Film producer David Teo speaks to theSun about penetrating the movie scene in China. Read the full story here
Headline
By Bissme S
AFTER having produced over 130 films
in his 15-year career in the local film
industry, David Teo wants to spread his wings overseas.
“I do not want to be a jaguh kampung any
more,” says Teo, 51.
“I want to think outside
the box [and] find new markets and new
audiences.”
Teo, who is also the chief executive officer
of MIG Pictures, hopes to set up a production
house under MIG Pictures in Beijing by the
end of this year.
“This dream of penetrating the Chinese
film industry has been playing in my mind
since last year,” he says.
“China is a booming market. In the past,
the authorities there were not keen on the
entertainment industry. They had all kind of
censorship restrictions in place. But now, the
authorities are more open-minded.”
Once his production house is ready, Teo
will immediately start producing movies with
Chinese directors and actors.
He adds that he will be bringing in a crew
of Malaysians to work alongside the Chinese
behind the scenes.
“China has a long history in filmmaking.
They have better skills than us. They can
teach our crew new skills. When our crew return to Malaysia, they
will be able to their new knowledge.
They will also be earning better money in
China.”
Teo is looking into ways to help Malaysian
talents get a foothold in China as well by
putting them into supporting roles in the
movies he will be producting.
The director-producer also intends to sell
his Malaysian films over there. Pointing out
that China has over 300 TV stations and 100
online TV outlets, he says he could easily sell
his Malay movies with Chinese subtitles to
these stations.
“In a way, I am exposing Malaysian movies
to a different market and audience.”
He adds that we should take advantage of
China’s huge movie audience.
Giving the example of Stephen Chow’s
Chinese New Year blockbuster Mermaid,
which collected an astonishing RM1.8 billion
at the worldwide box office, Teo comments:
“We are only talking about millions at our
box office, and they are already talking
billions at their box office.”
One wonders if Teo has any fears entering a market that is not familiar to him.
“I have done my homework,” he says.
“I am
certain that I am on the right track. Entering a
new market never frightened me. Business is
all about taking risks. What frightens me is the people I am
going to be working with. People can be
unpredictable. The last thing I want is to be
betrayed.
“I want to be the lucky rat that falls into a
pot that is filled with rice. I do not want to be
the unlucky rat who falls into a pot that is
filled with worms. Betrayal can be a bitter pill to swallow.”
In the meantime, Teo has been keeping
with his busy filming schedule with two local
movies currently in production.
The first is a Malay language comedy, Zack
Kapcai, that centres on a man involved in
illegal motorbike racing.
When he learns from his mother that his
estranged father is alive, he goes on a
journey to find him, with hilarious results.
The film, which stars Fad Bocey,
Serina Redzuwan, Julia Marin
and Shuk SYJ, is slated for
release in local cinemas on
July 14.
The other is another
Malay language film – a
horror feature called Volkswagen Kuning, which opens on Sept 22.
The film is about a man named Fuad, who
brings his girlfriend Khaty back to his
hometown to be introduced to his parents
and relatives.
Unfortunately, the couple get in an
accident before they can reach their
destination. Fuad is badly
injured, but Khaty
escapes without a
scratch.
However, it
soon becomes
clear that an evil
spirit has
possessed Khaty,
and is out for
blood.
The film stars
Pekin Ibrahim and
Atikah Suhaime in
the leading role.
Today thesun published my interview with Mahi Ramakrishnan who talks about an art festival that she is organizing that celebrates the courage of refugee and her latest documentary Bodies for Sale. Here is the full story.
Headline: Seeking Humanity in the Arts
By Bissme S
Documentarry filmmaker Mahi
Ramakrishnan and audio
visual artist Goh Lee
Kwang are the brains behind the
three-day Refugee Festival, taking
place at Black Box, Publika Solaris
Dutamas, in Kuala Lumpur, from
June 24 to 26.
“It is difficult to live the life of
a refugee,” says Mahi in
a recent interview, pointing out
the fact that these people have
left everything behind in their
home countries, where they are
often oppressed and suppressed.
“They come to a new country
in search of a better future,”
she adds.
“They are
not victims. They are
survivors. And this festival
celebrates their courage.”
The festival will
feature screenings
of short films and
documentaries,
photography exhibitions,
poetry reading, dance
performances, and a
bazaar selling food and
artworks by the refugees.
However, there are
Malaysians who believe refugees
add to social ills here.
“We are always afraid of
something we do not know,”
says Mahi.
“Come to the festival,
and meet the refugees and listen
to their stories. You will realise
that they are just like us.
“
All they want is a better life
for themselves and their family.
“We have to realise that
these refugees are a part of our
community. We should create a
conducive environment for them
to live in.
“Malaysia can be a role model
for other countries to follow in
dealing with the refugee issue.”
One of the highlights of the
festival is an art exhibition by 16
refugee children depicting their
lives in Kuala Lumpur, entitled
KL Kita Je.
Visitors can also write their
names (with their IC number) on
postcards which are addressed
to our Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Abdul Razak.
These postcards will be sent
to the prime minister to urge
him to provide proper education
for the refugees’ children.
“We have about 34,600
refugees below the age of 18, and
it is important for these children to have a proper education,” she
says.
