Preview: Forget-Me-Not

Don't get me wrong, this is not another online personality test like What Flower Are You. This is the title of a Malaysian/Japanese co-production film project that won the top Pusan Award at the recent 13th Pusan International Film Fest!

Yasmin Ahmad had once again made us so proud to come up tops out of 300 entries and 30 finalists to be awarded a whopping $20,000 seed money to proceed with the film project.

Thanks to Kousuke Ono's (the nephew of Yoko Ono) eye for recognising what a true gem Yasmin is, and of course his determination to strike a collaboration with her, what Yasmin might initially thought of the invitation from Ono-san as a mere friendly gesture eventually became reality.

Inspired by her minor Japanese origins, Yasmin submitted to Ono a simple sypnosis about a Malay girl by the name of Inom, whose ailing grandmother is a Japanese, prompted her to find her way to Japan to learn about her roots. Little did she know that this simple sypnosis had not just brought her the opportunity to embark on a international film collaboration, but also a ticket to the Asia's biggest film festival and capital of $20,000 for the film!

Congrats, Kak Yasmin! As you aptly put it, this is really a sudden, unexpected and unplanned blossoming of one Forget-Me-Not!

So I will have another film under her belt to look forward to.

On another note, Muallaf is finally showing on the silver screen, albeit it being in Singapore first, yet again!

Preview: Talentime

I've always been a keen follower of Yasmin Ahmad's movies. From Sepet, Gubra to Mukhsin (Rabun was released before I got to know her, and Muallaf is yet to be released), I had never missed any of them in cinema, two of which were watched all by myself (now it's rare for me to catch a movie alone).

Yasmin Ahmad, a creative director of an advertising company, has made festive seasons advertorial campaigns such an enjoyable thing to watch on tv. Together with her creavitivity, sensitivity and interesting family background, she has created a series of featured films that I would see them as half-autobiographical.

The sensous cinematography and the simple yet beautiful storyline that intertwined with issues that are close to our hearts as Malaysians, certainly capture my interest effortlessly. What makes the movies even more beautiful are their subtlety and rawness. It is like seeping a cup of tea and enjoying everybit of its after taste, literally.

While anticipating the release of her fifth film, she has already started working on the next project, Talentime. The new film, which I have yet to find out its storyline, has a majority of newly discovered cast, including the hugely talented singer Jaclyn Victor! According to Yasmin's blog (click here), the shooting has been wrapped up in 12 days, and is entirely shot in my beloved hometown, Ipoh! Well, most of her movies, if not all, are shot entirely in this beautiful, underdeveloped yet peaceful city, which made them even closer to my heart.

Anyways, kudos to Yasmin for being recognised as a serious filmmaker, for being invited as part of the panel jury in the recent Berlin Film Festival, and congratulations for the winning numerous awards for the Petronas' Tan Hong Ming in love campaign and the movie Mukhsin. You made us proud, really.

On another note, happy belated birthday Isaac!