My first post for 2014 will be on Malaysian Diffan Sina Norman who makes a short film titled Kekasih that has been chosen to be screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival ( starting from Jan 16 to Jan 26) The story appears in theSun today. Here is the full interview ...
Headline : A Spiritual Endeavour
By Bissme S
DIFFAN SINA NORMAN has done Malaysia proud. His short film,Kekasih, which he wrote and directed, has been chosen to be screened at the Sundance Film Festival at Park City Utah in the United States from Jan 16 to 26. Kekasih was among the 66 short films selected to be shown at the festival from over 8,000 submissions in the category.Diffan is the second Malaysian to have his work shown at Sundance. The first was writer-cum-publisher Amir Muhammad whose work, The Big Durian, was chosen under the world documentary category in 2003.
“I got an email from the Sundance in November telling me that they found Kekasih to be a powerful film and that they will be delighted to share it at the festival,” says the 30-year-old director.
His short will have its first screening on Jan 18 at Broadway 6, Salt Lake City, the second on Jan 19 at Redstone 1, Park City. The third and final screenings areon Jan 22 and 25 in Park City at Temple Theatre and Holiday 1 respectively. The director refuses to divulge the budget for his film but admits receiving a grant of RM16,000 from the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas).
“Kekasih cost more than RM16,000 to make. I had to use some of my savings,” says Diffan, who is of mixed parentage. His father is Malay and his mother, Iranian.
The film is about a man named Mansor, who goes through a roller coaster of emotions when his wife, Rozita, dies. The husband and wife in the nine-minute short are played by award-winning actors Nasir Bilal Khan and Fauziah Nawi.
“My short film deals with God, life and death,” he says. “I was trying to define death. Death is highly confrontational.”
Diffan admits to having gone through the same emotions as his lead character when his father died of liver cancer in 2011 at age 62.
“There was a certain happiness that comes with his death,” he says.
“My dad was no longer suffering and I know he is in a better place. Still, I miss him.My dad still comes into my dreams. One time, he came as a zombie,” he adds with a laugh.
He explains that his father, who was a civil engineer, did not have an easy childhood.
“My dad had to struggle for success. His mother worked in a pineapple factory and my dad had to help her in looking after his eight siblings. He was a wonderful son, a loving husband and a
“I got an email from the Sundance in November telling me that they found Kekasih to be a powerful film and that they will be delighted to share it at the festival,” says the 30-year-old director.
His short will have its first screening on Jan 18 at Broadway 6, Salt Lake City, the second on Jan 19 at Redstone 1, Park City. The third and final screenings areon Jan 22 and 25 in Park City at Temple Theatre and Holiday 1 respectively. The director refuses to divulge the budget for his film but admits receiving a grant of RM16,000 from the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas).
“Kekasih cost more than RM16,000 to make. I had to use some of my savings,” says Diffan, who is of mixed parentage. His father is Malay and his mother, Iranian.
The film is about a man named Mansor, who goes through a roller coaster of emotions when his wife, Rozita, dies. The husband and wife in the nine-minute short are played by award-winning actors Nasir Bilal Khan and Fauziah Nawi.
“My short film deals with God, life and death,” he says. “I was trying to define death. Death is highly confrontational.”
Diffan admits to having gone through the same emotions as his lead character when his father died of liver cancer in 2011 at age 62.
“There was a certain happiness that comes with his death,” he says.
“My dad was no longer suffering and I know he is in a better place. Still, I miss him.My dad still comes into my dreams. One time, he came as a zombie,” he adds with a laugh.
He explains that his father, who was a civil engineer, did not have an easy childhood.
“My dad had to struggle for success. His mother worked in a pineapple factory and my dad had to help her in looking after his eight siblings. He was a wonderful son, a loving husband and a
fantastic father.
“With my father, it was all about giving. I cannot help questioning why he was taken away. I cannot help questioning why he is not around to see my short film being shown at the Sundance film festival.”
For the last eight years, Diffan has been based in Los Angeles in the United States as a multi-disciplinary artiste,filmmaker and designer. He directed mostly commercials there.
“I used to read my scripts to my dad and he always liked my stories,” he says.
“My dad always gave me feedback.He was always trying to convince me to direct a feature film. He even said he wanted to be a producer for one of the films that I was to direct.”
But Diffan kept postponing his dream of becoming a filmmaker but finally realised that he needed to do something about fulfilling that dream soon after his father’s death. While clearing his father’s desk, he found his script for Kekasih. After making some changes to the script, he finally turned it into a short film. So, it is not surprising that he has dedicated Kekasih to his late father.
His purpose of making this short is to create a template for him to direct a Malay feature film in the near future. But he is not keen in making an expanded version of Kekasih although he will deal with the themes tackled in Kekasih.
“I like to talk about my short film as being spiritual fiction,” he says.
“We’re from a region where God and spirituality is at the forefront of everything. Let us talk of spirituality in the fictional way.”
Diffan now plans to spend six months in Malaysia and six months in Los Angeles. Interestingly, he is more interested in making films in Malaysia than in Los Angeles.
“There is a magic in this place,” he says.
“In Los Angeles, we cannot talk about spirituality without cynicism. But this part of the world allows you to discuss
spirituality without cynicism.
“I want to make films where I want to say God exists ... that a creator exists. In fact, I believe the universe is the creation of the Almighty."
“With my father, it was all about giving. I cannot help questioning why he was taken away. I cannot help questioning why he is not around to see my short film being shown at the Sundance film festival.”
For the last eight years, Diffan has been based in Los Angeles in the United States as a multi-disciplinary artiste,filmmaker and designer. He directed mostly commercials there.
“I used to read my scripts to my dad and he always liked my stories,” he says.
“My dad always gave me feedback.He was always trying to convince me to direct a feature film. He even said he wanted to be a producer for one of the films that I was to direct.”
But Diffan kept postponing his dream of becoming a filmmaker but finally realised that he needed to do something about fulfilling that dream soon after his father’s death. While clearing his father’s desk, he found his script for Kekasih. After making some changes to the script, he finally turned it into a short film. So, it is not surprising that he has dedicated Kekasih to his late father.
His purpose of making this short is to create a template for him to direct a Malay feature film in the near future. But he is not keen in making an expanded version of Kekasih although he will deal with the themes tackled in Kekasih.
“I like to talk about my short film as being spiritual fiction,” he says.
“We’re from a region where God and spirituality is at the forefront of everything. Let us talk of spirituality in the fictional way.”
Diffan now plans to spend six months in Malaysia and six months in Los Angeles. Interestingly, he is more interested in making films in Malaysia than in Los Angeles.
“There is a magic in this place,” he says.
“In Los Angeles, we cannot talk about spirituality without cynicism. But this part of the world allows you to discuss
spirituality without cynicism.
“I want to make films where I want to say God exists ... that a creator exists. In fact, I believe the universe is the creation of the Almighty."
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| The director Diffan Sina Norman wants to film where he want to say God exists |
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| Nasir Bilal Khan plays as the lead in the Malaysian Short Film |
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| A scene from Kekasih, a Malaysian short film that deals with God, Life and Death. |
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| Fauziah Nawi as Rozita in this Malaysian short film |
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