Monday, May 19, 2008

Diminishing Memories by Eng Yee Peng - A Family Portrait

I took home with me 6 lives (or maybe more) from watching Diminishing Memories. I will always remember the endearingly helpless father, the fast-talking and level-headed mother, the jovial singlet-clad uncle, the Chinese Caligrapher, the laughing-Buddha face provision shop owner and of course, the earnest and brave Yee Peng, whose voiced stringed the different lives together.

A week ago, I watched a Simpson's spoof on indie documentary filmmaking in which Maggie Simpson tries making her first film and goes around exposing her family's ugly doings. She gets into Subdance and at the festival, the family members become the notorious talk of the town. Things are a little different in Dimishing Memories because Yee Peng actually interviews them (which already siphons off the uglier side of things). But the way the characters shared their views and lives so freely made me think that only Yee Peng could create this kind of screen honesty. Of course, for a first documentary, shooting a subject so close to her heart is a very smart move. But how many of us can actually make your parents feel comfortable in front of the camera, especially if they do not whole-heartedly approve of your filmmaking.

I had the opportunity to chat over dinner before I watched the documentary. While we spoke of the usual things filmmakers would talk or even grouse about, we also went beyond film and picked each other's life experience. Somehow, with her, I felt nothing was too low-brow to be talked about. The way she has told the story in DM emanates this spirit of hers as well. It was very `Kampung'. Though this has certain negative connotations in it, it is almost like the documentary cannot live without it. By `Kampung', I mean a few things - the scrapbook-style of presenting the story, the gushy and sometimes boorish narration, the closeness the characters felt towards Yee Peng who operated the camera and many more. Perhaps the film could get a better editor to cut the loose storytelling bits, but like fried lard in bak chor mee, the style redefined the film, because anyone could easily make a documentary about their family.

I cannot resist commenting on the characters and why they continue to live in my mind. Take the father as a start. He is wrinkled and all but had a face that grew on me. Alternating between saggy frowns and sudden grins, there was something quietly endearing about this man. I could tell he was probably an handsome and determined young man in his early years. His eyes are stern and focussed, even in his younger photos. It's no wonder he was such a prolific lorry-maker. But on the downside, he is not as shrewd as his wife. The relocation from Lim Chu Kang is remembered with sentiments of helplessness and even betrayal. In a sardonically funny moment when the daughter asks if he benefitted at all from the move, he said no, but there was definitely `victimisation' by the govt. And he said with a stifled laugh.

His wife, or rather Yee Peng's mother is one who will hold the family together in bad times. She is evidently strong and resolute. She talks fast and is very level-headed. Unlike dad's slightly dreamy and forlorn eyes, her expressions are always alert. But she is more complex than you think. Unlike her single-minded husband, she plays so many more roles. She is the manager of the kids, she is the gregarious party-organiser, she is sometimes an Ah Soh group leader (haha) but she will slow down and spare a thought and some honest emotions when the time calls for it. For instance, asking Yee Peng in front of the camera if she once felt neglected? On the whole, I feel she is Yee Peng's source of strength in the family and she would get a lot of guts from her mother. From her father, perhaps it is determination and ambition?

And then I will always remember how the chubby uncle who wore the singlet related how he knocked his elbows against the HDB bathroom wall when he might be thinking he was still bathing in Lim Chu Kang. Its seems to almost register the thought that we Singaporeans have been moulded into a generation of enclosed beings with clipped behaviour. Even his wife's warmth was so effortless and natural. She laughed as she commented how the camera had already started rolling even as Yee Peng stepped in. And the chunkiness of the meat filling in the Yong Tau Foo oozed with wholesome Kampung flavour as it sizzled in the cooking oil, just like the uncle's full-hearted laughter. The power of sentiment overrules so many things we perceive which is really the beauty of life. Just like how the wife felt so strongly about the taste of the water back in the Kampong. And its not just the wife, the old-fashioned singlet -clad husband wept buckets for leaving his Kampung.

Of course, there were other variants that formed that vivid family portrait that I remembered of DM. Some documentaries unintentionally exude a lot of romanticism in it and I think the mention of the Dog, like another family member was immensely sweet. Okay, maybe bittersweet. Related through the melancholic voice of Yee Peng's father, it was mentioned that he would make time to stop by the old abandoned house on his way to work just to take a look at the dogs everyday. Eventually, both dogs vanished. Which I think was the saddest part of the film because the documentary gave to them life and a subliminal kind of voice. And it was never heard, had to be imagined and died along with their Kampung.

