At the end of this month I will fly to France to serve on the International Jury for the 30th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. I have to watch 73 short films! But since this festival is supposed to be the best one of its kind in Europe, it's bound to be fun.
(Check out some of the brilliant posters it has had over the years, too).
I will also represent the Malaysian shorts in that festival's South-East Asia focus this year. (I didn't do the selection, so don't blame me if some of my own stuff is there). The section is punningly called Tropical Melody,a reference to a brilliant Thai feature film. (But wouldn't Tropical Medley have made more sense?) So for the festival catalogue I wrote a short overview of Malaysian shorts, with this as the opening paragraph:
Because Malaysia is so very bourgeois compared to the rest of South-East Asia (with the noble exception of Singapore), shorts used to be a waste of time. We have no tradition of independent artists or filmmakers making shorts, such as Indonesia’s Gotot Prakosa.
Since I refuse to be outdone in the pun stakes, the essay is called Waiting For Gotot.
Laugh la...
5 comments:
Amir,
What are the dates you'll be in Clermont-Ferrand? And then Paris?
Enjoyed your essay, by the way. Whatever happened to the Negarakuku kid, did he retain his citizenship?
-- Preeta
Preeta!
My Clermont-Ferrand dates are 1-9 Feb. Don't have the Paris dates yet :-)
Oh, people just moved on from Negarakuku, as people do ...
I did -- laugh, that is. Have a good trip and have fun "watching" (is this the same joke I used to hear in VI when I was there?)!
Do you sell copies of your movies, particularly: "Air Mata Duyung?" Thank you for your response.
danielcaggiano@netscape.net
tahniah... if u terturun london caling2lah...
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