PETALING JAYA, Dec 14 — Long before cinematographer C. Kim Miles got his big break in Hollywood to work on popular television series such as Arrow and The Flash, he fondly recalls a childhood well-spent in Malaysia, especially in Bentong, Pahang.
“This was an old planter’s bungalow up on a hill surrounded by rubber and durian estates through which my adventures came to life. My friends would come over and we’d explore the little creeks and rivers, get bitten by mosquitoes while catching little fishes and tadpoles and making balls out of rubber sap from the trees.
“These I think are my favourite memories of growing up there: the smell of the jungle, the whine of the cicadas in the trees, how refreshing the waterfall in Chamang was on a hot day before the tourists discovered it and ruined it and watching RTM with Mum on a Saturday morning,” Miles said.
Miles was born in 1973 to Toh Suat Lu, a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) lecturer and Ted Miles, a New Straits Times writer — who documented his 60-odd years in Malaysian in a column called ‘Past Times’.
Miles moved to Victoria, British Columbia in 1990 to attend university and has been living in the Canadian west coast for the past 28 years.
Miles now resides in Vancouver but often visits Malaysia every two years with his wife Joanna and daughter Merdeka.
“We base ourselves in KL when we do visit but try to spend time on the east coast like at Pulau Perhentian, in Bentong and Penang, where Mum is from,” he said.
Miles began his career 30 years ago, working as a grip at Peter Robinson Studios on Jalan Peel, shooting commercials before advancing his way up in the business outside of Malaysia.
“I never started my career with any illusions of going to Hollywood.
“Every advancement in my career has come as a surprise. My move to directing photography came unexpectedly when I was a camera assistant; Jerry McKenna was a dear director friend of mine and gave me a chance to prove myself, despite my protests, and without his support, I’d be nowhere today,” he said.
His photography work for three seasons of The Flash paid off when it caught the eye of director Robert Zemeckis who was looking for someone to photograph Welcome to Marwen.
The film, which premieres in the US on December 21, stars Steve Carrell, Leslie Mann, Diane Kruger and Janelle Monae is based on the real-life story of a man who builds a miniature village to help cope with a violent assault which rendered him an amnesiac.
“My responsibility is to photograph the film in a way that best approximates the Director’s intended vision and tells the visual aspect of the story in a way that is transparent and unselfconscious.
“[Robert’s] imagination, focus and dedication to telling the story are superhuman. He’s been an inspiration to me for my entire life. Forrest Gump is one of my favourite films of all time, as are Cast Away, Contact and the Back to the Future trilogy,” he said.
Miles said his Hollywood colleagues often ask him about his hometown and he takes it upon himself to be a tourism ambassador for Malaysia.
“I send as many people as I can to Malaysia to visit. Being Malaysian is part of my identity. Being Malaysian is also part of my daughter’s identity so much that she made her school acquire and fly a Malaysian flag amongst their other international flags,” he said.
He cites working on Welcome to Marwen as the highlight of his career and added that he is excited to see how audiences would react to the film.
“As with anything in life, if you continue to work hard doing what you love, things have a way of coming together in the universe.
“If the kid that ran through that rubber estate could one day stand on stage with one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, then anyone can do anything.”
Welcome to Marwen premieres in Malaysian on March 21.
