Sofia Jane

I interviewed the talented actress Sofia Jane recently. She talks about her exciting acting projects and directing a short film that was shown 18th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) 2013 in South Korea. The story appeared in the sun newspaper  on Tuesday Oct 15. Here is the full story.  

Suggested Headline: The Good Wife 
By Bissme S 

Sofia Jane  will be playing the role of a betrayed woman in Teater Kompilasi Nam Ron that will be staged at Damansara Performing Arts Centre from Nov 1 to 3. Sofia’s character, Bulan, is surprised to learn that her husband is charged with killing his mistress.
“My character first learns about her husband’s unfaithfulness when the police inform her that  her husband has been arrested on a murder charge,” says the 41-yearold actress (left) in an exclusive interview with theSun.
“And the next moment, his affair and arrest are all over the media. That is a horrible way to  find out that your husband has been cheating on you.”
Then her character goes through a terrible dilemma –whether to be the perfect wife and support 
her husband during his murder trial – or to leave him and end the marriage. Of course, Sofia is not going to reveal the ending of the story. 
“You have to come and see the play,”she says.
The play also stars Vanidah Imran, Sharifah Amani and Aqasha, and is directed by Nam Ron.This director, who has been presenting cutting-edge productions in the past, also wrote the script  for the play. Sofia finds Nam Ron to be unlike many writers who force their message through to their audience.
“In his works, the unspoken words become the voice for the character,” she says. 
“The great thing about Nam Ron’s play is every time you read his work again, it gets more interesting.”
In this play, Nam Ron is allowing each character his or her say in series of dialogues and monologues. In the case of Bulan, Sofia will be tracing her character’s life with her husband from the moment they met until the point of his betrayal in a monologue.She will be  asking out loud the meaning of being a perfect wife so that the audience can ponder on this  topic. Sofia is also playing a wife in her next project, the much-awaited U-Wei Saari’s film, Hanyut,  that will probably hit the cinemas end of this year.
This is her second stint with the award-winning director. Their first project was Perempuan,  Isteri Dan ...? where she played the adulterous wife, Zaleha. It was the role that shot her to stardom. In Hanyut, she plays Mem who hates her Dutch husband when he sends their 10-year-old daughter Nina to Singapore to be educated in western ways. As she could not forgive him for separating her child from her, she stops talking to
her husband altogether. Many years later, Nina returns home as a beautiful girl and falls madly in love with a Malay man, much to her father’s disapproval. Given the deep animosity Mem feels toward her husband, she encourages Nina to elope with her lover. 
This was U-Wei’s dream project. Since it took him some time to raise the RM18 million needed to do this film, Hanyut was only finished this year.
“When U-Wei first started this project, I was in my 20s,” Sofia recalls. 
“Christine Hakim (the Indonesian actress) was supposed to play the role of Mem and I was supposed to play Nina. Of course, after 13 years and with a few more wrinkles, I could not play the role of the daughter any more. But I had no intention of taking over Christine’s role.”
In fact, Sofia recommended her colleagues for Mem’s role and many of them did turn up for the audition. But in the end, U-Wei wanted Sofia to play Mem. Some who have seen the rough cut of the film have praised her performance and even hinted at the possibility of an award for Sofia. 
“I always try to find some common ground between my life and the characters that I portray,” she says.
“In this case, we are mothers. The greatest thing about being an actor is that you are always representing real people.”
Recently, Sofia directed a short called 1 800 Baby under the banner of the Ikal Mayang: Telling Women Stories, a project initiated by Low Ngai Yuen, who is an executive producer of Garang Pictures. The project gives a platform for women to tell stories through films.
Sofia says: “Someone once told me that there are three types of movies you can make: a movie that will make you money; a movie which you don’t much care if it makes money; and a social
commentary... a film that you are passionate about.”
Her short, 1 800 Baby, falls in the third category. 
“Personally, I feel strongly about this issue called teen pregnancy.”
Her 11-minute film is about an unmarried teenager who has no choice but to give up her child for adoption. Years later, the mother tries to find the child through a TV reality show. Her short was seen at the recent 18th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) 2013 in South Korea, which ended last Saturday. Sofia harbours no desire to direct a feature film in the near future. 
“There is so much I lack and I am not a trained director ... yet.”
Next year, she plans to pursue a degree in performing arts at a London university.
“Ultimately, when I return, I might want to teach. I enjoy teaching and sharing my knowledge.”

