Storytellers and social historians? We speak to local filmmakers Sanif Olek, Wee Li Lin, and K. Rajagopal

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Sanif Olek’s journey in filmmaking began on a very personal note.

Not long after his father’s death in 2004, the Singapore filmmaker found the urge to remember the elderly man in a special and heartfelt way. He created his very first short film as a tribute to him.

“When people start out in their career, they want to be good in their work and sometimes, they neglect their family. It was the same with me and my parents. So after my dad passed away, I really missed him and I felt I needed to do something,” the 50-year-old told AsiaOne recently in a phone interview.

And from one short film, he went on to create more. His debut feature film Sayang Disayang received the Special Jury Prize for Best Asian Film at the 2013 SalaMindanaw Asian Film Festival in the Philippines. It subsequently represented Singapore at the 2015 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

Sanif — who was among the first batch of graduates from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Film, Sound & Video faculty — spent the first decade of his career doing television dramas and info-ads, something he regarded necessary to polish up skills and create a network of industry contacts.

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