Live On Film Competition

The “Live On Short Film Competition”, organised by the Ministry of Health (MOH), aims to raise awareness of organ donation amongst the youth in a meaningful and creative way using an emotive platform to engage people at all levels. Through creative story-telling, we hope the short films can promote discussion on organ donation and address some of the concerns regarding organ donation.

Every year, there are more than 500 patients waiting to receive a life-saving transplant in Singapore. For these patients, the wait is not only agonising but also emotionally draining. We hope the films can convey the importance of organ donation and how a life-saving transplant can change the lives of patients in need. Through the films, we also hope to encourage discussions on altruistic living organ donations, and how all of us have the power to help our family and loved ones should they require an organ transplant.

Organ donation is also an emotional issue with many concerns on the ground. For example, some may be less open towards the idea of organ donation because of set beliefs and traditional values, while others may have certain misconceptions on organ donation. Participants are encouraged to think about some of these issues and discuss them in their films.

Participants are required to send in their original script and proposed production budget by 16th August at www.liveonfilms.sg. Five teams with the best short film proposal will be selected in August and be given up to $3,000 funding plus the prize of a Seagate external hard-drive each for the production of the short films. In addition, the selected teams will participate in a mentoring workshop with renowned Director Royston Tan. The teams will be given two months for the production of the films. All final works are to be submitted by 30 November on the Seagate external hard drive which will be returned to them after the competition. The final winner will be announced in December.

Visit the Live On Film website for more information.

Share Happy Singapore (Video and Photo Competition)

Walls has teamed up with comedian, presenter, Gurmit Singh to inspire Singaporeans to share more happy moments everyday. Wall’s will be sending out smile squads with free ice cream, introducing a new vending machine that will giveaway free ice creams if you smile, whilst 2 Happy people -Dawn Wong & Joshua Barker Tan - will be trying to inspire spread and happiness in the most unexpected way. All of this to make Singapore little bit happier.

And you can participate in a number of ways !

Join the movement to Share Happy by:

1 Submitting a video capturing a little moment of happiness and you could be on TV on August 18th!

Upload your videos through this facebook application

The top 3 voted videos will get their clips aired on Channel 5 on 18 August, so here's your chance to be seen and heard!

2 submitting a picture to win a year’s supply of ice cream

Click for photos!

3 Smiling into one of Walls' vending machines or for one of our smile squads and win a free ice cream!
Share and vote for happy videos that you like ! And get free ice cream !

And invite your friends and family to join the movement, to share more happy!

7th Singapore Short Cuts

7th SINGAPORE SHORT CUTS
A Programme of the National Museum Cinémathèque
Co-presented by the National Museum of Singapore and The Substation Moving Images
31 July, 1, 7 & 8 August 2010
Free admission with tickets
...
Celebrating its 7th edition this year, Singapore Short Cuts continues to be one of the most popular and widely anticipated showcases of local short films in Singapore.

This year’s programme features a diverse selection of some of the most innovative and outstanding recent Singapore short films as well as a retrospective of Singapore filmmaker K. Rajagopal, a three-time recipient of the Special Jury Award for the Singapore Short Film Category at the Singapore International Film Festival.

All screenings will be followed by discussions with the filmmakers.

Visit the facebook page for more information.


K. Rajagopal's films will all be screened on 8th August.

Production Talk - 'Labour Day' by He Shuming

Synopsis

Cik visits her old flat to collect rent from her two foreign worker tenants who are on their way to work – Zoe, a frumpy 30-year old Malaysian Chinese whose second application to be a Singapore citizen has just been rejected, and Purple, a study-mama from China, who is hiding a secret from her 12 year-old son.
LABOUR DAY is a quirky and quiet observation of how one goes to great lengths to pursue a better life in a city obsessed with progress and change.

*****

What inspired you to create this film?