Sofia Jane as Mem in Hanyut that will hit Malaysian cinemas in December 

Sofia Jane as Bulan in Teater Kompilasi Namron that will be staged at Damansara Performing Arts Centre from Nov 1 to 3.

Mislina Mustaffa : The Freedom Of Being Shameless

Last year I interviewed Mislina Mustaffa who talks about her interesting project Homeless By Choice.  The article was printed on this blog May 1, 2012. 

This year she has put her experience into  a book called Homeless Buy Choice ( Top picture is the cover of the book).  Datuk Paduka Marina Mahathir has officially launch the book on Thursday Sept 19.  A few days before the book  launch,  Mislina has spoken the sun about the book and the story was uploaded in the Sun online portal on Sept 18, 2013.  Here is the story  

Suggested Headline:  The Freedom of Being Shameless  
By Bissme S 

Last year, actress cum activist Mislina Mustaffa embarked on an interesting project called "Homeless By Choice", where she decided to be homeless for a year. She gave up the place she called home for the last eight years and disposed off most of her belongings. Carrying only the basic essentials in her backpack, she stayed in budget hotels, tents and in the houses of kind strangers who were willing to take her in as a guest.
"French author and feminist Simone de Beauvoir once said that 85% of a woman's daily life is spent cleaning the dirt that keeps coming back," says 42-year-old Mislina.
“When you have no house, you have no dirt to clean. I am curious to see what I'll be doing with 85% of my time."
Mislina's sojourn as a homeless person is finally over. The journal she kept during the time has been turned into a book called "Homeless By Choice" that will be officially launched tomorrow (Sept 19) at 8.30pm at R.A. Fine Arts - The Gallery, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur. Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir will officiate at the launch. Mislina recently spoke to theSun about being 'homeless' 

* You wanted to be homeless for a year and that year has finally come to an end. Have you got a permanent roof over your head now?

No. I am still homeless. I have decided to embark on another year of being homeless. This time I will be camping at beaches. For the time being I am camping at the Batu Ferringhi beach in Penang.

* How long do you plan to be homeless?

Till I get bored. After a year of camping at the beach, I might want to live in a cave or on the top of a tree for a year. I have come to a stage in my life where I never plan my future. I just go with the flow.

* What can we expect from your book Homeless by Choice?

My book is about the freedom of being shameless. When people talk about a journey that they have taken, they always talk about strength. But I shamelessly tell my readers about the vulnerabilities I felt throughout my journey. I talked about the loneliness I felt. I talked about getting bored with the journey itself. I talked about the vulnerabilities you would not feel if you are in a home surrounded by friends and family.

* What do you hope to achieve from this book?

I asked basic but harsh questions in this book. I asked why do we need to choose to confine ourselves to a structured life? Despite all the education we have, why do we, especially women, have to conform to the idea that our lives will only be perfect if we are married with kids and a home.
A lot of women I know do not want marriage, kids and a house, but they took this path because they worry what society will think of them. I want women to explore their options. I want them to experiment with their lives. When you explore and experiment with life, you have to cross boundaries.
I want them to ask questions. I want them to know that you must never be afraid to ask questions. Small questions will lead to big questions. But asking questions is a taboo in our society. I hope the book will inspire people, especially women, to embark on their own journey.

* Describe an interesting chapter we can find in this book?

Almost every morning, the city council guys come to the Batu Ferringhi beach where I was camping to shoot stray dogs. Personally, I do not feel that stray dogs should be killed. Why should we kill stray dogs? What is their crime? Let them live!
So, every morning when the city council guys arrive, I would tell them that these dogs belong to me. Interestingly these dogs (seven of them) became my protectors. At night, on their own initiative, these dogs would stay outside my tent and guard it. If any strange guy approached, they would bark and scare him away. 

* What have you learnt about yourself from the journey you have taken?

