When applause is due...

I am really not the arty farty kind. Neither am I the culture vulture sort who speaks with a strong and often phony accent. I don't fancy artistic past times such as theatre or musicals. Whatever play that I have attended, I did so in my bermudas and not in some suit. There was always a possibility of being denied access for under dressing, but what is life without uncertainties.. haha.

Anyway yeah, I happened to be at one of the most unlikely venues on Sunday, 17th August... The Arts House... and yeah in my bermudas as expected when Chandra and Durga were more ... shall i say that they had more clothes on them then myself... Chandra initiated a pseudo short film marathon at a ridiculous price of $5.00. I was there because I had 5 bucks to spare... other than that I hated short films.

When I first viewed them 10 years back, it failed to appeal to me in any bloody way. The short films were too abstract and too "artistic" for my taste. I felt that the filmmakers were desperately fitting into borrowed shoes and assimilating foreign artistry. Something that doesn't go down well with me. Its like an Ah Beng/ Mat/ Mama speaking in European accent. Furthermore the people whom i met, people associated with the Arts field, always were exclusive, as if they were above the common man. This just worsened the distaste i had for short films and the arts scene.


So, I leaned back into my seat, waiting to sleep soundly. But i couldn't. There was something different about the compilation of films. They had matured and over the years had found their own identity and best of all, they had vulgarities ( which makes it real). I was blown away actually. By the second short film, i already had my money's worth and it was only getting better.

There were 16 shortfilms all together. Though all of them had substance and quality, these were my favourites.

My Blue Heaven / Director : Yee Wei Chai
[ A coming of age dark comedy, about a little boy who lives with his abusive father, and how a fateful afternoon of watching his father's porn videotape, turns his life upside down]

Zo Gang / Director : Jacen Tan
[Filmmaker wannabe, Ah Tan, is sick of his day job. He discusses and pokes fun at local film and music , while plotting his path to become Singapore's next great director. A dark comedy about the difficulties of making a film in Singapore] ... this is really damn good.. and hilarious.

I really had a very good time at the short film screening and i am really impressed with how far the scene has come. I applaud the directors and all creative technicians and of course the actors for imbuing so much quality and "heartlanderness" into what once was a borrowed fad. I wish them all further success in their futures and i just want them to know that they have earned one more fan... me.