SINGAPORE: What happens when you get five acclaimed directors from the region together to collaborate on one movie project? You get to see Art Through Our Eyes.
After making its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival last October, the anticipated omnibus made its local debut on Thursday (Nov 24) as part of the ongoing Singapore International Film Festival.
The project, which comprises short films inspired by artworks from the National Gallery Singapore, featured contributions by Singapore’s Eric Khoo, Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Philippines’ Brilliante Mendoza, Malaysia’s Ho Yuhang and Indonesia’s Joko Anwar.
National Gallery Singapore director Eugene Tan (left) with Southeast Asian directors Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Joko Anwar, Eric Khoo, Brilliante Mendoza and Ho Yuhang. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
While gathering together such big Southeast Asian names – who have collectively garnered acclaim in various festivals such as at Cannes and Venice – may be seen as a rare, one-off project, the filmmakers say the region’s film scene is already collaborating in subtler ways.
“Yes, it is happening but more in terms of funding and exchanging talents,” said Weerasethakul, during the film’s post-screening dialogue. “For me, this is much more interesting than an omnibus. I’m really excited about (the idea) of co-productions, exchanging of talents, crew, equipment and the funding, which is the most important for us.”
“There could be films where everybody gets together in a different capacity, say a Singaporean producer, a Thai director,” Khoo told Channel NewsAsia.
But he also added there are challenges to such regional collaborations, such as language barriers, and the different demands and concerns as countries focus on building up their domestic markets.
“If you look at Indonesia, a lot of locals are supporting their own domestic product. There’s a sharp rise in the box office and they’re really building cinemas.”
From Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
SNAPSHOT OF THE REGION’S BEST
Nonetheless, the Art Through Our Eyes project could be considered a portable snapshot of the region’s diversity, especially with plans for it to travel next year.
Khoo said it will be screened at the Hong Kong Internaitonal Film Festival and there is keen interest from the Berlin International Film Festival. There are also plans to eventually showcase it at Paris’ Centre Pompidou and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. “I think it has a lot of legs,” he said.
For the omnibus, each director was tasked to create a film based on an artwork from the National Gallery Singapore’s collection.
Khoo was inspired by Singaporean artist Chua Mia Tee’s painting of a portable cinema from the 1970s, which included an interview with the artist as well as a recreation of a retro-superhero film.
A still from Eric Khoo’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
Two artists took on works by Indonesian artist Raden Saleh: His two paintings of Mount Merapi erupting inspired Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s moody, shadows-and-light abstract piece, while Joko Anwar interpreted his famous Wounded Lion as a story of a struggling Javanese dancer plying his trade in the streets of Jakarta.
Ho Yuhang created a silent, black-and-white “horror film” based on Malaysian writer-painter Latiff Mohidin’s portrait of the Indonesian poet Chairil Anwar; while Brilliante Mendoza juxtaposed Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo’s idyllic Japanese wartime market scene painting with the story of an impoverished family during the country’s recent elections.
BEYOND ARTISTIC INSPIRATION
But while the short films were based on artworks, the directors also hinted at indirect links to recent socio-political events happening in their respective countries.
Mendoza cited how one can find glimpses of the current political situation in the Philippines in his short piece’s election rally scene. He added that even his most recent award-winning film, Ma’Rosa, which featured drug dealers and is also screened at SGIFF, resonates with President Duterte’s drug war even if it came out months ago.
“We not only have to express our art but we also have to connect with where you are and that means being sensitive to what’s happening around you,” he said.
From Brilliante Mendoza’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
Meanwhile, Anwar also suggested that the emotions of humiliation and embarrassment he explored in his own Javanese dancer film echo the current controversy surrounding Jakarta’s Chinese Indonesian governor Ahok, which has led to protests.
“In Indonesia now, there are so many people who think that the only thing they have is pride, which they get through their identity based on religion and race.”
Finally, Ho said he incorporated in his film the back story of a man who has come back traumatised from an unnamed war — which was inspired by the idea of people who go to the Middle East to join IS. “I often wondered what happens when they come back,” he said. “The past few years have been very traumatic in terms of world events.”
From Ho Yuhang’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