Some of our beliefs are constructed out of fear. When I stayed at the beach, there were many nights when I failed to make a fire. The rain would wipe away the fire I had created. I used to be afraid, wondering how I would live in darkness? However I slowly got adjusted to the darkness, I learned to do things in the dark. Now I am no longer afraid of the darkness.

* Some have labeled you mad for undertaking this homeless project. How do you feel about this label?

"So many great minds like Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein were considered mad at one time. Yet without them we would not have lights and telephones. If I entertain such allegations, then I will stop experimenting with life and I do not want to do that. I want to keep on experimenting with life.”

Psiko Pencuri Hati

Today Psiko Pencuri Hati Hits the cinemas. I have interview the director of the film Nam Ron and the story appeared in the Sun newspaper on Tuesday September 3.  I am reproducing what was written in the article    One of my favourite quote in the article when the director said : "I think there is a little madness in everyone. But some people are good at hiding it."

Suggested Headline : Going Psychotic 
By Bissme S

DIRECTOR Shahili Abdan,who is better known as Nam Ron, started his career in theatre as anactor, writer and director before switching to helm independent films such as Gedebe, Gadoh and Jalan Pintas.The 45-year-old director has now gone mainstream with his first feature film, Psiko, Pencuri Hati – a thriller which exploresthe theme of murder and madness. It opens in cinemas nationwide on Thursday.
When asked why he is moving in this direction, Nam Ron says: “Like all storytellers, I want to share my story with as many people as possible.”
He is rather excited to be reaching out to a different kind of audience who may not have seen his theatre productions or independent films.
He says: “When I was directing plays, I found it difficult to bring my plays out of Kuala Lumpur ... I  felt I was catering to a niche audience only. If I want to get my stories to a wider audience, I believe only going mainstream will allow me to do that.”
When asked why he waited until now to make the transition, he says: “Nobody offered me a chance to  direct a mainstream film until now.
“But I believe everything in life is fated. If I was given a chance to direct a mainstream movie in my  20s or 30s, I probably would have rejected it as I was not ready.
“Now, I am at the age where I am more comfortable to take up this challenge.”
Psiko, Pencuri Hati centres on a crime-fiction novelist, Sidi (Bront Palarae), who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). For his latest novel, Sidi is doing research on a serial killer dubbed the ‘Thief of Hearts’,who is still at large.But he hits a wall trying to find out more about this murderer who cut up his victims to remove their hearts.In trying to get into the head of the murderer, he begins to suffer from violent nightmares and hear voices urging him to kill.
His best friend, Man (Amerul Affendi), suggests that they take a break, and so they head off to a resort run by Pak Abu (Suhaimi Yusof) and his young wife, Siti (Shera Aiyob), in Pulau
Pemanggil, off the coast of Mersing.
There, Sidi meets a depressed housewife, Wani (Sharifah Amani), who had suffered three miscarriages and is holidaying with husband Khai (Syed Hussein). As it turns out, Wani is a big fan of Sidi’s novels and she is immediately attracted to the writer, much to Khai’s disgust. Things become complicated when Siti, who has developed feelings for Khai, is found dead on the beach.
Nam Ron is confident that the strength of the screenplay will carry the movie through. 
“Thefilm is very performance driven. Everyone has given a great performance.”
Both the lead actors, Bront and Sharifah Amani, are award winning artistes. Sharifah Amani was named best actress for her performance in Gubra at the 19th Malaysian Film Festival in 2006 while Bront took the best actor award for his performances in Belukar at the 23rd Malaysia Film Festival in 2010.
As for the theme of the film,Nam Ron says: “I think there is a little madness in everyone. But some people are good at hiding it.”
The director himself admits to suffering from extreme depression at a young age but was stopped by a prominent local theatre director from seeking psychological help.
“He told me that I should put my energy into the arts,” recalls Nam Ron, who took that advice  seriously and started dabbling in the acting and writing for the theatre. The rest, as they say, is history.
“The performing arts has given me a purpose in life ... It has cured me from my ‘madness."When I [am involved in] the arts, I feel I exist. I think God has saved  me through this.”