It was initially an idea of making a Singaporean film with non-Singaporean characters. Most of the time when I try to write something, I turn to my mother who's always provided me with much inspirations unknowingly. This is very much a story about women who are mothers, daughters, sisters and wannabe actresses.


How did you go about casting?

We sent out casting calls online, scour through drama groups, etc. Jasmine Koh (Zoe) is a theatre actress from Young & W!ld. Xiang Ling auditioned for Traces (another graduating short film) and we invited her to audition for the role of Purple. Zaliha (Cik) is a veteran TV actress known for her roles in Malay dramas, she was the Chinese opera singing macik in Chicken Rice War. I found the little boy from my alma mater, Maris Stella High School - there are plenty of Mainland Chinese students in the school's table tennis team.




Any interesting anecdotes to share about the production?

One of the other characters of the film was the spaces these characters occupied. The film was mainly set in Hougang New Town, where I grew up. The rainbow flat's been there for ages and in fact, the neighbourhood hasn't changed much. Well, it is an opposition ward but I think that's the nice thing about a neighbourhood that doesn't get upgraded much. There's something tranquil about it and you get a mix of foreign workers from Malaysia and China, new immigrants from India as well as your usual Singaporeans. There is something less 'plastic' about this suburbs than most HDB neighbourhoods.

When we were shooting at People's Park, we had to devise a plan to make sure people aren't going to stare into the cameras. The scene was when Purple solicited at People's Park, known to be a popular area where old retirees and women from Mainland China, well, hang out and be friends. It was a small crew that day - just me, my DP, his CA, and the AD with the actress Xiang Ling (who was dressed quite provocatively). The camera would be placed far away from Xiang Ling while she's instructed by the AD (who's on the phone with me) as she walked around, watched hawkers selling their wares, etc. She was approached by a few men, some whom were pimps, asking her if she had an 'agent' and how much her rates were. Xiang Ling was such a trooper, playing along and being in character.


What were your biggest challenges in making this film?

Hmmm, to bring out the realism out of the actors and make these characters believable. The very fact that these characters who are very real people, and portrayed by professional actors was a challenge.

For Jasmine especially, it was hard for her because she doesn't speak Malay and had to learn her line phonetically before progressing further in rehearsals. That was initially a problem for me, to have a Singaporean Chinese actress portray a Malaysian Chinese. But I realized it could be interesting to see if those differences between a Singaporean and a Malaysian. I guess in a way, not everyone were convinced. Well, the audience can decide for themselves I guess.


Any future plans after graduating from The Puttam School of Film, LASALLE?

I'm currently working on my reel for TVCs, looking at other types of collaborations and writing my next short film.

I need to get out of Singapore for awhile, I think. There are plenty of stories to be told here but sometimes we need to look at it from the outside. But realistically I will need to work for awhile first. We will see. :)

Director's Film Blog

First Takes - 'For Rent' by Goh Moy Yen

One day, one room HDB flats will be the bane of student films. It would be a zone forbidden by film lecturers who will mark your thesis film down for lazy choice of premise. 'For Rent' interviews 2 sets of people who stay in one-room rented HDB flats - one is an ah ma and the other is a Malay family of a few children. The common thread is that they have been evicted somehow from their previous residence by HDB and are forced to seek shelter that elsewhere.

The straight-laced documentary features these people in a set of interviews, interspersed with each other. Treading on extremely safe grounds, it takes us through their issues in logical fashion, seeking to open up the audience's minds to a different world such as this. Between the 2 stories, Ah Ma is the more forgettable with its familiar themes of old-age poverty and neglect. The second story captures more of our imagination because of it portrays an anomaly - over 10 people squeezed into a small HDB flat. On a personal note, it rakes up memories of living in the 70s or 80s where it is not uncommon to be sharing sleeping space with your siblings or cousins on a few sheets of mattresses placed together end to end.

