Events

Jointly organized by Asia Research Institute, and Wan Boo Sow Research Centre for Chinese Culture at the Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore.

CHAIRPERSON

Assoc Prof Kwee Hui Kian, Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

Chong Keat Aun’s multiple-award-winning film, “The Story of Southern Islet” (released in Nov 2020), draws deeply on his childhood experiences and continuing research on the linguistic and cultural heritages among local communities in Kedah, in northwestern peninsular Malaysia. Set in the 1980s, the film centres on the lives of a family in a rice-farming village at the Thai-Malaysian border zone. Specifically, the story concerns a sudden illness contracted by Cheong which is suspected to have supernatural causes, for which his wife is led to find cures and perform rituals prescribed by an array of local religious healers. In this seminar, the director will share his inspirations in the making of the film and what the preparation and production entailed, as well as his afterthoughts in the wake of critics and audience responses to the film.

This is a bilingual event: the director will be presenting in Mandarin with slide summaries in English, and the Q&A will be conducted with relevant translations. The trailer is available in https://mubi.com/films/the-story-of-southern-islet/trailer. Audience is encouraged to watch the film which is accessible online.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Chong Keat Aun is born in Malaysia and has multiple talents: he is an award-winning director, script writer, performing artist, broadcaster and curator of community arts projects. After the release of his first short film “Cemetery of Courtesy” in 2017, he went on to make his first feature film “The Story of Southern Islet” (2020). The latter won the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize, NETPAC Award and Observation Missions for Asian Cinema Award at the 57th Golden Horse Awards, among others. Chong’s latest project “Snow in Midsummer” also won the “French CNC Award” at the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. Please register at https://forms.office.com/r/jBR5tFtRgS, and we will confirm your mode of attendance and email you the webinar link prior to the event.