The New Village & Wong Kew Lit

Currently there is a huge spotlight on the Malaysian Chinese made   movie The New Village. Initially the movie is supposed to be hit the cinemas in Aug 22, 2013. Now the authorities has postponed  the movie from releasing to the cinemas because they felt the movie might glorify communism.  
theSun had managed to interview the director of the film  Wong Kew Lit last year ( 2012)  when camera just began shooting on the film.  The article appears in theSun on March 16, 2012 . I dig up my  old truck  and managed find this old  article. Interestingly,  the director had  addressed the issue of communism in the film and the reason motivated him to direct this film . I am  reproducing the interview theSun had carried with the director  last year.   


March 16, 2012 
Headline : Rekindling  The Past 
By Bissme S  

A story of forbidden love set amidst the backdrop of the Malaya Emergency era forms the premise of Wong Kew Lit’s first foray into directing a feature film.
The 41-year-old award-winning director, who has helmed numerous documentaries and television  shows, wants to use this Chinese film to enlighten the younger generation on the sacrifices the early Chinese settlers had to make in order to continue living in a country they had grown to love.
The New Village 1949 is set during the Malayan Emergency when the country is still in the midst  of a guerrilla war after the end of World War II. Once allies  against the Japanese invading 
force, British Commonwealth troops are now battling the Malayan People’s Anti- Japanese Army which has been reformed as the Malayan People’s Liberation  Army intent on kicking out these colonialists.
The female protagonist in the story is only 18 years old when her whole family is forced into a resettlement camp in a new village. This is part of the colonial  government’s strategies under 
the Briggs Plan (named after General Sir Harold Briggs, the British Army’s director of  operations in Malaya) to cut local support for the ‘insurgents’.
During this chaotic period, the girl falls in love with a man who has retreated into the jungle to fight against the colonial forces. The two young people defy the 
strict rules of the new village to establish a relationship. Playing the leads are modelturned- actor Kevin Soo and Miss Astro Chinese International 2011 Leena 
Lim. Shooting for this movie, which started last week, will be carried out over 30 days. The film, budgeted at RM3 million, is expected to be released before the end of the year.
Wong, who has been in show business for more than 15 years, shares his thoughts on his maiden movie in this exclusive interview. 

* What is your aim of making this film?

Much of what had happened in the past is not written in our history books. They became untold stories and one of them concerns the establishment of new  villages in Malaya.
The new villages were first set up in 1949. The British opened 480 such villages all over Malaya and forced some half a million Chinese folks living close to the jungles to relocate there in 
order to cut off food and medical supplies to the communists. The British then destroyed the people’s homes so that they could not return. Many people thought those new villages were just like any other normal villages, but they were  wrong.These families were actually put into trucks and brought to a piece 
of vacant land, surrounded by a fence, that was alien to them. They did not get enough food and could only be out of the camp between 6am and 3pm. They had no freedom at all.
I want to tell the younger Chinese generation that the life they are enjoying now is the result  of the sacrifices made by their forefathers. We must appreciate what they had done. The film 
shows they did what they had to do because they loved this land very much. 

* You made this movie because you wanted to show how much the Chinese loved this country. Yet certain quarters consider the Chinese as pendatang (immigrants). How do you feel about this?

I was born here. I’m sad some people consider us as pendatang but I’m not angry. Anger is useless … it only leads to conflicts and nothing good ever comes out of it.
I feel the word pendatang prevents Malaysians from being united. If people understand our history, then perhaps none will call us pendatang. The Chinese have been in this land long before independence. Chinese schools have been around for more than 200 years. We helped fight for the independence of this country. We helped to build this nation.

* Some see these communists as heroes who started a revolution while others see them as enemies of the state. How do you view them?

We have different ways of interpreting history. My interpretation is that the Emergency era was a chaotic period in our history and there were no heroes. Everyone was doing his or herbest to survive and to protect this land. In the history of any nation, there are lots of sad and dark moments. But what’s important is forgiveness. We need to forgive each other – even our enemies. Only then can we carry on with our lives. But we must never forget our history.

*Historical films usually do not pull in the crowd, especially the younger generation. How do you think The New Village 1949 will fare?