Blissful as it seems, the film does not forget its bittersweet point - that the father of the household, which is borrowing their relatives' premises, hopes to give his family their own flat one day. The film had its poignant moments but it does not add anything to a collective understanding of this brand of poverty. We have seen these stories before and what's worse is the Malay stereotype of big familes and small budgets being played out again. While ghetto films never seem to go out of fashion, the filmmaker could certainly do with less format and a lot more angle.

First Takes - 'The Unnamed Feeling' by Ler and Lip

'The Unnamed Feeling' never fails to come back to haunt me. I first saw this quirky piece online and then at the Singapore Short Film Awards early this year. The likely first impression anyone would get from watching it is you don't think the filmmakers want to be taken too seriously. It is funny but only as funny as the standard 'blokely' humour you get at a beer table, or even your secondary classroom skit. But watching it for the third (and I swear final time), it had a little effect on me.

This black and white, digital-looking film follows the post-break up journey of a young man. There is nothing new in the way he deals with his loss except for the fact that he can't stop crying or rather becomes prone to letting his tears roll at the slightest hint of disappointment. Other than that, the entire film feels lazily put together because there is hardly anything that recreates cinematic value. The easiest thing to remember from the film is a scene where a girl hurls a bouquet of roses on the man and while doing that, we see how he curls up like a pitiful dog. It is memorable especially to the guys because it is a male-ego bruising moment.

The twist in my appreciation of the film comes in the ending. Our lead basically finds a solution to his problem. In a genuinely funny exchange between him and an old female friend, he sees a certain oblique way out. This is one instance where the 'I am a financial planner' line carries a worthy weight in humour and dramatic effect. With this, I rest my case against my unnamed feeling about this film but swear that I hope not to bump into it at another screening.

First Takes - 'Water' by Yenn Teo

Here is a film that tries to marry the conceptual with the narrative and does it with panache. Playing around a range of visual metaphors related to water, it romanticises a often heard story of longing for love among our foreign labourers. And in a way, humanises them.

The foreign location of the film (kampung and farm-scapes), makes it easy to forget that it was made by a Singaporean, one who is attentive to the lesser observed things around us. Quite delightfully, it takes the foreign worker story back to its lusher and more idyllic homeland, avoiding the drab construction landscape or the unimaginative choice of the HDB hovel. In his rural fishing village, Ah Shui (notice the water pun, 'shui' is water in Chinese) lives a modest life with his newly-wed wife Ah Shan. It was not long before pristine nature of their village becomes easily overshadowed by the lure of money in bigger foreign places, especially when the poverty cliche hits. Hence, the start of Ah Shui's journey to Singapore.

This is where Yenn Teo, the director has 'reftro-fitted' foreign labourer's story. She does not repeat their woes like a lobbying video, instead she keeps the anecdotes of suffering short but succinct. There was a particular shot of Ah Shui frozen in a moment of dejection after being told off by his employer. The moment was a just token reference to the hardship he faced but it was pregnant with a lot of pain, like a haiku. In fact, the film's visual poetry and aesthetics highlights another dimension of the the worker's thoughts - the romanticism that he yearns for and cannot get.

An interesting comparison can be made between Han Yew Kwang's 'The Call Home' and 'Water'. Both deal with the plight of foreign workers in Singapore but using different approaches. 'The Call Home', one of Singapore's pioneering short films, takes the worker's story more literally and linearly while 'Water' is more contemplative and figurative. It is strange that "Water' despite having won a best female director award in 6th Sedicicorto Film Festival in Italy has not been featured more prominently. Standing against the other First Takes that were more local in their content, it certainly had less appeal with the crowd but it is not difficult for anyone who takes a closer look at 'Water' to see its glimmer.

90 Second Short Film Competition with trip to UK

WHERE THE HEART IS from WORK LIFE on Vimeo.

SHOW US THE PLACES THAT MATTER TO YOU for a chance to win a trip to Encounters, the UK’s leading short film festival!

WHERE THE HEART IS, a collaboration with DepicT! , Encounters' 90 second online film competition, we want to make a short film showing us a place that means most to you.

