PROJECT: slingSHORT08/1 poster

Poster design courtesy of: MindLAB

PROJECT: slingSHORT08/1 filmmakers

Flat Dreams by Eva Tang
Blood Ties by Chai Yee Wei*
Passenger by Green Zeng
Take Me Home by Gözde + Russel Zehnder
Block 46 by Ghazi Alqudcy*
(S)439 965 by Elgin Ho*
For Naomi by Benjamin Tan*

Curated by Victric Thng
* New short filmmakers who are currently in film school or recently graduated.

PROJECT: slingSHORT08/1

Screening selection:
Curated by Victric Thng

Flat Dreams by Eva Tang
14min 50sec / DVC-Pro High Definition / 2007

A short film about public housing dwellers trying to make sense of their mundane lives. Comprising 3 little shorts spanning 3 generations: Flat, Neighbourhood Watch, Void Deck ~ we see ordinary people living a flat life with little dreams.

Blood Ties by Chai Yee Wei*

11min 40sec / DVC-Pro High Definition / 2007

Qing was the sole witness to her brother’s murder. But when her brother’s murderers turn up dead, things don’t appear to be as simple as it seems. Madam Lee, after having to cope with the recent death of her son, now has to deal with the possibility that her daughter may be involved with the deaths of these killers.

At the same time, the second short acted as a joint to provide a connection between the entire three shorts together, and in its make believe world, will have surely reached out and inspired everyone to take a look back into what we did with our own, when we were the young boy's age. The third story following the plight of an unemployed elderly lady, was to me, the least interesting of the lot, maybe because of its abstract moments which I cannot identify with. It had a highly fantastical element towards the end, but you can tell that I was in joy when the end credits started to roll at that point.

Passenger by Green Zeng
16min / HDV / 2006

A taxi driver picks up an old woman late in the night and joins her on an unexpected journey of remembrance and rediscovery.

Take Me Home by Gözde + Russel Zehnder
16min / Super 8mm / 2006

Entirely shot on super-8mm film, this short tells a story about 3 characters. A young woman leaves home to buy cat food and fails to come back home. Meanwhile her Aunty Valerie waits anxiously for her return. When Valerie finds a watch in her letterbox, she finally accepts her once lost memories.

Block 46 by Ghazi Alqudcy*
13min 08sec / 2007

Block 46 tries to discover Singapore’s deepest secret about the mass suicide that happened on 6th April 2006. Not many know about this, as the media are not allowed to have coverage over this massacre. A total of 6 people committed suicide by jumping down from the top of the building to end their misery.

(S)439 965 by Elgin Ho*
7min / HDV / 200

A reflective journey through one’s memory that will bring us closer to our hearts; a visual diary of a little corner in Singapore called Katong during the 90s. This film was made to challenge the conventional boundaries of what defines a documentary and a fictional film.

For Naomi by Benjamin Tan*
3min / miniDV / 2007

A simple story told through a simple short, inspired by an emotionally charged turn of true events. This is a film revealing, beneath its surface masquerade of simplicity, the apathy inherent in being grounded.

PROJECT: slingSHORT 08/1 - supported by

This screening of PROJECT: slingSHORT08/1, is supported by:
Singapore High Commission in London
Asian Film Archive
Kristin Saw from The Substation

Thunk

MindLAB

Curator's notes

It gives me great privilege and honour to curate and programme this year’s PROJECT: slingSHORT. I received nearly 30 short films for consideration from all over the places. Some films were sent to me by Kristin Saw from The Substation, some were sent to me personally by the filmmakers themselves, and some I have personally acquired for it.

It is definitely not an easy decision to narrow down to the final 7 films, which will be proudly presented this year. The 2 main reasons for this difficult task to choose the films are, FIRST, the time frame/duration, which is about an hour for the entire screening. I wish I have more than just 60 minutes, so I may squeeze in 2-3 more very worthy films, 90 minutes maybe good, but I know it too well that it can be rather exhaustive for anyone to watch too many short films at one go.

And the SECOND reason which maybe the harder one, is that the submitted films are very diverse both in style and narrative. Most of them have strong stories, not to mention the improved quality in production value. Some films have to be watched again to “compete” for a place in the final selection. Most films are “sacrificed” because of either they are too lengthy or they have to give way for another film slightly more different in form.

It is also good to note that this year’s selection is all about the underground filmmakers in Singapore! Yes, the underdogs, the lesser known, the budding ones. BUT that does not mean they are less good. In fact, on the contrary, most of them create very impressive high quality works, which can be attesting from the films you are going to watch.