This is not a historical film. History is just the background. This is a love story between two people who are separated by the fence of a new village and the political climate of the country. It’s just like Titanic. The director had used the history (of the sinking ship) to tell a forbidden love story and I’m doing the same thing here.

A Father's Love

Since June is the month where we celebrate father's day. I am highlighting a  touching story between a father and son that I have done and was published in theSun newspaper on June 18, 2013 


Headline : Precious Time Together 
By Bissme S 

It is  never easy for a son to bury his father. But when the situation is reversed, the pain can be far more excruciating. Jimadie Shah Othman, 33, knows well this emotion. He recently lost his eldest son, Adam Azfar, who was only six, to brain tumour.
He suspected that something was not right last November when he saw that Adam was walking unsteadily. It was discovered that Adam had a 3.5cm tumour in his brain. As Adam was too young to have surgery and chemotherapy, the only medical solution was 30 sessions of radiotherapy.
“I was ignorant and thought Adam will be completely cured after the 30 sessions,” he says.
The doctor did not have the heart to tell the hopeful father that his son would not live long. But Jimadie did his research on the internet and learnt that people with his son’s illness had only six to seven months to live.
“After the doctor had confirmed what I learnt to be the truth, I broke down and cried,” he said. “Out of the blue, an African guy who was a patient in the hospital came and hugged me. I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me. He could see that I was in pain and he just wanted to console me.”
Jimadie hid his sadness so he could be strong for his son. Adam’s health deteriorated to the point where he could not use his legs and hands.
“All he could do was to sit, sleep and watch television,” Jimadie says. “He could only consume liquid food and it broke my heart whenever he begged me for KFC and his favourite biscuits.”
Adam’s illness brought Jimadie closer to God. Initially, he was angry with God over what had happened to his son.
“I prayed but I felt God had not listened to me,” he says. “I felt God did not help me. I was questioning why people had to fall sick. I was questioning why people had to die.
“I have not found the answers. But I have learnt to accept that some things are fated.
“Looking back now, I think God has been more than fair and kind to me. He had given me six years of happiness with Adam and only six months of sadness.”
In the hope of finding a cure for his terminally ill son, Jimadie even sought the help of bomohs.
“I am not the types who believe in the bomohs,” he says. “But when your son is ill, you become desperate and you are willing to believe in anything that will cure him. I read all kinds of silly mantras and followed rituals that made no sense. You can believe in alternative medicines and herbs but I would suggest that you stay away from the bomohs.”
Many of his friends and even strangers had contributed money as well as support to Jimadie when his son was ill. There was one stranger who’d heard about Adam’s situation in Facebook and travelled several times from Seremban to Kuala Lumpur just to visit Adam.
“I saw a lot of kindness,” Jimadie says.
It was on May 27 around 10am that Adam took his last breath.
“The previous night my son was not breathing properly,” he says. “I had to call the doctor to the house.”
The doctor informed Jimadie that he had two choices – either to put Adam on life support system or let him die peacefully.
Not wanting to prolong his son’s misery, Jimadie chose the second option and 13 hours later, Adam was no longer around.
“He died in my arms,” Jimadie recalls. “Adam was my first born and I learnt the art of fatherhood through him. It will be difficult to forget him. The first four months when Adam was born, I dared not hold him in my hands because I was afraid I will drop him.
“He was very close to me. He was like my best friend. Whenever I was free, I used to take him on my motorbike and we would have fun roaming around the neighbourhood.”
One wonders how his wife, Emme Nurelyanna Sazali, 32 and his two other children – Iman, five and Sophie, nine months old – are coping now without Adam.
“My wife used to run a tudung business online,” he says.
“But she stopped because she was too busy with her full time teaching job and her duties as mother and wife. After Adam’s death, I asked her to go back to her online business. When your mind is occupied, you grieve less.
“As for my two children, I think they are too young to understand the concept of death and sadness.”
The assistant editor with the news portal Malaysiakini has plans to write a book on his  experience with Adam in the future.
“I hope the book will be a guide to fathers who are in the same shoes as I am,” Jimadie says. “I wish to share my experience with them.”

