Gone Shopping - The Movie

If you got a some time and some loose dimes, Go catch Gone Shopping, The Movie the debut Singaporean feature film from Director Wee Li Lin and Producer Fazila 'Fuzzy' Abideen (who happens to be a friend and neighbor of ours). The films screens in Singapore theatres from July 26th. Just caught the premiere last night, and we thought it was a great debut. Support local indie films and creativity (It's a tough little GST world out there), and Go Shopping!

Singapore Int. Film Festival '07

The Singapore International Film Festival will kick off from the 18th to 30th April. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, the organisers announced that this year's spotlight will be on Singaporean filmmakers. Programme includes a showcase of 37 award-winning Singapore short films. (Wow. Didn't realise there were so many floating around) Opening the fest, however, is a Sri Lankan film “Sankara,” by Prasanna Jayakody.

The Official Festival Website is still frozen with last year's info but bookmark it anyway, they should get their act together. Soon enough. (The Festival is only a few weeks away)

SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY 建筑大师盖瑞速写

THE PICTUREHOUSE EXPLORES :
SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY 建筑大师盖瑞速写

Saturday 16th December 2006 @ 3.30pm
The Picturehouse Lounge
Moderator: Tang Guan Bee

Have an opinion on the designs for the Sentosa IR bids? What do you think about Frank Gehry's controversial design? Share your opinions with us and others at an open forum at The Picturehouse Lounge. This informal discussion will encourage the public to share their views about the film SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY and the designs in the Sentosa IR bids. Award-winning architect Mr. Tang Guan Bee has been invited to moderate this discussion and will provide his views about the film, design and architecture in general.

For more information visit: The Picturehouse website.

Asia Media Festival '06

13 Nov to 1 Dec 2006

"The Asia Media Festival (AMF) is an annual fiesta with a line-up of inspiring and exciting activities to delight all senses of the media and entertainment industry. Anchored in Singapore, the cosmopolitan business hub of Asia Pacific, AMF presents a spectrum of events for both public and trade."

Check it out: Asiamediafestival.com

Friday Foo-ism

A moment of Friday Foo-ism...

"The Singapore film industry is still ‘cowboy town’. You ‘Have Gun Will Travel’, brandishing a ‘Fistful of Dollars’, dealing with ‘the Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ trying not to face the audience ‘Unforgiven’.

In a cowboy town, the writer is the swing-door salon owner who sets up the bar waiting for thirsty cowboys (directors) who will come in for their creative elixir, only to be caught in a confrontation between the sheriff (producer?) and the cowboy, most of the time leaving the salon riddled with bullet holes."

Read more : Screenplayer Interview with Indie producer Juan Foo

Tiger Beer Films

In the tradition of the very successful BMW Films and other branded content, comes Singapore's very own (and first?) branded short film campaign for Tiger Beer. Tiger Beer: Unravel The Secret was produced by Leo Burnett Singapore, shot by DP John Seale of The English Patient and Cold Mountain fame and directed by his son Derin Seale. The 9 month John Lone-ish production looks period-fancy and expensive we must say. ('xept for that Tiger tat)

Unravel it for yourself: Tiger Beer: Unravel The Secret

Erhm. where's Jessica?

Lim's Untold Beauty takes a walk on Wild Side

Hearty congrats to Roy and Juan!

Source: Silvia Wong @ [Screendaily]

France’s Wild Side Films has taken on the French rights to Singapore new writer-director Roy Lim’s Untold Beauty, the debut project of two start-up production houses from Singapore, Rebel Productions and Shooting Gallery Motion Pictures.

The acquisition marks the first pre-sale ever of an independent Singapore film to a major territory.

“We are always in search of emerging talents from Asia and we think Roy Lim can be one of them,” says Wild Side Films CEO Manuel Chiche. “The Untold Beauty script is dealing with a subject we haven't seen often on the screen – an embalmer's life and his place in Chinese culture, with poetry and thrills, and we think it can be a very original movie that will make you tear and fear.”

The picture is a horror love story that revolves around a Chinese embalmer who views death emotionlessly until he has to confront the haunting of his loved one. Through post-mortem and embalming rites, Lim wants to show death in a different light.

“The fear of death and the thought of passing a threshold between life and death are interesting yet fearful. The embalming craft is not only for preservation but ritual and symbolic. Yet embalmers in some cultures are considered taboo and shunned,” he says.

Rebel Productions was set up by Lim as a production company. He also runs a distribution outfit Storm Pictures which previously handled the release of such foreign films as Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible in Singapore.

