Press Lounge

RECENTLY, I managed to catch the Company of Shorts, a film screening that showcased 10 new short films made by independent Malaysian filmmakers. It was an interesting and enjoyable affair, for the most part. What particularly piqued my curiosity was how technical expertise was shared - almost all of the films employed the same director of photography, for instance.

I was especially enamoured of Flower, a thoroughly enjoyable cinematic romp directed by animator-cum-filmmaker Liew Seng Tat.

In Flower, a lonesome grandmother, bored out of her mind one lazy day, recollects the happiest moments of her youth. Partly a nostalgic journey, and partly a slapstick /surrealist adventure, the short shook me enough to want to sit down and chat with Liew rather than simply try and fathom what's blossoming in his head by examining his work.

We met up quickly the next day when, over coffee, we spoke on a range of things. First up, I quizzed the diminutive and occasionally pensive 27-year-old on what started him making films.

"It all started at university (specifically, the Multimedia University) because, in doing animation, you touch on a bit of filmmaking as well - the process is the same, I guess. You start off constructing a story, and from there you come up with a storyboard, visuals, and then you take it to the computer. But filmmaking is a bit different, since after the storyboard we go into production."

But why go into filmmaking?

"I've tried animation, I've been working in the field for three years now, I wanted to try something new. So I picked up a camera and started shooting some short films."

The first time I met Liew was roughly six months ago, when I interviewed him for his first live action film, Breadskin and Strawberry Jam (2003), a story about a girl and her brother's cringe-inducing zipper mishap. It was hilarious. But the slapstick humour seemed to have been drawn from somewhere or someone familiar?.

"I like Stephen Chow a lot, you know, the Hong Kong comedian. I didn't want to copy him bulat-bulat (completely), but I think I've been watching his films for forever, so he probably I was probably influenced me. by him subconsciously.

"I also like this Japanese filmmaker called Takeshi Kitano - he's very different, he's very rebellious, storytelling-wise." ("Beat" Takeshi, as he's known, has been described as a "stand-up comedian, variety show host and professional weirdo", to give you an idea of the kind of rebel Liew likes?.)

Bread Skin With Strawberry Jam won the gold prize for Best Short Film - Drama/Fiction at the Eight Movie Video Awards in 2003. Looking back at that short film, and forward at Liew's latest offering, Flower, made the two of us ponder over the progress of New Malaysian Cinema.

"It's going somewhere, obviously," says Liew. "I mean, we all can see this. Five years ago we didn't even have a scene. Amir (Muhammad, director) started it off, and then it kept on going. Everyone's trying to make something.

"With the Company of Shorts screening, we didn't plan it to be that way, actually. Everyone was shooting something, and around the same time as well, so James (Lee, director) came up with the idea to compile the works and show it to people.

"There were only (only? Sounds like a lot to me!) 10 filmmakers involved in Company of Shorts, but there are a lot more people making films."

I also learnt that besides helping each other out technically, some of these filmmakers even invested money in each other's works just to help things grow faster. Take Tan Chui Mui - who made the well-received A Tree In Tanjung Malim - for instance, who partly financed Liew's Flower.

"Mui won (some money) at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival (for A Tree), and turned around and sponsored a few (of our shorts). I mean, from her win, she encouraged four more short films to be made. And she's not from a big organisation or anything even!"

Mui, as friends call her, was kind enough to let us conduct the interview at her office. Since she was around, I asked her why she spent her money that way.

"Because I don't know how to spend my money!" she said, laughing. "No lah, I think these filmmakers are good lah. Because for A Tree In Tanjung Malim I got money from Yasmin (Ahmad, director of the acclaimed mainstream movie, Sepet), and she wouldn't take my money back, so I gave the money to others."

And that brought the conversation round to an interesting point: Liew recently completed shooting "the making of" of Yasmin's eagerly awaited feature, Gubra, which is touted to be a sequel of sorts to Sepet. What did Liew think of the kind of stories spun by the media about the gutsy, feisty lady?

Liew worked on Flower with a little help from his friends in the tight-knit indie film community.
"I think people from the mainstream felt threatened, obviously, because of what she's doing and what she's able to do. Her films are not controversial compared with (Amir's ) The Big Durian, for example. They can easily censor The Big Durian, but they can't censor Yasmin. You can't get rid of her."

Does Liew have the same sort of staying power? What do the days ahead look like for this interesting man?

"A bit scary ah for me, because, until now, I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not ? whether my decision to quit my job to do all these silly short films is the right one.

"Somebody once told me, 'You want to survive in this country by just making short films - are you crazy?' I think that came from Yasmin," Liew said with a laugh. "Hearing that from Yasmin, I thought I was doomed!

"But I'm not alone. It's scary because ? well, I know I will survive in terms of supporting myself financially. But what I'm doing now, whether it's right or wrong I still don't know. I can't make shorts all my life.

"I have to go somewhere."

Wherever that is, I hope he takes an audience along - it's bound to be interesting!

Liew on Liew
BORN in 1979, the third of five siblings, Liew Seng Tat grew up amidst plenty of love, lots of laughter, and frequent life-threatening family feuds involving kitchen knives.

He hardly said a word in the first year of his life. His mother, half suspecting that he was mute and mentally-retarded, was very relieved when he finally spoke at length on his first birthday.

"At least he's only mentally retarded," Mrs Liew recalled with a smile.

Much later, Liew graduated from the Multimedia University in Cyberjaya, majoring in 3D animation.

"Doesn't say much about the university," said his mother, raising her eyebrows.

After earning a living from it for three years in a local studio, Liew's interest in animation waned, and he turned to film. His first live action film, Bread Skin with Strawberry Jam, won the Best Short Film award at the Malaysian Video Awards in 2003. His second film, Not Cool, again won the highest accolade the following year.

When asked if she thought her son's streak of success in filmmaking is proof that he's not retarded after all, Mrs Liew merely laughed and then spat into a nearby drain.

The only way to speak

WHAT keeps Liew Seng Tat rolling that camera:

-Seeing people respond to his films.

-Watching, reading or witnessing something inspiring.

-It's the only way he can express himself without ending up in jail!

What would make him hang up that camera:

-When everybody stops watching his films and rioting and threatening to kill him if he shoots another inch of film!

-If a loved one falls ill and he needs to take care of them.

-If the above conditions don't apply, then only if he's, like, brain dead and lying in a coma?

Sunday October 23, 2005
The STAR
# Fahmi Fadzil is a freelance writer and performer based in Kuala Lumpur. He would like to hear from you, so drop him a line at starmag@thestar.com.my.

Get Liew Seng Tat DVD here!