In the city, we all have special places that we feel strongly about.

It could be the home of the grandmother you visited as a child, the cinema where you had your first kiss, the coffee shop where you spend far too much time with friends, or the place where you said goodbye for the last time to someone special. These places are filled with emotion and live forever in our memories.

It could also be a place that you have a love hate relationship with or a more emotionally complex relationship to.

We want you to share your special places with us in our short film competition. And we want you to do it in just 90 seconds!

You could see your film play at the National Museum in October, showcase your film on this website or even end up at the UK's leading short film festival, Encounters.

The Night Festival breathes new life to old canvas

Screening local short films on a sheet of canvas - something so new and so old at the same time!

Passing crowds and moving motorists catch fleeting glances of local cinema.

New audience to an old winner - Hock Hiap Leong

Even the moon was out for the festival.

'Sideshows' to the film screening

A 'reactive' dance performance right next to the film projection - an oddly beautiful combination.

'Steadfast' by David Liu and Linus Chen

If anyone was looking for a truly unique or refreshing proposition to the Singapore film scene, Steadfast certainly set out with a vengeance to tick some of the boxes.

A crew of men clad in black suits and shades stand opposite the former Supreme Court as a motorcade of BMWs pull up by the side. A bodyguard (presumably) surveys his surrounds before ushering a dignitary into the car.

Nope - the VIP in view is not a member of our country’s ruling party, but rather a businessman being protected from a group of assassins. Yup – right in the heart of Singapore.

Billed as an action film to break new ground in Singapore, Steadfast fulfils in-part the curiosity of the audience. Gun-slinging and battle scenes complete with fist-fights between renegade and assassin, contrasted to a boardroom where a high-level discussion reaches a stalemate, work to satiate the appetite of the action film junkie and keep the rest of us on the edge of our seats.

This, coupled with the plot’s decent pacing from conflict to climactic end, makes this 36-minute action-packed film a watchable treat.

To say however, that Steadfast is a film of epic proportions in breaking new ground may be taking it a tad too far.

Whether it was the shaky camera work in the characters’ gunfight dashes (presumably an intentional technique), the disorienting and repeated cuts from individuals’ furrow-browed expressions to boardroom shots (we get it, they are perplexed), or the ‘I’ve-seen/heard-that-somewhere-before’ action film clichés, one is often left having to piece together the plot’s structure rather than being hooked to the film’s otherwise decent pacing.

Plot distractions aside, one too felt the impact of key scenes was diluted due to perhaps a detachment from reality. Perhaps it was inevitable given the film’s billing as the local action film to look out for, but gun-battle scenes where with gratuitous triggering to hunt down all-of one character were a little too overwhelming to turn a blind eye to. At times it felt like the weapons in hand – which to be fair, looked and sounded realistic enough for an audience not to cringe – were the main stars of the show as opposed to the men wielding them.

Still, all things considered, you feel the filmmaker-duo who wrote/directed Steadfast - David Liu and Linus Chen, deserve much credit for their work. Not lest due to the constraints of a tight production budget and the near-impossible (at least on our island) hype and billing of a breakthrough action film on local shores.

Here’s wishing this will serve but a stepping stone for these filmmakers and more to explore the road/genre-less-travelled in the name of bringing Singapore film to the world stage.

SINdie conquers the Big Apple!

Over late June/early July, we wanted to start conquering the world by planting SINdie's flag in the Big Apple. So here we were standing proud in the middle of Times Square in the summer heat of New York.No. Grace and I were really just in New York for a holiday at almost the same time coincidentally. Close but not close enough. We missed each other by about a week. So we decided to each take a picture in the world's capital of billboards and logos - Times Square. And here is the result. Surely there is space in this billboard capital for SINdie yeah?

Production Talk - "Mandy's 8 theories of sleep" by Wendy Chee

16 hours a day keeps the doctor away. With 7 more theories in her pocket, Mandy must convince Jia Ming, that with bountiful sleep comes plentiful surprise, joy and flights of the imagination.

