KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — In a first ever collaboration with the National Gallery Singapore, five award-winning Southeast Asian directors are working together to produce an omnibus called Art Through Our Eyes.
Representing Malaysia will be director Ho Yuhang, alongside Singapore’s Eric Khoo, Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Philippines’ Brillante Mendoza and Indonesia’s Joko Anwar.
Ho, whose 2006 feature Rain Dogs became the first Malaysian movie to screen at the Venice Film Festival that same year, will be filming his part of the omnibus based on Latiff Mohidin’s 1958 Aku.
“We are excited to work with all five film directors who have produced award-winning bodies of work,” said Dr Eugene Tan, Director of National Gallery Singapore, in a statement.
“Art transcends nationalities and we hope this project can spark cross-border dialogues about Southeast Asian art.”
Each of the directors is to produce a short film that will become part of the movie. The short films, inspired by the Gallery’s Southeast Asian art collection, will be filmed in the directors’ respective home countries.
Masterpieces from the 19th and 20th century that have been chosen by the other directors are Chua Mia Tee’s 1977 Portable Cinema (Khoo), Fernando Cueto Amorsolo’s 1942 Marketplace during the Occupation (Mendoza), Raden Saleh’s circa 1839 Wounded Lion (Anwar) as well as Raden Saleh’s 1865 Merapi, Eruption By Day and Merapi, Eruption By Night (Weerasethakul).
Art Through Our Eyes is set to be showcased later this year. — Cinema Online