Just to say that there are some filmmakers in Singapore are just not quite into fame or limelight. They prefer to work quietly in their little corner, churning out meaningful and powerful works from time to time. It seems to me that it is more important for them to have their films seen, rather than their names heard. Therefore, it gives me a lot of delight to have this opportunity to showcase their films to a new group of audience that is beyond our own shore.

There will be 4 fiction films, 2 narrative-experimental and 1 documentary. The overall mood for this selection seems to incline more to melancholy. But there is also a slight touch of nostalgia and a tinted horror to expect too.

I hope the audience in London will enjoy this year’s selection and be very proud of the talents emerging from this (art-stifling)island country. Hence, gaining confidence for a future in Singapore Cinema.

My very BIG thank you to Singapore Creative Network, UK, for creating this event, thus, allowing another platform and opportunity for local filmmakers to “show-off” their talents and creativity. My thanks also especially goes to Brian Tan for his support and patience throughout. And thanks to Junfeng who is the previous curator, passing on the baton to me to curate this year’s programme. Kristin Saw from The Substation who has helped me so much by recommending and sending films to me. Last but not least, my deepest heartfelt thanks to all the filmmakers who submitted their films this year. All your works are appreciated and for some, I hope to programme them next year if given opportunity.

Finally, I can only say, enjoy the films!
Victric Thng.

Eva Tang

Eva Tang / Flat Dreams

Eva Tang has a late start in her film career. She saw her first art house film at the age of 20 while studying overseas at the University of Hong Kong. Half a decade later, she left her journalism career at Lianhe Zaobao to study filmmaking in the UK. A M.A. graduate of the prestigious National Film & Television School specializing in fiction direction, Eva's student shorts are in the official selection of major film festivals such as Venice, Rotterdam, Hawaii, National Gallery of Art (USA).
Her student film "While You Sleep" was the first short from a Singapore filmmaker selected by Venice Film Festival. Her graduation short "Londres - London" won the Akira Kurosawa Memorial Short Film Competition, Saga Prefecture Governor Award

Director's Statement:
Living in Singapore, its pettiness annoys me. It is a place where I see no space for dreams whenever I wake up & open my eyes. The film takes an ironic look at the confinement of spaces --- its flatness, homogeneity and the desperation to be useful in fear of emptiness.

Chai Yee-Wei

Chai Yee-Wei / Blood Ties

Although Yee-wei graduated with a business degree, his passion has always been in film art. He had taken film, TV and video courses in his college (University of Michigan) years and has always been exploring this interest part-time. But in mid 2005, he decided to go full-time into the media industry and has since been writing and directing short films extensively.

He had won a Merit Award at Panasonic MDA DFF 2005 (for Lau-Sai, Diarrhea) and Fly By Night 2005 Judges’ Pick (for Loser).

“Blood Ties” is his latest short that has won the 3rd prize for the 2nd Panasonic MDA Digital Film Fiesta, 2nd prize at the 2nd Rebel Planet of Hollywood Short Film Fest (Horror Category), and it is official selection for the 2007 Asian Film Symposium S-Express Showcase, The 2007 Singapore Season showcase in Beijing Film Academy, as well as the 3rd Evil City Film Fest of NYC 2007.

Yee-wei is now in preproduction and working on the script development for Blood Ties the feature film right now.

Director's Statement:
A feature version of the film is in the works in collaboration with Oak3 pictures. It should be completed and released by the end of 2008

Green Zeng

Green Zeng / Passenger

Green Zeng works in various art disciplines and is actively involved in the local film and art scene. His interest in filmmaking started with experimental videos and has since expanded to include narrative films. He has written and directed many short films such as the crowd favourite, Blackboard Whiteshoes, which was officially selected for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2006. It has also been broadcasted on television in Singapore and Japan. His most recent film, Passenger, won the Incentive Prize at the Akira Kurosawa Memorial Short Film Competition in Tokyo 2006. Green is currently working on his feature film at Mirtillo Films.

Director’s Statement:
This film was partly inspired by my friend’s grandmother who wanted to go back to China before she dies.

Gözde + Russel Zehnder

Gözde + Russel Zehnder / Take Me Home

Director duo - Gözde H. Zehnder ve Russel has been shooting shorts together since 1997. Since 2000 they have been producing documentary and idents for TV, Art and Fashion under freestate productions - a stable space for the exchange of ideas, images and projects.