A COMMENT from Stephanie Ho on The History Workroom, 18^th April 2008:

http://historyworkroom.com/?p=127#comments

I caught the screening and was impressed.

 

Unlike DMI, which was more personal in tone, this sequel was concerned more about the future of Lim Chu Kang rather than its past.

 

It was interesting to hear what the different ‘farmers’ who are now in Lim Chu Kang thought about the issue.  The people featured were an interesting mix- Ho Seng Choon, Ivy Singh Lim (Bollywood Veggies) and Kenny Eng.

 

By presenting their views which both colluded and contrasted with the director’s, this gave the viewer much food for thought.

 

A REVIEW from Stephanie Ho on The History Workroom, 11^th May 2008:

http://historyworkroom.com/?p=142

 

This is a belated review on Diminishing Memories II, a documentary by local filmmaker Eng Yee Peng, and an elaboration of an earlier comment (http://historyworkroom.com/?p=127#comments).

I watched DM II last month at the Singapore Film Festival. I was looking forward to it as I had enjoyed the first film, and was eager to see what Yee Peng has come up with next.

DM II is a continuation of DM I, yet it is something different. While DM I was concerned mainly with the past of Lim Chu Kang where Yee Peng grew up, DM II is concerned with its future: what is going to happen to Lim Chu Kang especially with government plans to make it a education/leisure venue with an agriculture theme?

Yee Peng explores this question through visits and interviews with the people who currently reside and work in Lim Chu Kang such as Ho Seng Choon and Ivy Singh-Lim of Bollywood Veggies and in her own reflections of these discussions.

As in DM I, Yee Peng plays a pivotal role as the narrator and director of the film. From her commentary we hear her voice clearly – one that is constantly thinking, reflecting on the information she has received and struggling to make sense of it. This is one of the most attractive aspects of her film – her honesty and courage in presenting her views and perspectives as a filmmaker which in turn motivate the audience to think a little more deeply about things many of us take for granted.

In addition, Yee Peng also allows the viewer insight into the filmmaking process. The most moving scene was perhaps the interview with Yee Peng’s mother where she expressed concern for Yee Peng’s overwhelming passion for filmmaking that threatened to affect her health. This helps the viewer understand some of the difficulties of independent filmmaking and how it operates in the context of the larger family.

Overall, I enjoyed the film very much and cannot even find anything negative to say about it. I admire the filmmaking style, I found the content educational and it was technically competent – better than DM I that suffered from shaky camera and stinting narration.

Most importantly I felt the soul of the filmmaker and the passion she has for the topic. I hope more people will watch the film. It’s good.

Singapore International Film Festival was finally over a few weeks ago but there's an Encore screening at Sinema in May!

There were two films I love most at the Singapore Panorama section, they are the "Road to Mecca" and "Homeless FC".

 

The website link to "Road of Mecca" is http://road2mecca.kino-i.com/index.html while Homeless FC will be screened again at Sinema, please see details below:

 

HOMELESS FC

Football, Friendship and the Search for a Place to call Home

Winner, Best Feature Film, Chinese Documentary Awards 2008
Nominee, Humanitarian Award, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2007

**** "Wonderful... profoundly moving." Westender

"A genuine crowd-pleaser in the best sense of the word." Vancouver
International Film Festival

"Won the loudest applause at the HKIFF this year." Hong Kong
International Film Festival

"The warmth that radiates from their work is due to the long-lasting
relationships built with their subjects." South China Morning Post

Where and when: Sinema Old School, 17th and 25th May, 7pm, and 1st
June, 9pm

Book tickets here: http://www.sinema.sg/oldschool/calendar/homeless-fc/

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssu9_snmGTg

More about the filmmaker: http://www.lianain.blogspot.com/

One of the audience from the Singapore International Film Festival's 2nd screening wrote me a letter on his blog, see below:

 

A Letter to Eng Yee Peng, Director of Diminishing Memories II

http://sindieonly.blogspot.com/2008/04/letter-to-eng-yee-peng-director-of.html

 

Dear Yee Peng,

 

Every good film festival allows you to take home something that you can't get at other film festivals. The Singapore International Festival has never meant much to me. I never had luck. Or timing. They say they want only world premieres, so I could not submit my work. So often, SIFF is a lonely affair for me, creeping into cinemas alone, not really feeling part of this spirit. This year's decision to give these 12-13 Singapore feature films a viewing platform made a big difference. To get to the most importnat point, it gave me a chance to watch your film and attend your Q & A. The experience on that Saturday afternoon gave me that something to take home from SIFF this year.

