"Decades from now, these movies are going to serve as some of the most authentic cinematic documents of how we actually lived in Singapore in the early 21st century. I’m impressed."
- Ny Yi-Sheng (Poet, Playwright, Singapore Literature Prize 2008)
Programme notes of Gertjan Zuilhof of the Rotterdam International Film Festival:
"A full-length feature with many documentary elements follows eight
immigrant couples in Singapore who play scenes from their lives, often
shot in their small dwellings. These immigrants are the basis of
Singapore's success, but get the hardest knocks when things go wrong.
A film with an unusual length and an unusual form. It's twice as long as a normal feature and made in two parts (Drought and Flood). It's not a documentary, but has many elements of one. The film follows eight couples of immigrants in today's Singapore. In this way, a lot is made clear about the political and social situation of Singapore, of which the flourishing economy is largely dependent on guest workers. Instead of interviewing the immigrants, the film maker has them play scenes from their own lives. A fiction film, but much more realistic than usual.
A film with an unusual length and an unusual form. It's twice as long as a normal feature and made in two parts (Drought and Flood). It's not a documentary, but has many elements of one. The film follows eight couples of immigrants in today's Singapore. In this way, a lot is made clear about the political and social situation of Singapore, of which the flourishing economy is largely dependent on guest workers. Instead of interviewing the immigrants, the film maker has them play scenes from their own lives. A fiction film, but much more realistic than usual.
Another fictional element in the film is the introduction of a water crisis in Singapore. It's the immigrants who have most problems with this. For a large part, the film is set in the small dwellings where the various immigrant couples live. And also in other regards, the film maker works down to the square centimetre." - Gertjan Zuilhof, Rotterdam International Film Festival
"This 184-minute experimental docudrama is divided into 2 parts (Drought and Flood) and compiled from an
art installation that was shown at the Singapore Biennale. It deals
with eight couples, mostly living in Singapore's HDB apartments. They
are various nationalities and ethnic backgrounds -- Mainland Chinese,
Indian, Malaysian, Filipino, Thai, Italian, Singaporean and pan-Asian.
The backdrop for their stories is a water shortage that is gripping the
city and causes everyone a lot of anxiety about the economy and living
in Singapore. Even when it's raining, people are still short of water
because there is no capacity to capture the seasonal heavy downpours.
Many want to get out, but have no place else to go. Others want to get
in, and will do almost anything for citizenship. They sit around in
their apartments and talk. Their stories are surreal, but amazingly they
are based, at least in part, on real-life situations.
In FLOOD, probably the
weirdest episode is also different because it is the only one not set in
the HDB flats -- it's in a grand house with a swimming pool, showing
the great disparity between the wealthy and the ordinary. And they are
Thai characters. This soap-opera episode involves a young man who
arrives at the house. The lady tells him to wear women's clothing when
he sleeps, because many Thai men in Singapore have died from
sleeping-death syndrome, thought to be caused by a ghost that preys on
men. Does the ghost get him?" - Wise Kwai, Bangkok World Film Festival.
Selected Exhibitions/Screenings:
2013
Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Cinema), Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane
Casa Asia Madrid & Barcelona, Spain
2011
• Unseen: Cinema of the 21st Century, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia
2010
• Malaysia, Singapore Cinema! Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
• Rainbow Asia, Hangaram Museum, Seoul Art Centre, Korea
• Rotterdam International Film Festival, Netherlands
• Rome Asian Film Festival, Italy
• Barcelona Asian Film Festival, Spain
2009
• Code Share: 10 Biennales, 20 Artists, Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius, Lithuania
• South Australia Contemporary Art Centre, Australia
• Asian Competition, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong SAR
• Competition Cinema Digital Seoul, Korea
• Bangkok World Film Festival Thailand
DOWNLOAD:
Hi-res film stills:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/696430/FloodingITTODrought_Filmstills_300dpi.zip
Essays:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/696430/Essay-GertjanZuilhof.pdf
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/696430/ShermanOng_CACSA_catalogue.pdf
Trailer:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/696430/ShermanONG_FITOD_trailer_Hi-res.mov.zip
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/696430/ShermanOng_CACSA_catalogue.pdf
Trailer:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/696430/ShermanONG_FITOD_trailer_Hi-res.mov.zip
Posters:
Synopsis
What if suddenly the water supply runs dry in Singapore?
This fusion of documentary and fiction narrative depicts the lives of foreign migrants as an impending water crisis begins to seep into their lives. With water, or the lack of it, becoming the central motif, this two-part feature length film takes us on a journey across 8 interweaved stories and 10 languages, as the protagonists, consisting of non-professional actors, grapple with this hopefully temporary discomfort, amidst their dalliance with human foibles, and their fantasies of everlasting loves and broken romances.
This aberration is a memento mori as the narratives grazed across the vague impressions of the racial tensions lingering past the 1997 riots in Indonesia, World War II, ritual beliefs, and ethnic discrimination in Southeast Asia which has been ingrained over generations and transported along with the migrant communities. Nonetheless, amidst the sporadic ventures into death and violence, sexual relations and sexualities, these are the lines of division that bind us to each other, in one way or another, as people survive through their crises.