Gözde H. Zehnder – Short Filmmaker & Photographer.Born in Istanbul. Graduated in media studies and photography from Edith Cowan University, Perth. In 1998, her graduate short film ‘the living wall’ won 2 awards for best experimental film and best editing in 12th WA Screen Awards in Perth. She moved to Singapore in 1999. Gözde did a video installation, entitled, ‚Daydream‘ for Project Innocence in Substation, a collaboration of 3 young artists at 2 different places. She also regularly exhibits her photographs with Lomographic Society, taking her camera out on the streets.
Her short film ‘Happy Birthday Sharon’ won the Audience Voice Award at 2nd Singapore Shorts Film Festival and Best Director Award given by the jury at the 2nd AFM/International Independent Film Festival in Istanbul. Since 1997, Gözde is directing experimental short films that screens in film festivals worldwide. Currently, she is developing new projects for ‘freestate productions’ as well as working as a director in various assignments.

Russel Zehnder – Photographer & Short Filmmaker. Born in Singapore. Graduated in media studies and photography from Edith Cowan University, Perth. Showcased his first slide installation ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’ (2002), a collaboration of 3 young artists at The Substation. He participated in an exhibition ‘while you sleep’(2002), with other artists, documenting the night of Singapore with a Lomo camera. Held his solo B&W exhibition ‘Lost for Words’ (2003), documenting his travels in Turkey. He contributed a sound and photo installation ‘family’ (2003) a collaboration among artists at The Substation.

He is also actively involved in short films and has been doing so since 1996. His most prominent work ‘Happy Birthday Sharon’ (2002) won the Best Short Film Award given by the jury at the 2nd AFM/International Independent Film Festival in Istanbul (2003) and the Audience Voice Award at the 2nd Singapore Short Film Festival (2002). He has also participated in the 14th International Electronic Art Festival, Videobrasil in Sao Paulo (2003) as part of a panorama of short films from Singapore. Russel works in the media industry as a cameraman and director.

Director’s Statement:
This short is generally about people dealing with their personal selves. These characters are struggling with loneliness, loss of love, fear, pressure, lack of control, pain and death…situations and circumstances that all people experience. It’s a short film that explores the idea of three lives connected only by time, place and memory.

Ghazi Alqudcy

Ghazi Alqudcy / Block 46

GHAZI ALQUDCY likes to tell stories through the medium of Digital Film. Currently a student at a local polytechnic and a recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award Scholarship 2007, his work shows varies from narrative, experimental to documentaries. Running on a very thin line of the fence between sexuality and loss, he produces work such as campy queer dramas, fictionalized homicide activities, exquisiteness of prayers and many more.
He has been active within the filmmaking circle. A big fan of The Substation, he participates in many film events to keep himself occupied. In 2004, he realizes his passion for storytelling. In 2005, he was one of the selected filmmakers to go through ‘Take 5! Guerilla Filmmaking Challenge’ which is part of the ‘Soul to Soul Festival’. In 2006, he was one of the selected filmmakers for the MDA-Panasonic Digital Film Fiesta. In 2007, he co-directed a short film for the same event.
Ghazi Alqudcy makes a promise to himself to continue telling interesting stories. Apart from that, he loves to cook dinner with his friends and indulge in a slumber party.

Director’s Statement:
Block 46 is part of my personal project to understand the feeling of loss. We loss a lot of things in our daily live, be it to natural disaster, to other living forms or even to our own ego.

In this particular film, it starts from the study of each character, creating a character that is close to my heart and faces problem like many of us do and I start to see the each characters as a normal citizen. I try to get closer to each character to a comfortable level and take them away to feel the loss.
It is a process of knowing many things from others; how life and loss means to them.

Elgin Ho

Elgin Ho / (S) 439 965

Born in Hong Kong, Elgin Ho was exposed to the film industry as early as five years old. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (Digital Film Major) at the Singapore NTU School of Art, Design & Media. His previous short films, “Foreign Dreams” & “Nineteen Twenties” have been screened in film festivals around the world receiving numerous awards.

Director’s Statement:
I was born in Hong Kong. My family and I migrated to Singapore when I was ten years old. I grew up in a little corner of Singapore call Katong ever since. Thus there is a sense of Nostalgia within this neighborhood that I feel dearly connected to.

But as of 10th September 2007, 5 commercial buildings in Katong are selling their properties en-bloc for re-development due to flagging business and dwindling human traffic. These include the Paramount Hotel, Roxy Square, Katong Mall, Katong Plaza and the iconic Katong Shopping Centre.

