Still from 'Chiak' by Moonmen
It has been 25 years since Golden Village has opened its very first theatre in Yishun and to celebrate their 25 Year Anniversary, Golden Village has launched the GV25 Film Shorts filmmaking competition where aspiring filmmakers are to submit their applications based on the very apt theme of ‘The Past, Present and Future.’ Check out our post on the competition earlier this year.
Mentored by either of three local film
directors Boris Boo (Lucky Boy), Kelvin Tong (The Maid), or the Singaporean
YouTubers Tree Potatoes, three applicants were shortlisted and given a grant of
$2,000 to produce their short film over the time span of three months. Their films
are available for viewing in this link and public voting for
the films takes place from 10 to 16 October with the
finale event on 30 October. The winning short will be screened at GV
cinemas from 9 November and the winning team will receive a cash prize of $3,000.
In an interview, we had the
opportunity to speak with each of the three teams regarding their film and the
experience that this project had given them.
Look out for Chiak online soon!
Interview by Timothy Ong
Gathered by team director, Joshuah Lim
to achieve his dream to direct a short film, the group Moonmen
was born. With the help of mentor Boris Boo, the team have been working on Chiak,
a film about a hawker who develops dementia and how his son copes with his
father’s disease.
What kinds of films does the team
generally enjoy watching and how have they influenced the development of
Chiak?
We
generally enjoy films that are well thought out, either with the use of the
script itself or cinematography. Some of our favourite directors include Edgar
Wright, The Coen Brothers and even Quentin Tarantino So it’s really hard to put
what movies we like by genre but rather we enjoy more of the unique style some
of the directors listed above have.
I understand that one of your team
members has gone through a life-threatening ordeal, how has that life
experience shaped the direction and tone of Chiak?
I guess
going through chemo really shaped and gave me an insight on how the patient and
love ones really struggle with a disease. It allowed me to quickly understand
the emotional tone I wanted for certain scenes, I was able to better visualize
certain shots base of some of the memories I had when I was struggling.
Emotions
such as tiredness, loneliness and perseverance were really prominent when I was
going through chemo, that said however, I learned to enjoy the simple happy
moments with my love ones. Such as a simple meal. It wasn't really about the
meal but rather the company and "sacred time" when all the impeding
issues disappear for a moment and we can just enjoy each other’s company.
Was it difficult to write and adapt a
story about dementia in a manner that is not only dramatic and entertaining but
still respectful to the caretakers and the patients suffering under the
disease?
Yes. that
was one of concerns we had with the film. We really wanted to try to be fair to
all caretakers and patients suffering it. But from the stories we heard and
even our own experiences we learned that each struggle is different and with a
different ending. That is why instead of simply mashing everything together, we
decided to draw reference from one or two personal experiences as a backbone
for our film.
Can you tell us about your journey
through the production of the film? What were the biggest challenges and how
did you overcome it? Any surprises?
It was
challenging at first, us being one of the more younger groups to take up this
project. Thankfully we worked together in polytechnic so we knew each other’s
working styles and strengths. The challenging aspect for us was actually the
script writing and also the planning of the film. But we managed to keep our
cool and delegate work accordingly. With the help of our mentor Boris Boo we
managed to enhance our script and finally editing it to something that we are
really proud of.
Can you describe the process and your
feelings working with your mentor on the film? What do you think can be taken
away from this experience?
It was a
good process, we managed to meet a few times and in each of the meeting our
mentor was really helpful and insightful. He really was able to see some of the
gems in the film and also taught us on how to polish it to become even better.
Overall, we have gained much insight not only in directing but in editing and
script writing as well.
Look out for Chiak online soon!
Interview by Timothy Ong
For the full list of October 2017's 10 films under
STOP10, click here.