Technical Specifications
DROUGHT - 92 mins | Color | with English subtitles
Language: Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Tagalog, Mandarin, German
FLOOD - 92 mins | Color | with English subtitles
Languages: Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Hokkien
Country of production: Singapore
Year of production: 2009
Original Format: HD Video (PAL)
Screening Format: HDCam (PAL) or DigiBeta (PAL)
Cast (Drought)
Sanjay Gautam | Gayatri Devi Mishra | Inder Kocher
Nathan Boenjamin | Agnes Christina
Giovanni Lombardo | Sofia Lombardo | Giulio Lombardo | Elia Lombardo
Faridah Bte Abdul Hamid | Anke Liebnitz
Richel T Hidalgo | Consulta Gian Carlo | Teresa Cua
Cast (Flood)
Sean Lee Puay Yang | Ng Lee Eng | Rose Marie Lee | Chin Kean Kok
Shin Hye Jung | Kim Yeon Jung | Shawn Kiyotaka Fukuzaki
Adelyn Leong | Sayid Wijilianto Utomo
Rattanan Channoi | Pacheun Maleipan | Wazini Masmintrachaiyanara
Xiao Jing | Zheng Mengtian | Kent Chan
Production Team
Director of Photography : Sharon Loh
Editor : Ming An
Production Designers : Chin Kean Kok , Looi Wan Ping
Assistant Director : Swee Wee Keong
Sound Recordist : Kent Chan
Camera Assistant : Looi Wan Ping
Set Photographer : Han Tan
Singing : Zheng Mengtian
Music : Indra Perkasa, Arief Yudhanto
Sound Post : Takuya Katsu
Colourist : Max Chia
Colour Supervisor : Han Tan
Online Post Producer : Fabian Tan
Post House : Iceberg Design Singapore
Producer : Sunny Yong
Co-Producer : Tan Bee Thiam
Director & Writer : Sherman Ong
Production Companies: Paddy Pictures | 13 Little Pictures | Studio Shermano
Generously supported by:
Singapore Biennale 2008
National Arts Council Singapore
Iceberg Design Singapore
Singapore Film Commission
Asian Film Archive Singapore
The Substation Singapore
Press/Sales Enquiries Contact:
Sherman ONG
ben [at] shermanong [dot] com
www.shermanong.com
TAN Bee Thiam
13 Little Pictures
bthiam [at] gmail [dot] com
+65 9768 9986
www.13littlepictures.com
VIII ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL - "Memories of a Burning Tree" e "Flooding in the Time of Drought", di Sherman Ong
- Articolo del 14/07/2010 di Elena Di Nardo
Filmmaker e fotografo di Singapore, Sherman Ong lascia la propria firma su questa edizione dell'Asian Film Festival attraverso
due opere distanti tra loro ma legate dall'interesse del regista a
“guardare oltre”, laddove “oltre” può stare a significare sia lontano
geograficamente che al di là del quotidiano, con maggiore attenzione e
consapevolezza
Filmmaker e fotografo di Singapore, Sherman Ong lascia la propria firma su questa edizione dell'Asian Film Festival attraverso
due opere distanti tra loro ma legate dall'interesse del regista a
“guardare oltre”, laddove “oltre” può stare a significare sia lontano
geograficamente che al di là del quotidiano, con maggiore attenzione e
consapevolezza.Presentato in anteprima mondiale all'International Film Festival di Rotterdam 2010, Memories of a Burning Tree suscita immediato interesse per la singolarità del progetto: promuovere in Europa un film di fiction girato in Tanzania, da un regista asiatico, con attori africani non professionisti, è un intreccio di per se insolito, attira per la possibilità che concede allo spettatore di immedesimarsi in uno sguardo alieno su di una cultura altrettanto aliena –all'autore quanto al pubblico. Ma è proprio questa radicata non appartenenza che finisce, alla lunga, per non convincere, poiché non consegna chiavi d'accesso sufficientemente suggestive sull'universo rappresentato, suggerendo il panorama confuso di un'Africa sospesa, dove la trama principale - due ragazzi cercano la tomba della madre di uno dei due - si perde per strada, si fa pretesto per parlare della stasi di una nazione, di una immobilità interiore in cui anche la realizzazione dei propri sogni avviene in sordina. Nessuna tragedia umana -e questo può essere un punto a favore- ma anche ben pochi spunti per coinvolgere, laddove qualche scelta registica più azzardata avrebbe potuto proporre una lettura più profonda, ma ci si limita piuttosto a mimare la staticità dei contenuti.
Certo, non ci si poteva aspettare un cambio di rotta da parte di un regista ossessivamente dedito al piano sequenza a camera fissa, un autore che risente in ogni scelta della costruzione fotografica dell'inquadratura, e che sembra ipotizzare quale unico movimento possibile quello dei personaggi all'interno del quadro, e mai movimento del quadro.
Ma quali possono essere, allora, gli effetti di scelte tanto drastiche quando si passa ad analizzare un contesto ben noto, ossia l'odierno Singapore? Flooding in the Time of Drought, commissionato dalla Biennale di Singapore nel 2008, conduce a risultati radicalmente diversi. Si tratta di un'opera complessa e densa, dove l'autore intreccia le vicende private di una serie di coppie di personaggi -consorti e non - in una Singapore oppressa dalla siccità. La siccità quale motore di insoliti meccanismi relazionali non è una novità per il cinema asiatico, se si pensa che le perversioni amorose di Il gusto dell'anguria di Tsai Ming-Liang sono conseguenza della stessa, mortifera, mancanza d'acqua. Anche Memories of a Burning Tree allude all'importanza dell'acqua per il naturale scorrere dell'esistenza, ma se il vuoto di sentimenti del film africano generava distanza nello spettatore, qui si raggiunge una maggiore partecipazione alla solitudine dei personaggi, e la profonda conoscenza del regista riguardo il contesto preso in esame gli permette riflessioni storiche sulle vicende politiche che hanno segnato l'estremo oriente e sulle ripercussioni di queste nella esistenze private. Senza discostarsi da uno stile rigorosamente statico, riflessivo e, a tratti, estenuante, il film vanta il pregio di costruire un ritratto variegato, sincero e spassionato dell'immigrazione a Singapore, e concede, proprio in virtù dei tempi dilatati, il lusso di immergersi in usanze ibride e relazioni interpersonali inconcepibili alla cultura occidentale.
