Friday, April 07, 2006

Day 01 - SIFF Free Programme

7.00pm
Speaking Up
A documentary on the state of democracy in Hong Kong, its basically a simple formula of sitting people in front of a camera, and asking them questions. Cue the candid moments and the contrast between answers provided. Presentation could be improved, like changing the background, or changing the shot angle etc. But the basic premise is good, and Singaporean viewers could easily relate to what is happening in Singapore. Very similar to my 'UDHR' shot last year.

Sound of Footsteps on the Pavement
A documentary that tries to parallel revolutions in history (e.g. Tiananmen) with the things done by a group of students trying to prevent their favorite coffeshop from being closed down. The comparison does not really stick, but I like the scenes with ordinary people reading quotations off books, articles, etc. Much nicer than voiceovers...

9.00pm
Coffee and Milk
A boy who falls in love with a woman about 12 years his senior. She is deaf, and to impress her, he uses a camera to capture sounds, but makes her angry instead. Sound like a sypnosis that is plugged to producers? I think it sounds a bit too drama, but the idea could work for a drama serial, except that it could be censored due to its "jia-di lian" (big sister-little brother love relationship) theme.

Lonely Planet
A story about a woman returning to Hong Kong from Belgium, to visit her best friend. Think it is a film about deciding where to live, in the borderless world that we now live in.

She3
A lady trains her video camera on her mother and grandmother, and capture them in their daily actitivites. Very heartwarming story, as one can feel the real emtotions appear at certain parts of the documentary. It feels very natural, which is a style which I like.

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