Untold Beauty has an estimated budget of $1m. Production is expected to start early next year. Producer Juan Foo of Shooting Gallery is currently in Pusan in discussion with international sales agents to represent the film.

Chinese Movie 'Still Life' wins Golden Lion at Venice

The Chinese movie "Still Life" or "Sanxia Haoren", a surprise entry set against the backdrop of China's gigantic Three Gorges Dam project, won this year's Golden Lion — the top award at the Venice Film Festival.

Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke's "Still Life" or "Sanxia Haoren" was a surprise entry late in the festival, and trumped candidates like Emilio Estevez' "Bobby," about the assassination of Robert Kennedy, and "The Queen," about the week that followed Princess Diana's death.

"Still Life" was shot in the old village of Fengjie, which has been destroyed by the building of the Three Gorges Dam, and tells of people who go back there.

More than 1.13 million Chinese have been relocated to make way for the dam, many of them complaining of bleak prospects in their new homes above the waterline or in other parts of China.

Focus Films joins One Ton on Wisit's Armful

Original source - Liz Shackleton [Screendaily] in Hong Kong 01 September 2006

Hong Kong’s Focus Films is teaming up with Singapore-based One Ton Cinema to co-produce Thai director Wisit Sasanatieng’s upcoming film Armful.

The Chinese-language stylised tragicomedy will feature a pan-Asian cast, most likely from Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Thailand. Set in 1970s South-East Asia, the film’s influences range from Chinese martial arts films of the ‘60s and ‘70s to the gritty revenge tales of today.

Focus will spearhead investment and appointment of a sales agent on the $8m film, which was developed by One Ton and marks the Singapore outfit’s debut feature.

Wisit’s first film, stylised Thai western Tears Of The Black Tiger, was acquired by Miramax while his second, Citizen Dog, was picked up by Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp. The much-in-demand filmmaker is also developing a project called Nam Prix for Thailand’s Five Star and EuropaCorp.

Start-up production house One Ton is a spin-off from award-winning creative ad agency Spoon, based in Singapore.

Focus, founded by Hong Kong actor and filmmaker Andy Lau, is also lining up the second series of Focus: First Cuts, following the success of the first six-film series, along with Robin Lee’s My DNA Says I Love You which features at this year’s Pusan Promotion Plan.

Official Armful website: Armfulmovie.com

Southeast Asian Film-makers at Locarno Film Fest, Switzerland

Swiss ADC grant recipients Ravi Bharwani's Jermal, Indonesia, Nan Achnas's The Photograph, Indonesia and Tan Chui Mui's Living Quietly, Malaysia


Directors Ekachai Uekrongtham Beautiful Boxer, Thailand, Djinn Perth, Singapore and Saw Teong Hin Princess of Mount Ledang, Malaysia at a forum discussion on cinema in Southeast Asia.


Vincenzo Bugno - Open Doors Project Manager, Shanty Harmayn - founder of Jakarta International Film Festival & Derek Elley - Variety Critic discussing cinema in Southeast Asia.

Locarno Film Festival Spotlights Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is the chosen focus this year at the Open Doors Program at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. 11 projects from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia will be presented to potential producers and co-producers from around the world, and from Europe, in particular. Open Doors takes place from 4 to 11 August 2006 during the Locarno Film Festival.

Three projects from Singapore have been invited including Zhao Wei Films/Royston Tan's "132", Vacantfilms/DJinn's "Maid to order" and One Ton Cinema/Wisit Sasanatieng's "ARMFUL".

Read more from the Official Press Release

ARMFUL Dev. Sketch Poster

Bollywood Beefcake flys over Shenton Way

Krrish is the upcoming Bollywood Superhero movie starring beefy-bicepy Hrithik Roshan and shot entirely on location recently in 'Uniquely Singapore'.

Check out the teaser trailer on krrishthemovie.com to see Hrithik's biceps and his 'Neo' outfit and flight across our very own sleepy Shenton Way.

Wonder if he stopped by Lau Pa Sat for some satay on his way.

Kekexili

A truly beautiful film - Mountain Patrol: Kekexili - inspired by a people's remarkable mission surrounding the illegal Tibetan antelope poaching in the region of Kekexili, the largest animal reserve in China.

Check it out on the Official National Geographic website.

One Ton Q and A

An informal One Ton Q&A...


1. How did the stories come about?

One Ton Cinema is about originating content so this story and others that we will work on following Armful, is out of our own conception and development sessions.

