I am pleased to announce that my second feature-length film, VOLUPTAS, will have its World Premiere on 27 November at the 26th edition of the Singapore International Film Festival [2015]. It will screen in the Singapore Panorama section.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to all the cast especially the leads i.e. Aaron Aziz, Ariati Tyeb Papar and Suhaillah Salam (with supporting cast Mastura Ahmad and Fadly Awaluddin), for their patience. VOLUPTAS was shot "guerrilla style" in 2011 while I was going through some emotional low at the prospect that my first feature-length film, SAYANG DISAYANG, might be canned due to funding issues. Nevertheless, SAYANG DISAYANG (completed in late 2013) went on to represent Singapore at the 2015 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category - going head to head with esteemed filmmakers that I really look up to such as the Dardenne brothers' 2 DAYS, 1 NIGHT and Ann Hui's THE GOLDEN ERA. I remembered shooting VOLUPTAS as a "middle finger" to the powers that be for sidelining my effort to make Singapore's first locally-made Malay-language film since the 60s. Perhaps it's meant to be a blessing a disguise that SAYANG DISAYANG was completed 6 years later - in time to represent Singapore at the Oscars during Singapore's Golden Jubilee year aka SG50.
Good things come to those who wait, indeed.
Let's see where VOLUPTAS' journey will take us to.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to all the cast especially the leads i.e. Aaron Aziz, Ariati Tyeb Papar and Suhaillah Salam (with supporting cast Mastura Ahmad and Fadly Awaluddin), for their patience. VOLUPTAS was shot "guerrilla style" in 2011 while I was going through some emotional low at the prospect that my first feature-length film, SAYANG DISAYANG, might be canned due to funding issues. Nevertheless, SAYANG DISAYANG (completed in late 2013) went on to represent Singapore at the 2015 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category - going head to head with esteemed filmmakers that I really look up to such as the Dardenne brothers' 2 DAYS, 1 NIGHT and Ann Hui's THE GOLDEN ERA. I remembered shooting VOLUPTAS as a "middle finger" to the powers that be for sidelining my effort to make Singapore's first locally-made Malay-language film since the 60s. Perhaps it's meant to be a blessing a disguise that SAYANG DISAYANG was completed 6 years later - in time to represent Singapore at the Oscars during Singapore's Golden Jubilee year aka SG50.
Good things come to those who wait, indeed.
Let's see where VOLUPTAS' journey will take us to.
(#SGIFF2015 press launch, 20 October 2015 | Photo credit: Studio Alpha)