 

I know nothing about kampungs or farming. I grew up in a HDB flat straightaway. And the topic is not interesting to me. So I came to watch DM2 with little expectation but with a hope that the documentary would not be too long.

 

Your choice of a personal style, and I dare say angry style, made a lot of difference right from the start. The fact that you aimed straight at the points that were directly relevant to you made it very watchable indeed. This includes pin-pointing that the danger sign was the former location of your kampung. Like having a good tour guide, I knew I was in good hands and followed you from one issue to another. You were even funny, like how you never managed to pull out the Chye Sim without its muddy roots while the expert next to you nailed every attempt.

 

As the documentary progressed, that persistent, skeptical and somewhat adamant voice in you surfaced slowly. It defined the flavour of your documentary but on the other hand, made it all the questions you were asking seem rhetorical because you already took a stand right from the start towards the current and imminent changes seeping into the area. I somehow recalled vaguely how DM1 was a much-talked about documentary and suspected your very unique voice in it was the reason so. And as you probed further into the wisdom of these new agri-tainment developments and lament the the real kampung flavour that was diminshing, I felt like something of a collision was going to take place.

 

And the turning point came when you interviewed a middle-aged lady whom I learnt moments later was your mother. Her message was simple - to `move on'. Thereafter, you finally questioned the flaw in your initial argument and came to a resolution about leaving the redevelopment matter to rest. And to reinforce the conclusion, you captured another defining image of Lim Chu Kang - the cemeteries. This struck an immediate chord in me because I remember the depressing Sunday night bus journeys across these cemeteries back to the Sungei Gedong army camp.

 

Thinking back, if you were so level-headed about the whole agri-tainment issue, maybe the voice of the documentary would have been more of a whimper. It was truly nothing less than a shout, a scream from you. Maybe stylistically, it could have been more restrained, eloquent and less preachy. But you showed me something that I would keep for a long time. Mission.

The sense of mission did not end with your film, it had only begun for the following Q & A was about to make me helplessly emotional. At first glance, you look like the quiet sort. But your spirit is more than palpable. The best word I can think of is unabashed. Many filmmakers work hard but are sometimes too afraid to wear that badge of mission and drive on their sleeves. They don't want to seen as trying too hard. Because if they fail, maybe less people will take notice. I can't help but feel this is a very Singaporean trait, not just in filmmaking. I succumbed to it somehow along the way. But seeing how you pursue your goal, I am going to change that and find back the `devil-may-care' in me.

 

Honestly, the portion of your mother's interview in the film felt a little incomplete. Like I was missing the bigger picture and you just took out some hard-hitting points and included them in the film. I mean, it still had its effect but it was a fraction of the resonance that I felt from the `live' sharing by your mother later on. She said she was concerned that you only came out of the room to eat the fruits cut by her. She remembered how much you sacrificed and lost weight for your craft. She said she did not agree with your choice of career at first. Finally, she cited that the family is not rich and that she could not support your films like other parents and all she could do was offer little manual tokens of help here and there.

 

Money is not a dirty word. It is something I would often think about. My parents often talk in circles about things that link back to money. It is a very pertinent issue that ties in so many emotions in it our context. My parents would never think of giving me money to make films. More importantly, I will never ask them to do so. Despite loving films and making them, I can't help but feel like it's against my conscience to ask them. What I heard that Saturday afternoon will make me remember that someone who also had no recourse to deep pockets and warm familial support had gone on to make 2 very strong feature-length films. By the end of the Q & A, my cheeks were soaked in tears and I walked out of it already knowing what my concluding thoughts for this year's SIFF would be. This is bearing in mind, I still had 2 very good films to watch - `Flower in the Pocket' and `18 Grams of Love'.

 

I want to thank you for making it special for me. I assure you none of this is dramatised for sensationalising my write-up. I wish you all the success in your future projects.