Where did you get the 8 theories from? How did it become the idea for your film?

This story is a mirror of my life when I was young where I habitually sleep an average of 16 hours a day. Back then, I was still young and ignorant and was frequently reprimanded by my elders. Sleeping long hours was what I considered to be a biological need for a good rest, but soon it became a mark of laziness. Hence, the label “lazy pig” was easily cast upon me and I wasn’t happy about it. I was determined to prove them wrong.

The theories came from the jokes about my sleeping patterns, as I’m taller, skinner, and hmmm… prettier than my siblings. I love chocolates and sleep when I’m stressed; I do oversleep in MRT trains and wake up in unexpected places. Some of them are also ideas that I came up with while writing the script.

With these theories in mind, I want to prove that sleeping long hours isn’t a sin. Moreover, it is to let the audience find out what they have been missing out from this luxurious sleeping hobby and to introduce them to this girl who has came up with all these wonderful and almost heart glowing theories.

I hope to bring a fresh perspective that would attempt to reconnect the workaholics of the society to this film so that they could find some vitamins to replenish their thoughts and say “Hey! It’s ok to take a break, let’s be lazy today”.

Your film is very original, do take us through how you developed the film's narrative and style.

I wanted the film to be a lighthearted comedy where witty, funny and clever theories will be introduced to the audience. Accompanying that is richly detailed characterization that would remind us of our long lost juvenile childhood days in the 90s. To preserve certain relics of our childhood like the chalkboard classroom, mama shop etc., things fast becoming extinct today.

Besides that, I want to reveal the inner thoughts and struggles of the strong-headed protagonist through her free spirited actions and quirky voiceovers. A series of curiosity and love-hate chemistry between the two characters would also reveal the whimsical theories in sequence as we progress through the film. And finally the relationship change between the two characters would reveal to the audience what Mandy actually lacks in her world.

The script at the beginning was very driven by the 8 Sleeping Theories and it was very much like listing them one by one. I had another writer, Roseane Kala, to help in seeing what was missing in the script and added in plot points to bring out the character of Mandy by adding little details to highlight her quirkiness.

We added flesh to the bones of the 8 sleeping theories, and also to introduce the film in a scrapbook montage style. Animal metaphors are also present throughout the film, for example, the cat as Mandy and Jia Ming as Dolphin etc. Besides that, we also decided to add a random character, which would keep appearing in the film to add to the comical factor of the film.

Beside the details in the characters, the film would also drift in and out of surreal worlds as defined by the theories. Using stop motion and animation to illustrate the out of the world concepts, for example the dream machine factory bed that she sleeps on everyday.

Other than that, sets will be heavily designed with recycled materials would explains Mandy’s love for art and craft. Absurd props and quirky wardrobe will also be used to depict Mandy’s imaginative and whimsical world.

What was your experience working with the kids? You seem to have a way with them.

Patience is the key word. This is my first time directing kids so it took me a while before I get used to it. I had to relearn communicating to them, to speak in simpler words. Kids aren’t as discipline as adults, it takes effort to get them to cooperate me when they are complaining about the hot weather and the mosquitoes.

A rehearsal was held before the production start, to introduce the main cast to each other to break the ice and also get to know each other better. I organized the rehearsal with the cast and the parents together, explaining the story and going through the script in sections. The parents were around to get their child to listen and pay attention to me.

I make it a habit to go through the scenes at the beginning of the day, to get the actors to rehearse through their lines till they remember it clearly. Also both actors seem to have hit off well, especially when we are not shooting they are always seen playing with each other. Directing them was easier as I get to know more about the two of them, though at times they would take advantage of the my easygoingness and throw tantrums.

What kind of films are you inspired by? There were many visually brilliant moments in the film that delighted the audience.

