'Abang'
by Dzafirul Haniff was nominated for Best Director and received
Special Mention in the 5th Singapore Short Film Awards.
Sypnosis
Chased away by his own mother, Iskandar moves out of the room he shares with his younger brother into the bicycle shop he runs. When Zaki, the younger brother, pays him a visit at the store, the two learn to be brothers. Iskandar teaches Zaki to be the new man of the house while Zaki provides for Iskandar a sense of family he thought he had lost.
How
did the story idea for the film come about?
The
story idea largely comes from my own experiences with my brother
where we've been distanced geographically with him living in KL,
Malaysia while I lived in Singapore. As such, from a very young age,
he became the brother I sort of never knew. We would meet once a year
or so for Hari Raya but never had much to talk about. So when I took
some time to live with him for about 6 months, it was a surprise to
find that we were rather similar in character and personality. The
bond was almost immediate but we found ourselves 'experimenting' and
still navigating through the different dynamics of the relationship
to find how we functioned best as brothers. In the film, the
geographical distance became redundant and was swapped with an
emotional distance which worked better for the flow and drama of the
film.
Why
did you choose to tell the story in Malay?
The
short answer would be "I don't know". I have in the past
always wanted to craft a film in Malay as a way of exploring a
language that is part of my identity but one I don't know well. I'm
horrendous in my use of the language. When I set out to write the
script for Abang and to make the film though, I wasn't concerned with
that desire to make a Malay film. It just sort of happened. Perhaps
it was that it was based on my time in Malaysia with my brother and
that was a period when I began to find myself utilising the language
more, even if my brother and I would still more often than not speak
to each other in English; or at least a 'rojak' (mix) of the two
languages. In the end though, it worked better for a film about
bonding. Retrospectively, I considered that a minority language and
race might have helped sell the process of bonding between the
brothers through that shared identity. I was very adamant that my
actors be comfortable (we improvised a lot of the dialogue on set)
with what they were saying and in order to better reflect reality, I
insisted that my characters would speak in a mix of both English and
Malay.
All
this explanation though is based on retrospective analysis. The real
answer for the decision making process would still be that “I don't
know”. It just felt right.
The
learning process of being brothers results from going through a lot
of ups and downs in this film. What are the messages that you wish to
tell the audience?
The
message, if assumed that there is always a message to be conveyed in
a film, is most certainly about family not as an inherent concept but
something you build and work towards. Blood is just blood.
Relationships come from interactions and the work one puts with
building that relationship with another. You can be borned into a
family but you are not necessarily a family. With this film, I
suppose what I really wanted to explore and convey is the definition
of family and the responsibility that comes with it.
Tell
us more on the journey in developing the film.
The
script for Abang came about a month and a half prior to the
production of it. It was insanely rushed because there was a schedule
to adhere to being that it was our final year project and there were
others to answer to with regards to our production needs. I had
another script that I wanted to do initially but was deemed too
ambitious and large scale by my team who eventually insisted I write
a new script altogether. I was an annoyingly stubborn writer then and
it took awhile before I was finally convinced that they were right. I
am extremely grateful to have a bluntly honest team members who
didn't simply quit and give up when I was being my own blocking wall
in the journey of making the film but supported me to get out of my
own head and work towards something better and achievable.
Within
that month and a half before production, I took 2 days to ponder on
my failed project then another 2 days to whack out the first page of
Abang's script. After I found a flow that worked, it took 2 hours to
write the rest of the script. It underwent a few minor changes along
the way but those were done in conjunction with the other
pre-production work. Casting was a bit of an issue within that short
period of time because I had a lot in mind with regards to what I
needed from the actors. They had to be believable as brothers, able
to convey a lot of subtle emotional shifts in a way and understand
the characters well enough to be able to improvise their scenes when
required. I was lucky to have found Jaden and Zac who have had
similar familial dilemmas and were also acquainted with each other as
friends who have not met in quite some time. They really were like
brothers getting to know each other.
What
is the most unforgettable part of the production?
The
most unforgettable part of the production for me was the opening
scene, which was also the last shot of the entire production (not
including pick up shots). The opening scene was initially envisioned
as a long 3 to 4-minute take of the stepfather returning home,
verbally then physically abusing the mother followed by the fight
scene between Iskandar (the lead) and the stepfather ending with the
mother chasing him off. For the pacing purposes of the film, the
scene was cut much, much shorter. During production though, we were
somewhat rushed for time and were all quite tired. I felt everything
that all 3 characters should be feeling while shooting. Rafida Yusoff
who played the mother performed wonderfully and by the end of the 3rd
take, I called for wrap and had to leave the set for awhile to catch
my breath and recompose myself. We've all heard of method acting. I
think I was method directing in some ways and while it was an
immensely satisfying and cathartic approach, it was also intense and
a little draining for me.
If
you could have done something differently to the film, what would it
be and why?
I
would have added in a few wider shots to the confrontation scenes I
think. I'm not sure how it would have worked but watching the film
now, I felt like there could have been more variations to those
scenes. I wouldn't do close ups because I'm not a fan (at least not
for the nature of this film) of using close ups to induce intensity
and drama. So I think probably wide breathing shots might have been
good to add. I think the cycling scenes could have been done better
as well.
How
did you overcome the challenges during the filming?
When
it comes to productions, especially an approach with the somewhat
freeform style that we did, there's always a concern of getting
everything we would need within a certain amount of time. Knowing the
material is key in those scenarios. It helps in making the decisions
of what shots could be cancelled, what could be merged into a single
shot, etc. And we made the mistake of underestimating the manpower we
would need for the shoot. Again, I am eternally grateful to have had
such a supporting team and crew who would all pitch in to assist in
areas that are not even within our job scope. Without my particular
crew, I think the entire production might have crumbled even before
it began.
Any
good advice to aspiring directors or film makers out there?
I
guess if I had any really good takeaways from the production of Abang
and other film shoots I was involved with during that period of time
it would be that planning is important. But knowing the source
material, your direction and understanding what you want to achieve
is much much more important. It allows you to be flexible with your
production process and helps you to communicate with your crew which
is key in any filmmaking endeavours - any creative undertaking for
that matter. The other advice is probably a cliche but it stems from
knowing exactly what you want to achieve as well. If you want to tell
a good story, making everything a servant to the story. If you want
to making a beautiful picture, find a story that is a servant to
that. A film, at least to me, is created for its entirety and not for
the singular elements or scenes that reside within it. Those need to
compliment each other in servitude to the bigger whole.
The
trailer for 'Abang' can be viewed here and
more of Dzafirul Haniff's reels can be found on his official vimeo
page.