We have a Mantra that we firmly believe in - Story and Idea. First and Always. If it's truly brilliant, it will convert. We develop our stories, ideas and projects with this Mantra in mind and in will.

2. At what stage of production are the One Ton projects and what is needed to move forward?

We're still in development stages at the moment. Pre-production will take place closer to production and we're finalising production details right now for our first project.

The people we have chosen to work with and others that will eventually come on board will be because they are passionate, believe in and subscribe to the vision and potential of our projects. We've got partial funding. We're looking for a bit more and more of the people described above to move forward at the moment.

And at the later stages, we need audience participation to move beyond.

3. What can you tell us about the vision and hopes for the projects?

Our vision for each project is detailed if we got into it, but in simple and summarised terms... something new, exciting, entertaining and engaging - originated, designed and produced in Asia.

Our hopes for the projects are even simpler... We want to make good films, work with the best people who are like-minded and passionate and finally, to have as many people here and everywhere else watch, enjoy and be engaged by what we've conceived and produced.

4. Is funding the biggest problem?

Funding is a hurdle and an inevitable stage of project development, so therefore, not necessarily viewed as a problem. But we can ultimately do with more source options and choices. Especially on home turf.

5. What has One Ton previously done before in terms of production and how did the company come about?

One Ton Cinema is a new company and Armful will be our first production. One Ton is a spin-off of Spoon. Spoon is a boutique creative agency that works on commissioned branding, design and advertising projects.

Michel Gondry's Science of Sleep

The Magnificent Michel Gondry has a new film out called "Science of Sleep". Check out some amazing first footage here.

Gondry's reel is super impressive and includes films - Block Party, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (a favourite of many), Human Nature - as well as music videos for The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack and Björk.

Wisit Sasanatieng talks ARMFUL

Singapore, 7th March 2006 - Thai New Wave Director Wisit Sasanatieng talks about Armful, his new feature film project produced by One Ton Cinema.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

This will be the first time ever I’ll be directing a film from abroad. The film is in a language that I don’t speak so I am nervous but curious at the same time.

However, there are a couple of things that engaged me about Armful.

Firstly, the script presents, potentially, a new genre of martial arts and action - one that I think I’ve never seen before. It will allow me to create something new, very new!

Armful also has elements and themes that will let me pay homage to classic wuxia films from the seventies era - which are amongst my all time favorites.

Lastly and most importantly.

It’s because of what the producer said to me “This is not a Thai, Chinese or Singaporean film. It is a South East Asian film. One that will show, collectively, who we are to the world.”

Very exciting!

Wisit SASANATIENG

For production updates, please visit the official website at www.Armfulmovie.com

DOWNLOAD DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT IN PDF FORMAT

Thai New Wave director Wisit Sasanatieng to direct Armful, a South East Asian film produced by One Ton Cinema

ONE TON CINEMA NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Singapore, 5th March 2006 – Singapore-based One Ton Cinema announced today that Thai New Wave director Wisit Sasanatieng will be directing their debut feature film project Armful, a stylised tragicomedy set in 1970s South East Asia. Armful marks Wisit Sasanatieng’s first Chinese language project.

Wisit’s directorial debut in 2000 was the genre-blending Tears of the Black Tiger (Fa Talai Jone), the first Thai film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard. A colourful homage to classic Thai cinema and spaghetti Westerns, the film also won the Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema at the 2000 Vancouver International Film Festival. His second film was Citizen Dog (Mah Nakorn) (2004), a contemporary romantic comedy set in Bangkok. The film’s surreal palette and fantastical characters have drawn comparisons to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie. The two films were picked up for distribution by Miramax and Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp respectively.

Wisit entered the film industry as a screenwriter for two of Nonzee Nimibutr’s films, 1950’s gangster flick Dang Bireley and the Young Gangsters (2499 Antapan Krong Muang) (1997) and the ghost thriller Nang Nak (1999). Both films were critical and box office successes and marked the beginning of a “new wave” movement in the Thai film industry.

“We are very excited to have one of the most talented directors and colourful visionaries in the region working on our first feature film.” said producer and One Ton Cinema’s creative director Kevin WY Lee. “Armful is an ambitious project so we’re absolutely thrilled that Wisit, the sifu of surrealism, will be the one to realise it. We are currently working on the second draft of the script with Wisit and look forward to telling a great story with him. We’re also casting our net near and far now to get the best team on board, including cast, crew and production partners.”

“Coming from similar creative backgrounds, we all clicked immediately on sensibilities.” said co-producer Ronnie Lee, also of One Ton Cinema. “And Thailand and Singapore have much in common beyond just geography so it was a perfect fit.”

