CALL FOR ENTRIES: Penang short films for George Town Literary Fest

I am choosing short films to show in the 2nd annual George Town Literary Festival which will take place 29 November - 1 December in a few venues in the beautiful capital city of Penang.

I am particularly interested to show new work set in Penang.

If you have a short film made in 2013 — fiction, documentary, experimental, animation — set in Penang and/or with a Penang theme, do send me an email at matahari.books@gmail.com . Of course, you are welcome to start making a new short right now!

Minimum length: 1 minute. Maximum length: 20 minutes. Works not in English will require English subtitles.

Deadline 1 November 2013. Upload your short on Youtube & Vimeo and then send me a Facebook message with the password/link. Selected shorts will be announced by 8 November. (Depending on the number of entries received, it may not be possible to screen everything.)

There will be two public screenings of short films during the festival, open to the public. Ideally the filmmakers should also be present to take part in a short discussion after the screenings. 

I look forward to your entries!

Here are 3 shorts by a new director named Yuga J Vardhan

He observes well, his empathy shines through and I am so glad he made them.

He is planning his first feature film (the final short here is a documentary sketch he made while researching it) and this is cause for even more optimism.

Box-office figures for the first 25 local movies of the year

1. HUSIN, MON & JIN PAKAI TONCIT – RM5.89 million

2 = THE WEDDING DIARY 2 – RM4.61 million

2 = ONCE UPON A TIME – RM4.61 million

4. ROCK OO – RM3.95 million

5. JUVANA – RM2.86 million

6. MINYAK DAGU – RM2.37 million

7. LAWAK KE DER? – RM1.66 million

8. LANGGAR – RM1.6 million

9. WAWA SEMPUT – RM1.48 million

10. GANGSTER CELUP – RM1.33 million

11. KERAT 14 – RM1.1 million

12. SEMBUNYI – RM880,000

13. BISIKAN SYAITAN – RM790,000

14. 2 KALIMAH – RM670,000

15. BOLA KAMPUNG THE MOVIE – RM610,000

16 = KECOH HANTU RAYA TOK CHAI – RM520,000

16 = GILA-GILA REMAJA 2 – RM520,000

18. MENCARI CINTA – RM350,000

19. 99 KALI RINDU – RM290,000

20 = AWAN DANIA THE MOVIE – RM200,000

20 = PADA SUATU CINTA DAHULU – RM200,000

22. CERITA KITA – RM180,000

23. PAPER MOON – RM170,000

24. OPS KOSSA DAPPA 3 – RM70,000

25. KALIYUGHA – RM23,000

THE BIG DURIAN (2003), THE YEAR OF LIVING VICARIOUSLY (2005) and LELAKI KOMUNIS TERAKHIR (THE LAST COMMUNIST) (2006) all on Youtube

If you've never seen any of them, I suggest viewing in chronological order :-)

THE YEAR OF LIVING VICARIOUSLY (2005) now online!

The months I spent in 2004 in Indonesia were among the most invigorating of my life. And this is the proof.

MALAYSIAN SHORTS (10 Dec)

My Perfect Anna

The last MALAYSIAN SHORTS of the year!

10 December. 8:15pm.
Auditorium, HELP University, Pusat Bandar Damansara KL.

Most of the directors will be present, so grab them & talk to them!

You may also VOTE for your 3 favourite shorts of the night!

Entry is FREE and open to everyone. Spread da word!

FULL LINE-UP:

GIGI PUTIH (14 min)
Director: Shamyl Othman
A trek up Batu Caves by two friends reveals  cross-cultural confusions but also communication.


MY PERFECT ANNA (9 min) 
Director: Nazri M Annuar
Kita memuja bila hendakkan dia. Kemudian tak endah bila dah dapat dia. Datang menyesal bila dia meninggalkan kita.  Made in New York!


TANGGAPANMU (8 min)
Directed by Adib Zaini & Nadia Khan
Three friends get more than their money's worth during their vacation when they bump into a politician at the hotel...