On her new documentary
entitled Bodies for Sale, set to
be screened at the festival on
June 26 at 2pm, she tells of the
heartbreaking and shocking
stories she has documented.
The 30-minute documentary
depicts the abuse the Rohingyas
have to endure at the hands
of human traffickers. They
range from rape to starvation,
all while they are fleeing from
persecution and injustice in their
home country of Myanmar.
“Whenever
we talk about
rape, we often
imagine it is a
woman getting
raped,” says
Mahi.
“This
time around, I
managed to get
a Rohingya man
… to speak about
his experience.”
The man
tells how four
traffickers held
him down, while taking turns to
rape him.
Mahi says that the rape took
place in front of everyone,
but none of the other refugees dared to stop it because they
feared repercussion from the
traffickers.
Mahi is also told of a sick
game the traffickers used to play
on the refugees. They would
shout out that the authorities
were conducting a raid and
watch the refugees panic and
start running for cover.
The traffickers would then
chase after the female refugees,
catch them and rape them.
“These sick people just
love the thrill of scaring their
victims,” Mahi says.
“It [was] not
only men and women who got
raped. Children got raped, too.”
For Mahi, these horrific tales
were depressing to listen to,
gut-wrenching and extremely
upsetting.
“
There is sense of
helplessness and hopelessness
in their situation,” she says.
“It
is difficult for me to emotionally
detach myself from what I am
hearing. I feel so sad and angry that
there are people who have the
power to stop this abuse, but
they are doing nothing about it.
“This has motivated me to
make this documentary and
show it to the public. I am hoping that, after
watching this documentary,
perhaps we could put our minds
together and find a solution to
stop the abuse of the refugees.”
I had interviewed the Singapore director K Rajagopal whose film A Yellow Bird was showed at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The story was published in theSun today. Here is the full story
Headline: An Eye For Realism
By Bissme S
To have your film
screened at the
prestigious Cannes Film
Festival is a great honour,
and 51-year-old Singaporean
director K. Rajagopal earned it
last month with his first feature.
A Yellow Bird, which tackles
issues of racism and migrants
in Singapore, was shown at
Cannes under the International
Critics’ Week category.
"The audience in Cannes found the film intense, and felt
it showed a different side of
Singapore which they were not
familiar with,” says Rajagopal,
in a recent interview with
theSun.
A Yellow Bird centres on
Siva ( played by Singaporean
actor, producer and director
Sivakumar Palakrishnan)
who is released after
eight years behind bars.
But when he returns
home, his mother
( Seema Biswas) does
not welcome him
and his wife has
abandoned him,
taking away their
only child.
While searching
for his wife and
daughter, Siva saves
Chinese immigrant
Chen (played by
Chinese actress
Huang Lu) from a
violent man.
Chen
is working as a
prostitute to pay off
her family’s debt.
The girl begins to
see Siva as a kindred
spirit in a brutal world,
and a relationship
develops between
them. But Siva’s
violent past
will not leave
him alone.
A Yellow Bird will be shown in
cinemas in Singapore at the end
of the year.
“I have always given voice
to the minority [groups] in my
short films,” Rajagopal says.
“Racism exists everywhere.
In Singapore, racism is not
overt but is simmering beneath
the skin. The minorities shy
away from discussing this issue
as it can be uncomfortable to
talk about it in a multiracial and
modernised environment.”
Explaining the title of his
film, he says: “When I was a
child, my mother used to say
that if you see a yellow bird,
make a wish because you will
meet someone nice or receive
good news.
“I grew up believing this
myth. I wanted to explore the
idea of hope and false hope in
my film.”
To get the best out of his
cast, Rajagopal held vigorous
rehearsals. “The characters
were quite dark and intense,
so the actors must be carefully
handled to get the best out of
them.”
Rajagopal had nothing but
praise for his cast.
“They were
very much an intuitive and
sensitive bunch, who took on
the challenge to work hard and
achieve the realism that was
necessary for the film.”
He even got lead actor
Sivakumar to live on the streets
for few days.
He says:
“The film is solely dependent on his character, as
we follow him from beginning
to the end. He needs to be very
convincing as an ex-convict
and homeless person and,
at the same time, displays a
strong sense of loneliness and
hopelessness.”
Rajagopal himself started
out as a theatre actor. He
has worked under renowned
Singaporean directors such as
William Teo, Pao Kun, Keng
Sen and Ariffin Noer.
“I learnt a lot from them,”
he says.
“But I wanted to be my
own storyteller.”
He began writing very simple
stories which he made into
award-winning short films.
Rajagopal’s confidence grew
with each win. He then focused
on making films for televisions
before venturing into his first
feature effort.
Rajagopal picks Adoor
Gopalakrishnan as his favourite
director as he admires this
Indian director’s films.
“He
was one of the first filmmakers
of Parallel Cinema in Kerala,
India.”
He also likes filmmakers
such as Andrei Tarkovsky,
Francois Truffaut, the Dardenne
brothers and Mike Leigh.
“They laid [open] life
experiences in their films in a
very realistic and lyrical manner
without the frills,” he says.
One can certainly see
similar elements of realism in
Rajagopal’s works, too.
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| A scene from the movie |
