.

Director’s Biography

Daniel Hui is a filmmaker and writer. His works include ECLIPSES (Singapore), RUMAH SENDIRI (Short Cuts), SAYANG (Short Cuts), ONE DAY IN JUNE (Rotterdam), WANDERLUST (Seoul) and THE BRACELET (Vladivostok).

Directed by Elizabeth Wijaya & Lai Weijie
Written by Elizabeth Wijaya & Lai Weijie
Produced by Tan Bee Thiam & Sherman Lai
Country of production: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Production Company: 13 Little Pictures, E&W Films
Format: HD
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 75 min

Synopsis

What does it mean to declare or even whisper: I have loved?

In Siem Reap, a young woman, haunted by loss, mourning, melancholia and the imperfections of memory, dances with two men–one of whom she is married to, while the other is engaged to be married.

Director’s Statement

Marie goes to Cambodia in search of a romantic honeymoon but is confronted with the ambiguities of life and struggles with emotions and impulses beyond her understanding. “I Have Loved” is an intimate exploration of human consciousness, time and ways of remembering. After the death of her husband, Marie is haunted by an eclipsed memory—she cannot remember a key traumatic event as it happened. Trapped in a Freudian cycle of mourning and repetition, she returns to Siem Reap to remember—so that she may forget. But she fails to achieve her desired catharsis. When she meets Amarin, who is drawn to her grief due to his own buried sorrow, light shines into her cloistered soul but guilt, fear and their vast differences makes them remain both soul mates and strangers. The landscape and architecture of Siem Reap and the Angkor temples are also characters in this film that explores contradiction on different levels. The town of Siem Reap, compact and yet filled with contradictory building styles and transient tourists, is a metaphor for the frazzled yet searching and hopeful minds of the characters. The splendor and illusion of the grand and cold Hotel de la Paix as a modern temple for privileged pilgrims gestures towards Resnais’ “Last Year in Marienbad” and also the Angkor temples. The time- weathered temples form the emotional core of the film and visually allude to the ancient human soul—battered yet magnificent before the dust of modernity. The visual style of the film will be poetic and allusive, as if experiencing someone else’s dream. Beauty on the screen is meant to reveal the ephemerality of beauty and the fear of emptiness beneath. References include the paintings of Degas, Richter and also Louis Le Brocquy. This film is also intended as a love note to Cambodia. While the trauma of its recent past needs to be remembered, showcasing the glory of its ancient history and landscape is also an affirmation of its future. Like Marie learns, Cambodia, especially with the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, confronts a painful history rather than try to forget what is impossible to forget. However, the film avoids any explicit reference to politics. The world, in fact, is almost solipsistic as Marie’s epic emotional voyage colors the mood of the film.

Directors’ biography

Elizabeth Wijaya, recipient of the NUS Research Scholarship, received her MA in Literary Studies and BA (First Class Honours) in English Literature. She was President of the NUS Literary Society and the co-director of I HAVE LOVED.

Lai Weijie graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia with an MFA. He was director of photography for DELILAH, BEFORE (Best Short Film, Tribeca) and co-produced HOMECOMING that grossed more than $3 million in Singapore and Malaysia. Recently, he co-directed his first feature I HAVE LOVED.

I Have Loved Teaser Trailer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DSFNFjZytk

At the SMU Film Fest 2011, Sherman Ong’s TICKETS & XIAO JING followed by a dialogue session with Sherman Ong @ Glassroom Cafe, SMU/ 7.30pm/ 7th September. Later in the month, Bee Thiam will be at SMU to give a Lunchtime Talk on the 28th September.

Yeo Siew Hua programmed a series of past and present works of filmmakers from 13 Little Pictures for the Studio Thirteen Open House. This includes a new work he directed, in collaboration with Poskod and Leslie Low from The Observatory @ Goodman Arts Centre, Multi-Purpose Hall/10am-6pm/11th September 2011

On the same eventful day of 11 September, Daniel Hui ‘s WANDERLUST will also screen at the Asian Berlin Hot Shots!

Liao Jiekai’s RED DRAGONFLIES will screen again this month at the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (26th-30th September) and the Asian Cultural Cinema Symposium on @ Lasalle College of the Arts/10am/30th September.

A platform for fellow filmmakers to meet and collaborate with one another, the film lab is intended for a diverse group of aspiring directors, producers, cinematographers, scriptwriters, art directors, editors, sound engineers, music composers and actors.

20 participants will be selected to work with 13 Little Pictures filmmakers Daniel Hui, Elizabeth Wijaya, Lai Weijie, Lei Yuan Bin, Liao Jiekai, Sherman Ong, Tan Bee Thiam, Wesley Leon Aroozoo and Yeo Siew Hua.

The film lab will consist of hands-on learning workshops, film production exercises, screenings and small group sharing in the creative process of film-making. Work in progress will be presented at the Singapore International Film Festival.

The 5-day intensive film lab starts from 1.30 to 7.30pm everyday at the The Puttnam School of Film, LASALLE College of The Arts. Participants must be able to commit to the full duration of the lab.

Participation in the film lab is free of charge. Camera equipment and editing facilities will also be provided. In addition, each participant will be given a specially designed tote bag by Told on Tote.

Application materials:
a)    application form (word doc and pdf)
b)    one-page motivation letter
c)    one-page resume
d)    creative portfolio

Please email items (a), (b) and (c) to info@studiothirteen.org and send (d) to the address below.

Studio Thirteen
90 Goodman Road
Block B, #03-10
Goodman Arts Centre
Singapore 439053

Your submission is only completed when all application materials reach us.

The deadline for application is 6th September 2011. Selection results will be announced on 9th September 2011.

About 13 Little Pictures Film Lab

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