THE LAST SUPPER (5 min)
Director: James Lee
James Lee reinvents himself as an action hero!


Z (6 min)
Director: Ridhwan Saidi
Penyanyi, politikus dan …


KOPI JULIA (5 min)
Director: Tan Bee Thiam
Rashad datang ke rumah kawannya Ikram. Tak sangka pulak mak kepada Ikram ni hot. Adapted from a short story by Faizal Sulaiman.


LUPA (6 min)
Director: Megat Shahrizal
Love in the time of time-travel.


PUASA (7 min)
Directed by Nadia Khan
Ah Meng, challenged by his two Malay housemates, gives fasting a shot on the first day of Ramadhan.


Y3LLOW (12 min)
Director: Ang Yee Sien
Bulton is terminally unlucky. A twist in fate happens when an unexpected object arrives. Made in England!


MOCK MOMOK (6 min)
Director: Sheril A. Bustaman
An interview with... a man who is married to a computer.
...teeming with possibilities of horror, drama, comedy, porno
and even crossed-dissolved episodes of his life rolled into one.


LUKIS TANAHAIRKU (4 min)
Crew: Malek Abdullah, Yihwen Chen & Vanesa Kumaraa
An experimental independent film project involving people from the streets of Malaysia.


PASPORT EKSPRES (18 min)
Director: Rewan Ishak
Ali wants to be a filmmaker but he is feeling uninspired and pressured with other things. He decided to go back to his home state, Perlis.


TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 101 minutes

Made for RM30 ten years ago. I still like it more than something I co-directed that cost 40,000 times more.

LOST (2002) from Amir Muhammad on Vimeo.

MALAYSIAN SHORTS 3 September

Kelab Seni Filem Malaysia presents

MALAYSIAN SHORTS 3 September 2012 8:15pm - 10:30 pm Auditorium HELP University, Pusat Bandar Damansara KL A dozen new Malaysian shorts will be shown! The directors will be there to mingle Admission is FREE and open to all! Facebook event page Line-Up: TANPA JUDUL (2012, 27 min) Directed by Azharr Rudin Hati ini, apa yang ia desirkan, bisu. DONNA MUST DIE (2011, Romania/Malaysia, 12 min) Directed by Ismail Jamaludin & Dragos Dulea Fred, a passive aggressive husband is confronted by his urge for revenge when his lifeless wife Donna accidentally destroys his prized possession. Donna must die! Made when the director was studying film in Romania. LEMAN (2012, 10 min) Directed by Ahmad Hafiz Rashid In a quiet Malay village decades ago, only one English-educated person can read the Rumi script. So when the government posts up a sign that is not in Jawi, everyone turns to him. Best Malaysian Student Short 2012. BONDA (2008, 6 min) Directed by Alhafiz Burhanuddin Memaparkan hubungan antara emak dan anak lelaki. Kasih ibu kekal hingga ke syurga, kasih anak berubah mengikut usia - zaman kanak-kanak, remaja dan dewasa. ENOUGH (2012, 10 min)   Directed by Vickneswaran Bass' (Hindi for 'Enough') depicts an orphan character who struggles to survive in the concrete jungle where he resorts to his artistic talents as a means of escapism and livelihood. The film is about exploitation in the art industry. CONSCIENCE (2012, 5 min) Directed by Nadia Khan Shah is a screenwriter who gained fame and fortune with a critically-panned comedy written just for a quick buck. Ashamed of himself, he stows himself away from the world. One day, he receives a visit from his old friend Nik... KAIZEN (2012, 10 min)   Directed by Shanjhey Kumar Perumal "Don't seek, don't search, don't ask, don't knock, don't demand - relax. If you relax, it comes" - Osho. LANGAT DI ODU (2012, 10 min) Directed by Bebbra Charles Mailin This film is about the longing of a mother (Nenek) for her daughter (Otto). Her daughter had run away leaving her mother to join her lover in India. Narrated by the granddaughter (Cucu) of the family. In Dusun language. LAWAN (2012, 8 min) Directed by Azizulhakim Salleh This is a tale of two rival burger vendors, Boy and Mat. Their rivalry is further heightened with various customer antics. NESAN TAK TERUKIR (2012, 12 min) Inspired by two poems -- "Coffin Maker" by T. Alias Taib and "Dead Cloth Seller" by Aan Mansyur -- this shortfilm is about how words spoke by a man, heard by God. But those words actually become a tragedy for him MASKED (2012, 7 min) Directed by Khairil M Bahar On July 10th 2012, Information, Communications & Culture Minister Rais Yatim urged martial arts practitioners to assist in fighting crime. Someone took him seriously. THE LAST MAN (2012, 6 min, animation) Directed by Hanif Faiq bin Mohd Hashim A nuclear plant explosion has send out a catastrophic wave of radiation. Millions of lives have been lost. A sole survivor in Kuala Lumpur is trying to find a cure. In order to conduct his research, he needs a living human test subject. TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 125 min. Majulah filem untuk negara.