Usman Awang

Today I am highlight a story that focuses on a well known poet, the late  Usman Awang from the eyes her daughter Haslina Usman. This interview appeared on Friday June 14 … two days away from June 16 which is father’s day.  

Haslina with her father when she was 16 year old.


Headline: A Daddy  Girl 
By Bissme S

THERE is a saying that no man can love a girl the way her own father does and Haslina Usman can testify to this.
The way she talks about her father, the national laureate, and late Datuk Usman Awang, one can see that he had been a great influence in her life. One of her most beautiful memories of her father was the many conversations they had on the swing in the garden of their home.
"He was the first person who exposed me to the world of arts," says the eldest child of the well known poet and writer.
"He took me to my first ballet performance and my first art exhibition. He would always ask for my opinions and my views on what I had seen and heard."
Another beautiful memory was when her dad watched her perform the traditional Malay dance performance called Puteri Sadong.
"I was so proud to have my father in the audience," says Haslina who now runs a bakery business called Cakes By Lyna.
"He always made a point to be there when his children needed him, no matter how busy he was."
From the late 60s to the early 70s, her dad was constantly travelling to various countries in Europe and America, as a guest poet and a writer.
"I was just a kid then, and I missed him very much whenever he was away," she recalls. "He missed me, too so he would send me postcards where ever he went. I loved rings and I would ask him to get me rings that reflected the culture of the countries that he had visited.
"Dad would take the trouble just to fulfil my request. Once, he even went to a Red Indian settlement in America, just to get a ring for me."
When Haslina was a teenager, her father would keep a hawk eye on her movements.
"My two brothers enjoyed greater freedom than I, and I was angry at my father for treating us differently," she says.
"Looking back now, I understand his reasons better. Fathers are always over protective of their daughters compared to their sons because they do not want anything unforeseen to happen to them, being girls. He was just looking out for me."
Strangely enough, Usman never wanted any of his four children to follow in his footsteps to become a poet or a writer.
"He always told us that a writer's life is a difficult life, and that he did not want any of us to have that kind of life," she says.
Since her father passed away in 2001, Haslina has been writing poems. But she has no intention of publishing her works.
"My works are not important," she says. "What is important is that I keep my father's legacy alive."
She has taken over the publishing company - UA Enterprises Sdn Bhd - that her father had set up in the 70s. The objective of the company is to promote her father's works which comprise of more than 300 poems and 100 short stories.
She is utterly sad to learn that younger generations have a vague idea of who her father was.
"My father has contributed a lot to the literary world and I did not want him to fade away," she says.
As part of reaching out to the young and hip readers, she has collaborated with Fixi publication to publish Yang Nakal-Nakal which features her father's works - 17 short stories and eight poems. The book will be officially launched and sold this Sunday, June 16 at 2pm at The Annexe Gallery, Central Market.
"Fixi has a steady set of young loyal readers who are always buying books that they published, she says, eager to expose this new generation of readers who might not have heard of her father.
Her other project is to publish another book entitled Kekasih featuring 40 of her late father's poems. She is also getting visual artists to translate her father's poems into art.
"It will be their interpretation of my father's work," she says.
If everything goes well, Kekasih will be launched at an event known as Hari Usman Awang on July 20. For this event, Haslina will be collaborating with two artistic bodies - Sebudi and Kelab Athma Jiwa.
She cited the pillar of strength in her father's life to be her mother. When her mother passed away in 1999 from an asthma attack, her father was not the same person any more.
"My mother's death was really unexpected," Haslina says.
"Dad did not have the mood to write after that. He became very sick without my mum around and his health deteriorated further."
Three years later, on Nov 29, 2001, Usman finally succumbed to heart complications.
When asked to name one thing that many people do not know about her father, Haslina laughs and says: "During his last days, when he was sick, my father loved to watch cartoons with my two children. One of his favourite cartoons was Tom & Jerry. It was nice to see him laugh."

