Sayang Disayang, having traveled on its festival route since 2013 at the Salamindanaw Asian Film Festival, including representing Singapore in its Oscar bid in 2015, is now finally on Blu-ray. This Zubir Said musically infused film about Malay food and foreign domestic help took its time stewing away, having spent several years in production.
But with all good dishes, patience in working with all the ingredients was key. We caught up with the director, Sanif Olek on his thoughts now about his film.
Get your own copy here.
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Sayang Disayang
hearkens back to the golden age of Singapore cinema where the Malay-language
films produced by Cathay Keris and Shaw Brothers were the bread and butter.
Where do you see the film’s position among this proud legacy?
Sayang Disayang was conceptualised as a homage to many of the
iconic Malay films that were produced during that era. Like many others, I grew
up watching many of these films. These films document much of the social bubble
of the Malays then. Much of the dialogue was witty. They were sharp, brash
and in some cases, politically-incorrect. Yet in some scenes, the screenplay used
double-entendres and puns that further highlight the Malays’ fondness with non-confrontational
expressions. The skits were memorable and the songs became evergreens.
Furthermore, much of the narrative style and structure of these
films were influenced by the musical films of Bollywood, especially in the use
of songs with lyrics that reflects the emotional arc of the respective scenes.
With regards to Sayang Disayang, even though the film was my
homage to the classic Malay-language films from Cathay Keris and Shaw, I do not
wish to replicate how these films were done. Cultures evolve, thus Sayang
Disayang reflects this evolution to reflect the contemporary Singaporean Malays,
and to some extent how Singaporeans situate itself culturally with its
neighbours.
One needs to remind ourselves that the Malay-language films
produced by Cathay Keris and Shaw were done when Singapore and Malaysia were
under Malaya. Singapore in 2017 is a different Singapore pre-1965.
Additionally, with
the release of Boo Junfeng’s Apprentice (2016) which is similarly albeit not
entirely in the Malay language, do you see the local industry headed towards a
revival of this tradition?
Perhaps many tend to overlook that Singapore is located in the middle
of the Nusantara, ie the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia. Essentially, the
Nusantara stretches from southern Philippines in the west, Indonesian island of
Sumatra in the east, southern Thailand in the north and New Guinea in the
south. Each of these regions itself is diverse with its own heritage and
culture. With these, the Malay-language is further varied with hybrids of
sounds, pathos and nuances that reflects the respective regions these languages
are spoken.
Thus it will be rather unwise to overlook the rich cultural
tradition that the Nusantara has to offer.
How was your
experience bringing this film around the world and more critically, around the
region, in light of your expressed desire to not only make a local
Malay-language film but one for the entire South-east Asian Malay archipelago?
The experience has been enriching. Told from the point of view
from Singapore, Sayang Disayang was able to raise many questions about how a
Singaporean see the Nusantara. I think that international audiences, who may be
more familiar with Indonesia and Malaysia, studied further about what is unique
about Singaporeans.
Although many may be familiar with multicultural Singapore,
many may be myopic to assume that the Malays in Singapore is similar to the Malays
in Malaysia and Indonesians. On the other side of the spectrum, many
non-Singaporeans in the Nusantara began to perhaps appreciate the uniqueness of
the Singapore Malays. Nevertheless, despite the differences, the Malays in
Singapore is “serumpun” (of the same strain) with the rest of the Malays in the
region.
Bathed and luxuriated
in Malay song and gastronomy, Sayang Disayang is a film that wears its cultural
pride boldly front and centre with adroit success. During the film’s conception
however, did you ever feel that the film had a responsibility to act as a
cultural vanguard or a representation of Malay culture, for the benefit of
international programmers or viewers? A pressure to stand in and represent the
culture, instead of simply existing, as it were.
I started conceptualising Sayang Disayang somewhere in 2001 as a
short film. I was doing research into food films from around the world. I
realised there was not a single film about food from the Malay archipelago. For
example, there were films like Eat Drink Man Woman (Taiwan), Babette’s Feast
(Denmark), The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover (British-French) and
then Woman On Top (Brazil).