Box-office figures for the first 15 Malaysian movies of the year

1. Ah Beng the Movie: 3 Wishes - RM7.6 million
2. Adnan Sempit 2 - RM6.82 million
3. Bujang Terlajak - RM2.60 million
4. Seefood - RM2.35 million
5. Sumpahan Kum Kum - RM2.06 million
6. Hantu Dalam Botol Kicap - RM1.86 million
7. Keramat - RM1.39 million
8. Fist of Dragon - RM1.26 million (co-production)
9. Cinta Kura Kura - RM1.17 million

10.  7 Petala Cinta - RM1.03 million

11. Azura - RM990,000
12. Bunohan - RM720,000

13. Jidin Sengal - RM710,000

14. Sesuatu Yang Tertinggal - RM690,000
15. Chantek - RM100,000

This is significant, and I think it's great news: the first time a Chinese-language local movie has beaten all other contenders. 

Did the VVIP couple that graced the premiere bring special ong?

Box-office figures for Malaysian films in 2011

1.  KL Gangster - RM11.74 million
2. Ombak Rindu - RM10.9 million
3. Hantu Bonceng - RM8.53 million
4. Kongsi - RM8.1 million
5. Khurafat - RM8.08 million
6. Nasi Lemak 2.0 - RM7 million (estimated)
7. Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa - RM6.5 million
8. Nur Kasih - RM4.93 million
9. Bini-Biniku Gangster - RM4.71 million
10. Great Day - RM4.5 million (estimated)
11. Karak - RM4.3 million
12. Suatu Malam Kubur Berasap - RM4.07 million* 
13. Homecoming - RM4 million
14. Raya Tak Jadi - RM3.64 million
15. Alamak Toyol - RM3.47 million
16. Petaling Street Warriors - RM3.4 million (estimated)
17. Aku Bukan Tomboy - RM2.55 million
18. Al Hijab - RM2.24 million
19. Songlap - RM2.13 million
20. Sekali Lagi - 2.04 million
21. Flat 3A - RM1.44 million
22. Misteri Jalan Lama - RM1.33 million
23. Sini Ada Hantu - RM1.3 million
24. Kembar Siang - RM1.2 million
25. Klip 3GP - RM1.14 million
26=Cun - RM1.1 million
26=Senjakala - RM1.1 million
28. Senario the Movie: Ops Pocot - RM1.06 million
29. Rasuk - 1.03 million
30. 321 Cinta - RM980,000
31.Libas - RM930,000
32. Papa I Love You - RM890,000*
33. Penunggu Istana - RM890,000
34. Seru - RM870,000
35. Haq - RM800,000
36. Tolong! Awek Aku Pontianak - RM760,000
37.Dilarang Masuk - RM750,000
38.... Dalam Botol - RM570,000
39. Momok Jangan Panggil Aku - RM550,000
40. Datin Ghairah - RM350,000
41. Sumpahan Puaka - RM310,000
42. Karipap-Karipap Cinta - RM280,000
43. Abuya - RM210,000
44. Ratu - RM200,000
45=Toyol Nakal - RM190,000
45=Apa Tengok-Tengok - RM190,000

* Still showing 

Gambar daripada sini ; chomel kan?