There were a lot of films, photographs and books that I was inspired by. Some of them are, “Amelie” by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Thai film “My Girl”, “Love me if you dare” by Yann Samuell, “Science of Sleep” by Michel Gondry and also several photos by Lorna Freytag and Jan von Holleben and Jimmy Liao books. I was attracted to the beautiful surreal sequences in these films and also the awesome art direction, imaginations and thoughts that provoke me while reading and browsing the books and photographs.

What were your greatest challenges in making this? It seemed very painstaking to put together.

Money and time is always an issue for this film due to the huge amount of props and sets, food, wardrobe and coordinating extras. The short amount of time we have to build props and sets due to the limited amount of rooms we have. We had to quickly build a set in a room and tear them down right after the shoot and build the next set. The limited crew and art assistant we have also slowed us down for this art direction intensive film.

Working with the huge amount of kids. It takes a lot of effort to bring the kids to the set, convince their parents that their kids are safe with us. Besides that, getting the kids to be careful with the fragile props and sets, and also facing stubborn kids that throw a tantrum on set.

Share some interesting anecdotes during the shoot.

Huge amount of mamee snacks and london choco roll were bought to keep the kids happy. The main cast Mandy gets a nice wooden peg if she managed to get less than 7 NGs.

Mandy's 8 theories of sleep has a facebook account like us, so what are you waiting for! Head over to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=184797995311 now!

Production Talk - "Hot!" by Karmour Koo

The concept of HOT! started the desire to create a new kind of aesthetics that breaks away from what is prevalent in local cinema. Together with the film's DP AMIN and Art Director Mattina Zheng, we created a falsified universe that is centered around the sensationalism of a single incident.

HOT! tells a story about 3 individuals and how they deal with the incident in their own ways, within a setting of pretense and superficiality. The story purposefully presents fragments of the event via different perspectives and also posing various questions which we hope our audience would consider. After all, any event can be a sensation and what bothers you might not bother others.


What's behind the idea for Hot!?

The idea for the story really came about from observations on how people react to local news. When something happens, the reports turn up in the headlines. The reports can go on for days but there always comes a point when the reports start to report trivial matters that has no relevance whatsoever to the original incident. The best examples were those that has something to do with lottery numbers. So I ask myself, does people really care? Are the reports serving any purpose? The more I think about it, the more it feels like just a media sensation created for mass consumption.


What are you trying to achieve in making this film?

The film really stands as an experiment, where the experience of the film started when you first heard the title or seen the poster to the very end when you are not very sure about what you have just seen. Making this film is my idea of creating this 'sensation' that would eventually establish varying relationships with individual viewers because everyone cares about some things and at the same time, remain apathetic to other things. If an audience reacted to HOT! as per how he/she would react to other narrative/character driven film, then HOT! would have failed.

It is a different film from the rest, and daring in a way that it braves some potential criticism. Is this film an experiment? What's your point in all the brawn and skin?

The entire aesthetics of HOT! does spell out, in some ways, how I feel and what I observe about living here. The skin factor is really my way of heightening the element of pretense and superficiality in the film. The flashiness of the bodies and sexuality are also means by which the film delivers its meaning.

The film has very striking visuals especially the 'tableau' of people crowding round the dead body. Can you share more about the kind of visual quality you are trying to create in Hot!?

HOT! references heavily from D&G print ads and films like Boogie Nights, Bad Education and Kylie Minogue's Slow music video. The production team wanted a clean and finished look in the film that is deliberately planned and intended. Shots like the tableau by the pool and some other similar shots in the film are also made to look extremely choreographed and fake. Bearing these in mind, the production team created these images that our DP AMIN would later come to call the 'Best Denki' look.


Do share with us your process of putting together the cast for Hot! I mean, Abercrombie and Fitch probably spends $$ hiring models to parade topless but you had MANY. Was it costly hiring these model types?

HOT! is self financed, which means that I definitely did not have that kind of money to hire models to strut around on set. The three lead roles were my main concern when we started looking around for casts because they had to look good and can act. So during the auditions, I looked out for potential actors who could fill in the three lead roles. Everyone else who answered our casting call would also be subsequently be considered to be the extras on set. Eventually, almost everyone on set were friends.