Thus I took it upon myself to make one – a film
about the quintessential Nusantara dish, the Sambal Goreng. Most interestingly,
much of the Malay dishes do not adhere to quantifiable ingredients. Much of
them is based on the Malay phrase, “air tangan”, ie the essence of the hand.
Thus there are a thousand and one ways to cook the Sambal Goreng. A few years
later, the short film evolved to become a feature film.
Before Sayang Disayang, there was my first short film Lost Sole
(2005). I was attending many film events in Singapore. I was frustrated that in
many of these events, it was very rare to the point of non-existent, to see
local Malay films being programmed. Thus I took it upon myself to make one,
taking advantage of my experience in television dramas. Lost Sole was produced
10 years after I graduated from film school at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in 1996.
I do not set out to make films as a vanguard of contemporary Malay
films in Singapore. Neither it be the voice of Singapore Malays. Another part
of why I find my niche in making Singapore films seen from the contemporary
Malay perspective is a form of catharsis, an outlet to express my thoughts
about things that concern my community that I cannot express explicitly in my
other professional capacity as a commercial television producer and director.
“Responsibilty” is a huge word. Like many filmmakers, I make films
on subjects and pertinent issues that I am emotionally engaged with. I make
films with universal values. I am grateful that the things I care about
represented in my films resonate with audiences.
Releasing in 2017, 4
years on from the initial release of the film, the DVD will be received by a
world that is very different, culturally and politically, from what it was 4
years ago. What changes do you foresee in the reception for the film in this,
if I can say so myself, increasingly grim and sobering reality, given
especially since the film carries a dreamy and nostalgic charm.
Sayang Disayang is about the fractured relationship between Murni,
a housekeeper from Indonesia, and Harun, her Singaporean, wheelchair-bound elderly
boss. Murni loves to sing while cooking, while Harun complains much about her
cooking. Harun lives in his big house all by himself, left behind by his son,
Roslan.
In my opinion, music and food are timeless. Caring for the
elderly, ie filial piety in Asian families is timeless. However, the issue of
the elderly in the Asian household being looked after by someone other than the
immediate family is somewhat a contemporary phenomena. In fact, this issue is
something that Asia is finding resonance to communities in the West.
It has
been 17 years since the film was conceptualised in 2001. Other than political
upheavals in Asia, the topics mentioned in the Sayang Disayang ie music, food
and filial piety have not diverged much.
To make a feature
film is a task Herculean on its own, to take a film from birth all the way to a
home release must surely be Sisyphean. Can you walk us through your journey of
bringing and securing a home release for the film?
The feature screenplay for Sayang Disayang was completed in 2006. However,
it was set back due to lack of funding. A couple of effort were done to crowd
source. There was an appeal for private funding but these fell through nearing
the production date. There were efforts by the local Malay music fraternity who
organised a fundraising day-concert called Konsert Ramuan. Although this
concert was successful in getting the plight of the film’s production to the
masses, the funds collected were insufficient.
Nevertheless, the film was fortunate to have the support of the
community, including the filming production and artistes communities. Sayang
Disayang has a legit story to tell. It was filmed in two phases in 2007. The
film was assembled in 2013 from the footages that filmed. I was grateful that I
had much training in television, because the sensibilities I gained from television
contributed much of the assembly process, especially in telling a story
differently without compromising the essence of the original concept.
It took another 4 years before the bluray is released. The honest
truth is that I was too busy with my television productions to oversee the new
colour-grading (among others) that I had intended for the bluray format
release.
Now that Sayang
Disayang has a stable home in the DVD release, what’s next on the horizon for
you?
I see myself making more Singapore films from the contemporary Malay
perspective in the long term. Like many filmmakers in Singapore, I feel I tell
the story better with a language that I am familiar with. However I will not
discount any opportunity to accept a big-budget offer to direct a film with
commercial sensibilities with topics that I resonate with.
In April 2017 my
film, The Manifest, part of anthology of film for the MCI-produced Project
Lapis Sagu was released. The Manifest was a total departure
from the typical films that I have done. Until more of such offers comes along,
I do not wish to replicate the work that I have done on television.
Commercial
television has been very kind to me with diverse, creative opportunities. I am
thankful with the multiple industry awards I received for my work in television
since 1996.
Interview by Koh Zhi Hao
For the full list of September 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.