MALAYSIAN SHORTS (17 Oct), once again hosted by me!

Kelab Seni Filem Malaysia
presents
MALAYSIAN SHORTS

Monday, 17 October
8pm
Auditorium, HELP University College

Pusat Bandar Damansara

Kuala Lumpur.

Entrance: FREE

All are WELCOME
No need to RESERVE SEATS

Facebook event page.

10 new narrative Malaysian short films/videos will be shown, with most of the directors present.

1. EXHALATION/ Edmund Yeo/ Japan-Malaysia/21 min
The death of a former classmate, Yosuke, brings Naoko back to her hometown. Arriving the day before his funeral, Naoko embarks upon a road trip with her friend Sayuri. They visit the site of Yosuke's fatal car accident, and gradually, their journey turns into a surrealistic experience of bittersweet remembrances, tender secrets and unspoken regrets. Dreams become increasingly vivid, memories come in the form of ghosts. They lost themselves in melancholy.

2. SUDU GAN GARFU/ Faiq Khalifa/ 14.5 minutes
Tiada kata secantik bahasa. Menampilkan lakonan oleh Adman Salleh gittew.

3. MOVEMENT IN C/ Ali Lee/ 37 seconds
The shortest short we have ever shown?

4. MARIA/ Afiq Deen/ 11 minutes
Maria is fictional thriller film inspired by the record-breaking cases of baby dumping and abandonment by Malaysian Muslim women.

5. SIX REVISITED/ Timo/ 1 minute
The second-shortest short we have ever shown?

6. MEMORIA/ Yihwen Chen/ 9 minutes
A girl. A bicycle. And a memory.

7. JEMPUT NAIK/ Ng Ken Kin/5.5 minutes
In conjunction with this year's KL 48 Hours Film Project, we present one of last year's entries by a stalwart of Malaysian Shorts. Caution: there will be blood.

8. BROGA RENDEZVOUS/ Ridhwan Saidi/ 8.5 minutes
Teman lelaki mahu ke Broga, tempat mereka pertama kali bercumbu; tetapi teman wanita tidak ingat malah sesat ketika dalam perjalanan. Dalam masa yang sama seorang guru merindui pemergian pelajar cemerlang sekolah mereka di Broga. Sebuah filpen yang melankolik, dengan sedikit unsur jenaka.

9. LE ONION DE NOIR/ Brad Liew/ 11 min
Over a telephone call, a man can be heard justifying his actions in what he sees as a sign from the divine. As he re-accounts his actions, the lines between his reality and ours blur into a mesh of primal violence. Do we question his psychotic cruelty? Or is it truly his higher calling?

10. EPAL HIJAU DI LUAR PAGAR/ Syahrul Musa/ 26 minutes
Mamat (12 tahun) mengambil upah menjaga kambing di sebuah kawasan perkuburan Cina. Satu petang, hujan lebat. Dia membawa kambing-kambing jagaannya berteduh di tokong Cina berdekatan. Kelaparan membuatkan dia terpaksa mengambil sebiji epal hijau dari tokong tersebut dan berjanji akan membayarnya semula. Dalam keadaan keluarganya yang penuh krisis, mampukah dia menepati janjinya?

