Singapore International Film Festival screenings

For many years, I have attended the Singapore International Film Festival as a movie-goer. This year, for the first time, I will be attending the festival as a filmmaker.

My documentary about the Beijing Olympics, Boomtown Beijing, will be screening at in the Singapore Panorama section on Wed April 9th at 9:15pm and Sat April 12th at 2pm. Tickets can be purchased here.

Boomtown Beijing is only one of more than a dozen films in the Singapore Panorama showcase this year, which includes a broad range of works made by Singapore filmmakers..

Please support SIFF, one of the oldest film festivals in Asia and arguably, also one of the most rigorously curated.

Boomtown Beijing interview on “35 mm” Film Magazine Radio Show

Being at the Berlin Film Festival helps me appreciate the difference that a film-literate audience can make to the film making experience

Here is a city where people have attended the festival year after year and over time they have developed the ability to articulate their analyses and insights about film.

Even films from little known places have sold out screenings. The premiere of Invisible City, a Singapore documentary about history and memories, for instance, was packed to the overflowing, with some people sitting along the aisle. From what I hear, other Asian films at the festival are doing equally well.

I have had the pleasure of chatting with quite a few people who have travelled to the festival every year. I have also met individuals who have volunteered tirelessly at the festival for decades.

One of these chance encounters led to an interview about my Beijing Olympics documentary, Boomtown Beijing, on German radio. “35 mm” is regular film magazine show on Radio Dreyeckland in Freiburg, in the southwestern part of Germany.

Alexander Sancho-Rauschel, the radio journalist who interviewed me, also volunteers at the student cinema at the University of Freiburg. The Aka Film Club, or Academic Film Club, has been around for 50 years. It was started in an effort to enable students in post war Germany to watch more international films. Although the name of the club sounds very stern and seems almost archaic in this day and age, it has been retained out of reverence for tradition.

I wonder what the listeners of Radio Dreyeckland will think of the interview of my little documentary about the Beijing Olympics?

One thing, for sure, the passion for film seems to transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries here. So I cherish the hope being a little known film director making a small film in the Far East might actually be an advantage, fuelling curiosity about the project.

Berlin Film Festival Adventures

I will be attending the Berlin Film Festival 2008 (7th — 17th February 2008) There are two big reasons why I am going.

Invisible City, a film I worked on, is screening in the Forum section of the Berlinale.

I will also take the opportunity to market and promote my own film about the Beijing Olympics, Boomtown Beijing at the Festival and the European Film Market.

With thousands of journalists and film makers attending, I am sure Berlin will be a zoo. But hopefully, it’d also be a lot of fun.

Wish me luck!

Beijing Olympics Film Interview on the China Business Show

I have never given an interview about a film on a business show before. Well, there is always a first time.

The China Business Show is a weekly show on WSR Radio that sheds cross-cultural insight on doing business in China. I am impressed by the range of issues that the show covers, from technology and business strategy to the media and corporate social responsibility.

My big thanks to Christine Lu, executive producer and host, for having me talk about my Beijing Olympics documentary on her show.

For those have you who missed the live show, you can go to the China Business Network site to listen to the interview.

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Olympics Logo Bike: A Grand Gesture

Whenever I tell people I am making a documentary about the Olympics, one of the first questions they ask me is: “Are you featuring athletes?”

When I say that I am making a film about ordinary people and their Olympics dreams, the response I often get is one of surprise, even of incredulity.

But I can point to ample evidence of the extraordinary efforts some Chinese people have invested into dramatizing their passion for the Olympics.

Check out this story about a man who has modified his bike into the shape of the Olympics logo:
Sunday Photo: Olympics Logo Bike :: China Digital Times (CDT) 中国数字时代

Talk about grand gestures…

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