The cover of the book that was recently launched

Haslina Usman ... wants to keep her father's legacy alive among the the young generation

Anthony Chen At Cannes

Singapore film director Anthony Chen recently created waves at the recent Cannes film festival with his debut film Ilo Ilo . I had opportunity to pose him several questions to the talented film maker after his  huge success at Cannes. The  interview had appeared in the sun newspaper today ( Tuesday June 11 Page 18) . Please click on the link to read the article 

http://www.thesun-epaper.com/tue/11062013/index.html#/30/zoomed


 Now the full article is here : 

Suggested Headline: Life After Cannes 

BY BISSME S

It is an honour for a filmmaker to receive a 15-minute standing ovation after the screening of his film. This honour is even greater if it takes place at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Singaporean Anthony Chen, 29, not only received a standing ovation but his debut film, Ilo Ilo, also fetched him the coveted Camera d’Or prize (best feature film debut) and became the first Singaporean feature film to win a prize at the recent Cannes Film Festival.
Set in Singapore, Ilo Ilo centres on the relationship between a Singaporean Chinese family and its new maid, Teresa. Like many Filipino women, Teresa has come to the Lion City in search of a better life. The young and troublesome son in the family, Jiale, forms a unique bond with Teresa and this friendship ignites jealousy in his mother.
Chen, who is currently based between London and Singapore, talks to theSun after his success at the Cannes Film Festival.

* Did you always want to be a filmmaker?

“I wanted to pursue filmmaking since the age of 15. While everyone
was busy mugging for ‘O’ levels, I was at the library reading up on
film directors and film  schools.I learnt that film schools overseas were expensive and I could not afford them. I also learnt that there was
only one film school in Singapore (Ngee Ann Polytechnic)
and decided that is where I would start building my portfolio.
“Most of my schoolmates pursued their ‘A’ levels but I took the slightly rebellious route of going to film school at the age of 17. I can’t explain why I wanted to be a filmmaker. I would say it is a subconscious decision.
“I remember that the first film I saw on the big screen was Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor and when I was growing up, I was attracted to the early films of Zhang Yi-mou and Ang Lee.”


* Who are the directors you admire?

“I’m interested in filmmakers and cinemas that explore the human
condition in a sensitive, delicate way. I admire greatly the works of
Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Yasujiro Ozu, Hirokazu Koreeda, Lee Chang Dong, Jacques Audiard, Andrea Arnold and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
“But in terms of my biggest hero, it will have to be Ang Lee. I can’t imagine a better role model for a filmmaker and as a person. His humility and dedication to life and work deserves admiration.”

* You wrote the script for Ilo Ilo. Where did the inspiration come from?

“The movie is very much inspired by my childhood years. When I was young, we had a Filipino maid who was with us for eight years. We called her Auntie Terry. Somehow, in the last few years, she kept surfacing in my memory and I realised that I am literally part of an entire generation of kids
in Singapore that was brought up by foreign helpers. That was the starting point for the film.
“When Auntie Terry returned home for good, it was hard to bear. Eventually, we got used to her absence but somehow lost contact. The one thing that stayed with me after all these years is the name of the place she was from (Iloilo, a province in the Philippines). That is how the title of the film came about.”

* What is the biggest challenge you faced as Singaporean filmmaker?

“Funding. I had to work with a tight budget, especially if the film isn’t a mainstream horror or comedy film, which translates to less resources and less shooting days.
“So, it is literally a lot of blood, sweat and tears in order to not compromise on the vision you have and still retain your ambition.”


* What are your next projects and are you afraid that there will be higher expectations after your win at Cannes Film Festival?

“I am developing a few projects in United Kingdom and Singapore. It will take some time before they mature into something more concrete, so I am keeping a tight lip for now.But I am always interested in human dynamics and the human condition, so whatever I undertake, it is always steering in that direction.
“I do think it is a tall order to follow in the success of Ilo Ilo but I always believe that every film has a life of its own, so all I can do is
work hard and give the dedication and sincerity it needs.”

* Do you have any advice for budding filmmakers?
“Always maintain integrity in your work. It is a tough and rather painful journey, so it is important to have a genuine passion for cinema.You need to ask yourself, “Are you really in love with films or with the idea of being a film director?”

* What are some of the greatest misconceptions people have about you?

“That I’m an arrogant brat who only wantsthings his way. I think very few people really understand me and I no longer see a point in just pleasing everybody for the sake of having  people to like you."