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 110 minutes

Box-office figures for the first 20 local films of the year

1.  KL Gangster - RM11.74 million
2.  Kongsi - RM8.1 million
3. Khurafat - RM8.08 million
4. Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa - RM6.5 million
5. Nur Kasih - RM4.93 million
6. Great Day - RM4.5 million (estimated)
7. Karak - RM4.3 million
8. Homecoming - RM4 million
9. Sini Ada Hantu - RM1.3 million
10. Kembar Siang - RM1.2 million
11=Cun - RM1.1 million
11= Senjakala - RM1.1 million
13 Penunggu Istana - RM890,000
14 Seru - RM870,000
15 Haq - RM800,000
16 Dilarang Masuk - RM750,000
17 ... Dalam Botol - RM570,000
18 Momok Jangan Panggil Aku - RM550,000
19. Ratu - RM200,000
20 Toyol Nakal - RM190,000

Source: FINAS

Box-office figures for the first 10 Malaysian films in 2011

1. Khurafat - RM8.1 million
2. Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa - RM6.5 million
3. Great Day - RM4.5 million (estimated)
4. Homecoming - RM4 million
5. Sini Ada Hantu - RM1.3 million
6. Kembar Siang - RM1.2 million
7. Cun - RM1.1 million
8. Haq - RM800,000
9. ... Dalam Botol - RM570,000
10. Ratu - RM200,000

Source: FINAS

In a bottle

...Dalam Botol is the most interesting Malay movie of the year, so far. Even though it's not about what people have been led to believe it's about.

The title alone, plus its tendency to use shadows and have people framed in narrow corridors, shows that the theme isn't transsexualism, but the feeling of being trapped.

It's neither anti-gay nor pro-gay. In fact, Bidin's gayness is taken as a given. But his passivity (which is nowhere shown to be linked to his sexuality) ensures that he always makes the wrong decisions at the behest of others: first his boyfriend, then his (dead) father, then his mother, then his "girlfriend." As in the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the protagonist here seems to be masochistically complicit in his own victimhood. This will dismay those who think that protagonists should always be role-models of some sort (call it The Oprah Syndrome), but it's also an affective way to open up the power relations in the society it depicts.

The film this most closely resembles is indeed Fassbinder's In a Year with 13 Moons. It's similarly daring in its use of silences, and also potent visual metaphors (the abattoir opening of the German film is replaced with a dead tree-stump here).

A well-choreographed and strikingly scored wedding scene near the end is a gender-reversed homage to the opening of U-Wei's Perempuan, Isteri dan Jalang, which was in turn a modern homage to the climax of Salleh Ghani's Sri Mersing. And a nearly wordless scene in a bedroom right after that is one of the finest achievements in Malay cinema.

Although hamstrung by a low budget (the dialogue dubs sometimes sound like they were done in somebody's bathroom), the pithy and elliptical conversations achieve a remarkable degree of verisimilitude. It's a rare local movie (aside from the works of Ho Yuhang and Tan Chui Mui) that makes it seem like we are actually eavesdropping on real people.

Its refusal to present Bidin's gayness or his transsexual condition (he's not a genuine transsexual) in slapstick or monochromatic terms already puts it way ahead of the much shoddier and sleazier 2 Alam. But its relentless dourness can make it a discomforting experience. The (mostly nocturnal or interior) cityscape is a place of liberation but also of constraints, as can be seen in Bidin's financial situation and also his boyfriend's smoking addiction.

A bare-bones synopsis, plus some rash statements by its producer Raja Azmi, can make you think this is a reactionary and judgmental freak-show. But the screenwriter/director Khir Rahman seems to have done a lot to make ... Dalam Botol a much more complex experience. It lingers. This a film that doesn't let anyone (including its audience) off the hook. My take on this film is exactly what Yasmin Ahmad had said about Raja Azmi's previous film Haru Biru: "I don't care what weirdo produced it, I quite like it!"

KISS & Rojak (Versi BM). Semua dijemput hadir.

Tuesday 22 February.
8pm onwards.
The Black Box, MAP @ PUBLIKA, Dutamas KL.

Screening of new (mostly Malaysian) films! All under the theme of KISS (Keep it Short, Stupid).

Entrance is free. Many of the directors will attend. Best of all, there will be Walls Ice-Cream!

