Penang Watch

I sat through the short films selected from the 200+ short films sent to the national short films competition organised by the Info Ministry-and shown at RTM from 10.30pm every day till Jan 21st. My verdict : good to have such a timeslot on national TV to showcase the young talents. The films I saw last night(Not exactly in the order shown) :

1. `Tempe' -shows how a wife try hard to entertain her husband to dinners of different styles (Chinese, Japanese etc)-due to infertility. Tempe (Indonesian soya food) was sold by a salesperson to the couple as a solution. Hilarious. Over the top acting.

2.2nd show shows a village guy who stick to the `always use your right hand to give things to others' advice from the mother and lost the village running competition as a result. Laughing at villagers seems to be a sport by politicians nowsaday -a bit loaded story. Photography and acting good. 

3.3rd show showed a motor-cyclist who ran over a scull and scared himself stiff afterwards when funny things happened : his motorbike stopped and could not start; he received an anonymous SMS telling him of his destination; then a car without a driver moved towards him ...good story, good shooting and acting.

4. `cake'  showed a boy making a cake for his father on father day -but also make a mess of the house. Parents came home -surprised but excused the kids when they saw the cake. Story a bit simple minded -good collaboration by all actors. Acting, editing, music all played their role competently.

5. This show without any speech showed how a young musician got his inspiration after a frustrated housemate (like something in a shared house by uni students) jumped up & down in a pale of water. A tale of how inspirations come from strange places. Reasonable acting, photography & directing. Sense of surprise wasn't so well handled, though.

6. `Rukun' was another laugh at the villagers story eg the bride-groom recited Rukun Negara when asked in his marriage ceremany about `rukun'/ rules on marriage. At the end of all the mocking the lead actor was reduced to utter embarassment by all present including the bride. Very good acting, directing. 

7. A competition between 2 trainees in a marshal arts turned up into duels in video games, chongkak (a traditional game) etc. Good photography and music, though the story line seems simplistic.

8. `Ballet' showed a very self-centred fatso girl who ignore everything around her to pursue her interests in Ballet -from school clubs to ballet groups outside. Strong acting by lead character -photography, set, directing etc played their roles effectively.Not sure if the director intend it as another laugh at people who cannot/does not see/read reality around them in their pursuits. But I give her my hat off for her persistence -if ballet is really her interests ! We need more such single minded persuits in this comformist society !
 
From the stories there seems to be a bent on `developmentalism' -and the credit lines which feature professors seems to give a clue or 2 of where they come from. While the film competition are officially for new comers to film/video makers many entries seems that they are well supported in their production-with some lavish wardrobes, setting and `advisors' ! Not so much of the home video, indie productions that I expected. The ideas of the films seems diverse -but still revolves around pretty mainstream mind sets. Not so sure if this has anything to do with the selection process for these films screened on national TVs (and get paid as programing material). Still these are fresh air compared to other sleek but uninspiring productions in RTM (official TVs) and even some private TVs' programing. Worth viewing and support -though you may not be happy with all productions.
 
My pick of the day's showing : 3rd show.
 
 
 
Ong