Armful tells the revenge tale of a failed paper merchant who loses one arm, a fact Wisit muses since the protagonist in his previous film Citizen Dog lost a finger.

Armful is scheduled for release in 2007.

For production updates, please visit the official website at www.Armfulmovie.com

DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE IN PDF FORMAT

For further information, please contact:

Kevin WY Lee
Producer
armful@onetoncinema.com

ONE TON CINEMA
15B TEMPLE STREET #03-01
SINGAPORE 058562
TEL: (65) 6323 4660
FAX: (65) 6323 2664
WEB: www.onetoncinema.com
EMAIL: one@onetoncinema.com


ABOUT ONE TON CINEMA

One Ton Cinema is a new Asian content creation company and spin-off from Spoon, an award-winning boutique creative agency based in Singapore. One Ton Cinema is dedicated to producing fresh, unique and engaging content in Asia for international audiences. This includes originating and sourcing ideas and scripts with potent appeal and successfully developing them to fruition, in the form of film, television, print/electronic publications or interactive/new media projects.

One Ton Cinema is currently developing a slate of feature film projects. Its debut project Armful is scheduled for release in 2007.

The Picturehouse Returns

Singapore's favourite and only art house cinema nostalgia - The Picturehouse - returns with an opening festival, funky suede 'Oscar" chairs and a T-shirt Design competition from 24th March to 29th March 2006.

A Brief History of The Picturehouse

The Picturehouse was originally launched in 1990, at a time when film goers were exposed only to mainstream commercial films. Early independent films like Pulp Fiction, The Wedding Banquet, La Femme Nikita and Cinema Paradiso were all screened exclusively at The Picturehouse, and many Singaporeans remember experiencing their first foreign and arthouse titles there.

The original Picturehouse cinema was a stand-alone hall with one screen and 220 seats, located next to the historic Cathay Building. Gazetted as a heritage site in Singapore, The Cathay Building was the country’s first skyscraper when it opened in 1939. The Picturehouse was eventually shut down in 2000, when the whole building complex was marked for renovations.

Check out The Picturehouse website for more details.

Belated Pusan Film Fest '05 Pictures.

Belated snaps of One Ton Cinema presence and the Singapore Film Commission Office at the 2005 Pusan Film Festival/Promotion Plan.

Catch The Thai New Wave!

Next time you're in neighbouring Bangkok, try and grab dvds of the films of "New Wave" Thai directors that include Wisit Sasanatieng, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Nonzee Nimibutr and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. They are among the best, if not the best, this South East Asian part of the world has to offer at the moment.

Wisit Sasanatieng's two critically acclaimed films include genre-blending western Tears of the Black Tiger and the colourfully quirky Citizen Dog. Tears of the Black Tiger was the first Thai film to be shown in Cannes.

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's films include the beautiful Last Life in the Universe and the upcoming Invisible Waves, competing at the Berlin Film Festival this year. Both films were shot by Chris Doyle.

Nonzee Nimibutr's Nang Nak, written by Wisit, was the first big Thai horror film that set the trend for the rest to follow. His new horror flick "Toyol" is being produced by none other than Singapore's own golden child of cinema - Eric Khoo.

Apichatpong Weerasethaku's Tropical Malady won the Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

"KungFu Gecko" by Egg Story

Singapore's first bold entry into big budget animated feature film-making - KungFu Gecko by Egg Story Creative Productions - recently had their trailer unveiled at the American Film Market.

KungFu Gecko Synopsis
"Enter a world of small creatures where microscopic legends begin. A tiny tale about an unlikely band of accidental heroes, with little "Kungfu" and plenty of luck, overcomes all adversity and unexpectedly free a kingdom from the clutches of evil.

Saving the world in 2008!"

Watch the Trailer online at the Egg Story Website!

SFC grants seed money to six projects

As reported on ScreenDaily.Com
By Silvia Wong in Singapore 07 December 2005

Twelve new projects were shortlisted for a one-day intensive pitching session held last Thursday during the Asia Film Market in Singapore. The international jury panel consisted of Celluloid Dreams’ Michael Wrenn, Focus Films’ Elliot Tong, RGM Holdings co-executive chairman Devesh Chetty, Golden Village managing director Kenneth Tan and Singapore’s Media Development Authority Man Shu Sum.

Six winners were awarded including MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, Ground Glass Images, Oak3 Films as well as newcomers One Ton Cinema, Monsoon Pictures and Red Ink Media.