Screening order:

buang, the lost malay scientist / isabelle desjuex / 6 min / singapore-france / 2011
kiamu!!! / anwari / 10 min / malaysia / 2010
harap tenang, ada ujian / ifa isfansyah / indonesia / 15 min / 2006
outing / jow zhi wei / 17min / singapura / 2009
creatures / bernice chauly / 8 min / malaysia / 2010

INTERMISSION:
Launch of the book Rojak (BM) by Amir Muhammad (ZI Publications)

bila cinta sudah melekat, tahi kucing rasa cokelat / ridhwan saidi / 9 min malaysia / 2010
play / idora alhabshi / australia-malaysia / 27 min / 2010
shrivel / oliver husain / 8 min / germany-indonesia / 2005
ameen / sanif olek / 14 min / singapura / 2010
cin-ntah / mohd jayzuan / 2 min / malaysia / 2011

*

This event is held in conjunction with LiFest, to raise funds for Yayasan Kurang Upaya Kelantan (YOKUP). You may confirm on Facebook.

Why are our Chinese movies more cheerful than our Malay movies?

OK, I am basing this only on the four movies that have been released so far in 2011. My favourite is this:



Great Day is a feel-good tale about the pleasure of family. Even if some of the younger people don't have as much time as they would like to spend with their elders, the movie does not condemn. It is a warm cinematic embrace of compassion. A particularly poignant moment had a little girl (unused to the Roman alphabet) mistaking the 'Alor Setar' sign for the 'Arau' one. It brings home the point that Malaysia is a land of overlapping cultural discourses; if we don't see the 'signs' we can relate to, it's up to us to create these 'signs'.



Funnier but also waaay schmaltzier, Homecoming is a Singapore-Malaysia collaboration that makes great use of the comic presence of Jack Neo (in drag) and Afdlin Shauki. There's much frantic hand-waving, toilet humour, and plot contrivance, but it posits that Singaporeans and Malaysians are part of a big family. Although (to comply with Singapore language restrictions) the Chinese dialogue is all in Mandarin, I am told that 'diversity' is still sneakily celebrated by having many different slang/dialect forms of Mandarin.



Khurafat shows that Syamsul Yusof can direct! There's a neat twist in the end, and the night scenes look great. But it's also unrelentingly gloomy, right down to its cynical, almost masochistic denouement. On one level, it's about the failure of Malay patriarchy: Shamsul in an early scene is shown 'leading' women in prayer, but in a later scene 'following' the women at a funeral procession. The traditional moral authority is reversed, but what comes in its place? It starts from lust and black magic, and the movie revels in recrimination: it's too late for regret.



Haq is similar to Khurafat in that it's also obsessed with guilt and sin. It moves at a more lugubrious pace, but what's dismaying about this movie which claims "the application and promotion of Islamic concepts" is the absence of redemptive hope: The 'bad' are simply born 'bad' and remain 'bad' and deserve to be killed. The scenes of luxury are well-depicted, but oddly funereal: Why aspire to success if your life becomes an empty shell? And in marked contrast to the two Chinese movies, family members (even when supposedly close) don't seem comfortable together.

The recent news that local films not primarily in the Malay language can now be classified as 'Malaysian movies' and receive the same valuable tax breaks is a good one. If these four films are any indication, watching only Malay movies can be seriously damaging to one's sense of cheer. Let's have a bit of life-affirming variety, before cinemas start giving out free razor blades with the popcorn.