 

Yours sincerely

 Jeremy

 

 

 

早报副刊：《四方八面》专栏

刊登日期：30/04/08

电影奖项是个什么玩意儿？为什么会有各项的颁奖典礼存在？得奖者又为什么会特别受注意呢？不说大家也知道，电影奖项的意义是给艺术工作者和表演者的一种鼓励和肯定。说穿了，奖项这玩意儿也只不过是这个圈子里“自然”运作的游戏规则的一种。

　　很多独立制作影片的人都爱制作电影短片或长篇剧。在各个国际电影展中，也有很多短篇和长篇的影片竞赛。属于中长篇的影片似乎就比较少有机会参加各项竞赛了。在这一届的新加坡国际电影节中，我的参展作品也刚好就是属于不长不短的中长篇纪录片。好不尴尬。虽然说一些中长篇的影片可能刚好符合一些电视台的播映时段，但任何一个独立制片人的梦想，应该还是偏向编制大银幕的梦吧！看到自己的作品在大银幕上被放大，再加上电影音响效果的配搭，近乎完美了。真的会让参与制作的人不禁“暗爽”——有种自尊心膨胀的满足感。倘若观众又给予非常积极的回应与赞美的话，很容易让人产生一种轻飘飘的感觉，沉醉在“虚幻”之中。如果还加上电影奖项的光环，更容易让人有贪图争夺之心。

　　我的作品曾在国外得过奖。那是我的第一部作品的第一个奖项。我知道我需要这个奖项，因为我了解这个圈子的游戏规则。我需要得奖，因为在这个圈子里有太多不懂得什么是好电影的人存在。他们需要别人告诉他们，哪一部影片才是部好电影。

　　所以作品拿了奖之后，真的对影片本身有实际的宣传作用和商业利益的效应。有趣的是，在一次和一位来自欧洲国家的影片人交流时，她说其实电影奖项根本是毫无意义和多余的。因为艺术本来就很主观，要怎么拿它们来相比较？其实每一部电影本身都是个独立的个体，它们有各自的生命，也都各自有其优、缺点和特质。那些所谓的电影奖项和颁奖典礼于是根本就不应该存在！很有意思的见解，我非常同意。但毕竟现实是残酷的。虽然通过观众的反应来看，打从心里面我已经知道观众给了我最大的奖励，我却还是希望有机会得奖。在个人的层面上，我的精神满足感不来自电影奖项。但活在现实的实物当中，还是不得不在某种程度上去进行配合它的游戏规则的。

早报副刊：《四方八面》专栏

刊登日期：23/04/08

 

第一次带着自己的第一部影片赴国际电影节参展时，是件让我非常期待及兴奋的事。原来不是我带着我的影片到我没有去过的地方，而是我的影片带着我跨过了海洋到了世界的另一个端，去和它的观众见面。你相信吗？任何一部影片的完成后，都会有它自己的生命。很多时候影片制作人在影片完成的之前和之后，都不会知道他的作品最终会走多远的路。

 

我究竟何德何能，会有这么样的一种幸运。就因为我制作了一部纪录片，有幸受邀到日本参加山形国际纪录片影展？刚初出茅庐，也不知道原来这个纪录片影展可算是国际上倍受认同和重视的。在这个影展参展过的影片，往往都会受到其他影展、电视台或发片商的注意。我居然有眼不识泰山。一个小丫头带着一颗想要开开眼界，结交多一点来自世界各地的朋友的心情来到了日本。这可是我第一次到日本，也是第一次获得影展包办所有在影展期间的交通、住宿和饮食费用的机会。天底下上哪儿找这么好的‘免费旅游条件’？说出来朋友都羡慕得不得了。其实我也觉得自己好幸福。

 

影展开幕的第一晚，有个自费来到这个影展的印度同胞非常友善地和人打交道。当他发现我参展的影片是我的第一部作品时，露出了声声的惊叹。什么？第一部作品就获选了？你是怎么做到的呀？他到处去和别人打听，究竟怎样才能让作品获选参加这个影展。

 

但是关于这道问题，我完全没有答案。我却在同一个影展中，在观看别人的作品当儿确定自己的影片将不可能得奖，也不应该拿奖。因为没有资格。

 

我的作品在各方面还差得远。放眼望去，我并不觉得自己很渺小。我只是看见了世界的辽阔与宽广。在这世上，有才华的人其实很多。我带着学习、交流的心态，很愉快地度过了我在日本非常幸福的第一段旅程。