And the truth is that there weren't that many people on set. I would think that its the DP who did a great job.

Any interesting or raunchy things happened during the shoot?

Surprisingly, nothing much. I expected cat fights but we were constantly rushing for time so I guess no one had time for that. Most shots required everyone on set to be in it and therefore no one was idle most of the time.

I guess the best thing was that our predicted 4-day shoot was completed in 2. The toilet scene, because of nudity and intimacy scenes, was closed to all except the DP, talents and myself. It was shot from midnight to 4 in the morning. Although the scene screams sleaze, the actors' faces were actually (internally) screaming 'Fatigue'.

Do catch the trailer over at www.hot-shortfilm.com!

FLARE UP again

1 year ago,we witnessed the 1st batch of NTU ADM graduates (now they are doing pretty well...)

This year, we were back at National Museum again for another polished and glossy event, with even more industry players (do note that this is not a Film Festival, it's a private screening)


See the 2nd Batch of Graduates from NTU ADM 2010 introduce themselves and share about their films and personal journeys. They also share their plans after graduation and what they feel about the state of the local film industry.

Pictures from the second screening of FLARE at the NTU campus.

For film reviews, kindly click on the following links...

10^th Of May

Chicken("Muji")

HOT!

Living It

Remember Me

Hello,Goodbye

3 Day Grace

Mandy's 8 Theories of Sleep

FLARE 2010 - 'Mandy's 8 Theories Of Sleep' by Wendy Chee

Wendy Chee's 'Mandy's 8 Theories of sleep' shows how simple child's play can turn into priceless moments. It is like a minor's version of Royston Tan's 15 (the short film) in which 2 characters go about conversing spontaneously and the result is effortlessly funny and subtly warm and fuzzy at the same time. It is not difficult to get a sense that Wendy has a way with getting the kids to lose all inhibitions and give us many moments of innocence and genius. Perhaps even lovable mischief. It is one production in which the director is very decided on what she wants and is confident about the delivery. In a way, she has chosen a very safe framework - get two kids, give them a structure to a conversation (actually just give them lines!), get them comfortable by doing what they do best and voila! It can be too far from being endearing.

Mandy is a primary school girl who can't get enough of sleep. She can sleep anywhere, everywhere and anytime. Her parents try to break her habit but fail to. So enter Jia Ming, her opposite/nemesis/other half of the screen, who tries to break her attempts to sleep. In turn, she comes up with her 8 theories of sleep. The theories are child-like yet not without its share of wit and messages (like in the usual Disney features), so we adults have to pay attention to. Even when the theories are ridiculous, there is still some undeniable logic in them like 'Sleeping can make you grow taller,because you are not being pulled down by gravity'. Come on, you chuckled, didn't you?

In a way, it is also a very kiasu film. The 2 kids were good enough to stir up some screen magic but Wendy took an extra step to embellish the scenes by creating countless visual surprises along the way. Kiddy props and set-ups were a signature in many of the scenes. There was probably a fair amount of colour grading to give it that candy-coloured world look. If that's not enough, the cleverest trick was the use of a familiar idea - kids in adult positions. Though this is not entirely original, Wendy's got her personal touch to directing her kids in way that looked like they were in their element even though rehearsed. Guess it take a kid to direct another and Wendy's certainly let her kid out. A scene to remember is Jia Ming clasping Mandy's hair using the cover of his pencil box and but in the end gets hit by the pencil box when she executes a knee-jerk reaction upon waking up. Classic.

Kid's films are a plenty because of one reason - they light up the screen easily. It is almost exploitative. Not that it is terribly easy to work with kids as well. To get the little devils to work magic for you sometimes needs a meeting of the sun, stars and the moon. But if you genuinely love kids and are a kid yourself, it gets easier and it shows.