Box-office figures for all Malaysian films in 2010

1. NGANGKUNG - RM8.18 million
2. HANTU KAK LIMAH BALIK RUMAH - RM7.90 million

3. ADNAN SEMPIT - RM7.66 million
4. KL DRIFT 2 - RM5.67 million
5. LAGENDA BUDAK SETAN - RM4.28 million
6. JANGAN PANDANG BELAKANG CONGKAK 2 - RM4.23 million
7. TIGER WOOHOO - RM4 million
8. V3:SAMSENG JALANAN - RM3.88 million
9. NIYANG RAPIK - RM3.72 million
10. ICE KACANG PUPPY LOVE - RM3.6 million
11. CUTI-CUTI CINTA - RM3.17 million
12. MAGIKA - RM3.14 million
13. MANTRA - RM2.74 million
14. SENARIO ASAM GARAM - RM2.47 million
15. ZOO - RM2.17 million
16. LU PIKIRLAH SENDIRI - RM2.15 million
17. SEMERAH CINTA STILETTO - RM2.13 million
18. AKU MASIH DARA - RM2.05 million
19. KECOH BETUL - RM2.03 million
20. LELIO POPO - RM2 million (estimated)
21. 4 MADU - RM1.82 million
22. DAMPING MALAM - RM1.67 million
23. JANIN - RM1.42 million
24. APPALAM - RM800,000 (estimated)
25. AKU TAK BODOH - RM740,000
26. ANDARTU TERLAMPAU: 21 HARI MENCARI SUAMI - RM560,000
27. 2 ALAM - RM440,000
28. 2 HATI 1 JIWA - RM400,000
29. ESTET - RM350,000
30. BELUKAR - 300,000
31. HOOPERZ - RM290,000
32. KAPOWW!! - RM270,000
33. CRAYON - RM53,000
34. THE KILLER CLOWN - Less than RM50,000

Source: FINAS

Trivia:
1. The top three movies are also the top three local movies of all time (without making allowances for inflation, of course).
2. The film at #5 is the biggest hit movie to ever be made from a novel.
3. There are three hit movies in the Chinese language (#7, #10 and #20); this is the first time there has been even one.
5. The most successful studio would appear to be Metrowealth, which has 5 out of the Top 10 (#1, #3, #6, #8 and #9).
6. I saw only seven! Must try harder this year :-)

At a time when Malaysians are releasing only (a) horror movies; or (b) spoofs of horror movies, this Iranian film opens on Thursday

Song of Sparrows has taken three years to reach our shores but I'm sure is worth a look on the big screen.

I enjoyed Majid Majidi's previous films Children of Heaven, The Colour of Paradise and Baran. Yes, you may say they're sentimental, somewhat manipulative but - mon Dieu! (masya-Allah!) - that shot of the man running with the blue door alone (1:34) is enough to make us see how Cinema can connect, when it cares enough to.

For the record (not that anyone's asking) my favourite Iranian film is A Moment of Innocence by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. I also heart Sara by Dariush Mehrjui (starring the incandescent Niki Karimi), Offside by Jafar Panahi and Men at Work by Mani Haghighi (from a story by Abbas Kiarostami).

I'm a fan of movie posters, but I have never seen one quite like this

Is this the first movie poster in the history of the universe which features no cast members, but instead TWO pictures of its rather flamboyant producer? (That's also him right at the top, in a chair.)

Well, it's certainly better than the first poster for this movie, which was marred by an unfortunate act of plagiarism.

I have not seen the movie yet and so will not comment.

There will be many people Googling the movie's title and the producer's name in the next few days, to see if he will reach his oft-brayed box-office target. But, blushing little wallflower that I am, I am not gonna mention the title and his name.

Hello there, Luang Prabang!

I'm trying not to accept so many film festival invitations (oh, you should hear how some of them beg and beg!), what with me now being a book publisher and all. But I've never been to Laos, so I didn't want to turn this one down. (And it's not just because I'm a fan of the Dr. Siri Paiboun crime novels.)

Luang Prabang itself, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, promises to be a beaut!

Laos has no film industry to speak of but I admire the effort the organisers took to come up with this inaugural, albeit low-key, event. Contrast that with the slapstick dodginess of the well-sponsored Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival (which was supposed to take place this month but just got postponed, apparently). Everyone involved in KLIFF should really be ashamed of themselves -- but since its organisers include a certain Malaysian filmmaker who has a habit of never paying his crew members, I don't suppose they're the kind to embarrass easily.