While the creative and artistic merits as well as commercial potential of the projects are some of the major assessment criteria, preference is given to projects set up as international co-productions.

"Singapore is heading in the right direction in encouraging co-productions. International collaboration is essential to raising awareness and developing the nascent local film industry," says Tong, Hong Kong’s Focus Films vice president of film production and acquisition.

The six winners:

Armful, action adventure
Produced by One Ton Cinema’s Kevin Lee

Nadra, period drama
Co-produced by Monsoon Pictures’ Christopher Chew and
International Entertainment Services’ Gary Rogers from
Australia

Fang, coming-of-age drama
Co-produced by Ground Glass Images’ Juan Foo and Red
Films’ Lina Tan from Malaysia

Tattoo, horror
Produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures’ Chan Pui Yin
and Seah Saw Yam
Director: Lee Thean-jeen

Charlie Company, horror
Written and produced by Red Ink Media’s Gilbert Chan

Titoudao, drama
Produced by Oak3 Films’ Lim Suat Yen
Director/writer: Goh Boon Teck

More on ScreenDaily.Com

Read the Official Singapore Film Commission Press Release

Inaugural Asian Festival Of 1st Films

In line with Singapore's drive to become the media/creative hub of Asia comes the Asian Festival Of 1st Films. Part of the Asia Media Festival, the Festival honors first-time film-makers of Asian origin and opens in Golden Village cinemas from 23 to 30th November 2005. 2 Singapore productions have been selected out of two hundred over submissions internationally.

Visit the Official Festival Website for more information.

Pusan Film Festival Kicks Off

It seems Asia is afill with festivals come this time of the year. The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) celebrating its 10th anniversary kicked off in the port town of Pusan in Korea yesterday. The festival, participated by the Singapore Film Commission, is also featuring a few Singapore affairs including the new Cages The Movie and the current Singapore pride: Be With Me.

A few of us will be heading down to the Hyundai town for a week in celebration of Asian films and creativity. We'll post some happy snaps upon our return.

Visit the Official Festival Website for more information.

Memoirs of a Geisha Trailer

The trailer for the much anticipated adaptation of the best-selling novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden is out. Grab a peep. It looks glorious but... I had this weird funny feeling watching it. The hair stood on my back and the chills crawled up my spine as I watched Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li, 2 lovely and very traditional lasses from China dressed in kimonos speak in weird engrish to another lovely lass from Malaysia, Michelle Yeow, who also happens to be in a kimono. All this against the wonderful landscape of the rising sun. I was disappointed when the trailer ended without an appearance from Jet Li ( i was expecting to see him unleashed to rescue these three damsels from their linguistic misadventure).

The Small Local Production Industry

In a recent discussion with some industry peers...

There were 2 Singapore feature films in production simultaneously a few months back. A great boost for the local industry on one hand and also a red flag on how small the local "industry" is on the other. The 2 films, by no means huge affairs, practically wiped out all production talents and crews. Apparently, the whole motion picture/television commercials industry was at a stand-still of sorts. A seasoned veteran noted with a sigh that there was not enough new blood entering the technical/production arena of the glamourous film-making world. Every one wants to be a director and not a DP (Director Of Photography). It would appear that Singapore at present is capable of supporting only 2 size-able (if we may call it that) projects at any one time.

SEVEN SWORDS - 七劍

From the preliminary looks of it, SEVEN SWORDS directed by Tsui Hark appears to be arguably the first credible made-in-Asia Period Epic. If you pardon the few Hollywood dead wood he was involved with, Tsui Hark is one of Asia's most under-rated film directors. My first Hark fare was The Butterfly Murders (1979). Now that's going way way back.

Confessions Of Burning Men

It has been our recent fortune to have met a few fellow creators burning with passion and ambition for their craft and dreams. Kudos to Mr. Juan Foo - an independent producer with an arsenal of conviction. Very much active in the Lion City scene, he has produced amongst others - Perth the Movie which will be released theatrically shortly, Talking Cock the Movie and the 2001 Return to Pontainak (The title of which was changed to Voodoo something for North American release 'cause everyone thought it was a film about cars. Now thats funny. Good one)

It has also been our pleasure to have met like-minded Unsu Lee. Great guy and fellow creator/filmmaker. Much Kudos to him for getting his two sizable projects off the ground. He has directed and produced Confessions Of A Burning Man - a documentary feature on the infamous Burning Man Festival and Happily Even After - his first narrative feature starring Fay Matterson and Jason Behr of Roswell fame. Cheers mate.