As the society in a modern city progresses, changes are imminent. The old will eventually be replaced by the new. Places that once stood by may soon be forgotten. This short film was made as a form of documentation to capture these places that are close to my heart and to challenge the conventional boundaries of what defines a documentary and a fictional film.

Benjamin Tan

Benjamin Tan / For Naomi

After graduating from junior college, Ben gathered his closest friends and in 2 months, with no prior training in the visual arts, completed his first experimental piece, A Moment of Silence. A year later, partly inspired by his stint serving his national service in the army, he made ‘Remember Me’. Both pieces screened at the Pumelo International Film Festival in Mumbai. Later that year, ‘Remember Me’ was curated for the 7th Asian Film Symposium.
To date, he has made 3 films. Ben is working on the script of his 4th film. He’s recently been accepted at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design and Media, and will be starting school in the academic year of 2008.

Director’s Statement:
For Naomi juxtaposes the inevitable coupling of selfishness and practicality with the selflessness of child-like love - one so pure and untainted it is almost illogical; almost 'impractical'. On another level it reflects humankind's self-centred and flippant perspective of life in general, especially towards those we do not associate and connect with instinctively. It throws into question the boundaries that define a vermin and if the motivations behind such delineations are selfish in nature.

The film screened at the 2007 Festival della Creativita in Florence, Italy, as part of the video art showcase alongside other innovative works in animation and film.

PROJECT: slingSHORT08/1 - curated by Victric Thng

For these past few years, Victric Thng has brought a quixotic and poetic sensibility to Singapore cinema with a series of imaginative and exquisite shortfilms that have garnered critical acclaim both locally and internationally.

A filmmaker of verve and invention, Victric creates lyrical stories that revive that precious sense of intimate human interactions and relations. It is his sublime and insightful examination on the nature of identity, connection and desire for intimacy that sets him apart as one of the most promising filmmakers in Singapore today.

www.victricthng.com

Asian Film Archive

The Asian Film Archive is a non-governmental organisation founded in 2005 to preserve the rich film heritage of Singapore and Asian Cinema, to encourage scholarly research on film, to promote a wider critical appreciation of this art form and to build cultural value of Asian films. As an important nexus, it brings together the various segments of the Asian film community in order to open and enrich new intellectual, educational, and creative spaces. We are governed by an independent board of directors and advised by an international board. The Asian Film Archive is an affiliate of the prestigious International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) and a member of the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audio Visual Archives Association (SEAPAVAA). Our collection includes works by some of the most renowned Asian filmmakers in the region, such as Lino Brocka, Mike de Leon, Hussain Haniff and U-wei Hajisaari. Any funds raised go towards supporting the preservation and cultural mission of the Archive. The Archive is also a registered charity (Reg. No.:01910) based in Singapore and an Institution of Public Character (IPC).

www.asianfilmarchive.org
The financial and non-financial information of the Archive can be found at:
http://www.asianfilmarchive.org/BeInvolved/CorporateGovernance.aspx

The Substation

Founded in 1990 by the late Kuo Pao Kun, The Substation is Singapore's first independent contemporary arts centre. We are centrally located in the city's civic district. Our venues include a black box theatre, a gallery, a dance studio,Random Room and two multi-function classrooms. We present and co-present a wide range of artists and programmes, from traditionally trained dancers to local rock bands; established visual artists to young poets; publications to international short film festivals; experimental theatre to seminal conferences on Singapore arts and culture.

Over the years, The Substation has worked with some of Singapore's most critically acclaimed artists, writers and intellectuals; currently we are working closely with our Associate Artists. Just as importantly, younger and emerging artists are constantly approaching us to use our venues, and to get our support. We are always open to new proposals and ideas, and would like to hear from you.

The Substation's mission is to support research and innovation in the arts by:

• nurturing and challenging Singapore artists
• providing an open space for artistic experimentation
• promoting interaction between diverse artists and audiences
• facilitating critical dialogue in the arts
• fostering regional and international arts networks

www.substation.org

Thunk!

Thunk is boutique video production house with a focus on corporate films and other communication videos. From 30-second launch videos to full-fledged company profiles, Thunk infuses design and motion graphic elements into its work. The result is fresh, eye-catching visuals that connect our clients to their audience.

Thunk: creating noise with motion

www.thunk.com.sg

MindLAB

Mind L.A.B is an organic collaborative platform aim for interactions and to connect individuals to form teams to develop experimental propositions in various design disciplines. We believe only through unpremeditated experimentation one can cultivates alternatives and propels design beyond our pre-conception.

www.mindlab-uk.org