Somewhere in the remote wilderness of Boon Lay, in a futuristic horseshoe shaped building in NTU, I entered the world of 'Pang Sai Palace'. An upmarket lavatory that sprouted from the noble dreams of an entrepreneur Sam Lamb. I am talking a mock-TV program I watched at NTU ADM's showcase of 2nd year films. It was the last film of the night and certainly a unapologetically loud end to the screening. It drew giggles at every point and I popped my work-beaten eyes to every surprise the film presented. It caried shit-themed humour basicaly with a chocolate brown gingerbread man hopping about in the video, Courtney Lamb, Sam's wife eating a mound of brown, lumpy custard and a special related program called Charlie and his chocolate factory mentioned somehwere. Someone please get this screened outside Boon Lay so that most of us dont have to travel so far just to expereience the wonders of 'Pang Sai Palace'.
The spirit and verve of the filmmaking students at NTU's Sch of Art and Design Media feels very democratic and empowering. Of course, considering the low barriers to entry of these films(since ADM does not teach actual 'film' shooting but more digital) one would expect a lot of empowerment given to the students. And it was not difficult to be impressed. 21 film mini posters in the foyer proudly celebrating the hardwork of the students. Even in the actual screening, there were intro clips between the films that intoduced the filmmakers, oscars-style with snazzy graphics.
I must admit the devil in me was working faster than the angel because I came from an exhausting day of work. I secretly dreaded the thought of sitting through so many films one by one. Thankfully, there were mini films, not even short I would say. I had obviously missed quite a chunk by the time I got in. I remember 'Wet Paws' for its controlled effort in storytelling and its attention to sounds and perhaps even silence. It is about a couple who are secretly in love behind their own partners' backs. At the start, the male lead wonders why cats love eating fish so much but don't ever want to get their paws wet. A befitting metaphor for the dilemma the lovers were going through. It was also the only film with a seamlessly executed crane shot.
There were a few pieces about lost love or personal stories. But unfortunately, the 3 lavatory pieces at the end stood out in my memory. It seems they were assigned the same theme or concept because the same poeple worked on all 3 lavatory pieces in different roles. There was the mysterious 'Buddha lavatory' about making money from building a lavatory. It featured a rubber-faced boyish-looking guy who was very engaging as an maker of monkey faces. 'Lavatory Dream' was also similar in that it involves starting a lavatory business. This was about an ordinary husband who decides to start a lavatory business. He built a spanking new state-of-the-art lavatory that could even let you view the sky while you attended to earthy business. Generally, it was cutesy-humour though a little weak in its narrative. Then finally, there was PSP.