Sayang Disayang film Q & A

The following are my responses to standard Q&A pertaining to my debut feature film, Sayang Disayang. #sayangMovie

Can you tell us more about Sayang Disayang?

This film is about Murni, a live-in nurse, who has an uphill quest for the elusive recipe to cook the best Sambal Goreng that matches the taste of that one Sambal Goreng dish once cooked by her boss’ late wife.

Sayang Disayang is a story I came up with after watching a lot of films on food or uses food themes in their respective narratives. At one point I was watching so many food films from Europe, Taiwan and South America and they made me realized then (to my knowledge) there are no films being made about food from the Nusantara (Malay Archipelago). The Malay Archipelago is made up of diverse culture and has very rich heritage in food. I looked at many Malay dishes and finally settled on the Sambal Goreng, a signature dish that is common and instantly recognisable in the archipelago.

Why did you choose this story in particular?

Importantly, I choose to tell this story to look at the relationships between the domestic helper and the family that employs the helper, especially when families employ domestic helpers to solely take care of their elderly parents. I want to explore the shift in dynamics when Asian children don’t live with their parents for some reason and leave this care/responsibility to a stranger.

I’ve been fascinated by how the Sambal Goreng is prepared. Sambal Goreng is not a very complex dish but it is not a very simple dish to cook either. Many dishes from this region do not come in specific quantities, otherwise known as “dicampak campak”, or thrown-in. Many of the recipes are passed down from mothers to daughters in the kitchen. The local elderly wives would say one become good cooks if you spend more time in the kitchen.

Why did you choose the plight of a domestic worker in Singapore? Do you feel that you need to give a voice to this particular segment of society?

I don’t think my film can solve many things. However it is interesting to observe what happens to the Asian/Eastern values such as filial piety, when ideally children who are supposed to take care of their parents employs a "stranger/outsider" to replace their traditional duties instead.

Also, I want to explore what sort of welfare such caregivers are receiving. Many arrived from rural Southeast Asian environments. Are they mentally prepared to be transplanted into urban settings? Even if they are not, would they be prepared to face the social and cultural differences?

We don’t usually see aging single senior citizens as main characters in films. Can you tell us more about Pak Harun?

Pak Harun is a widower who lost his wife in an accident, which left him half paralysed waist-down afterwards. His son had basically abandoned him and employed a live-in nurse to look after him. He seems bitter but actually he misses his wife very much. He externalizes himself by being very bitter to everyone around him, especially his live-in caregiver. He complains that his caregiver cannot cook the same Sambal Goreng that his wife used to cook for him.

Did you encounter any difficulties in getting this story to the screen?

This film is 6 years in the making. I had a tough time getting funds but I was fortunate to have the support of friends who constantly give their moral support. In 2010 there was a crowdfunding campaign, but the money received was still not sufficient. I only managed to complete it late last year after discussing at length with my co-scriptwriter, Gene Sha Rudyn, on ways to tell the same story differently, with the footage filmed in 2009.

Making films has always been challenging. I had good training in filmmaking. However in Singapore you can’t really pay your bills just making films. I make television programmes 85% of the time thus making films simply provides an avenue to challenge myself - to get in touch with my cinematic instincts. On films I see myself telling compelling stories different from what I would have normally done for television.

Dato' Rahim Razali is a screen legend in Southeast Asia. I was challenging myself if I could get a screen legend to act in my film. Dato' Rahim is known to be very particular when it comes to film scripts. I am grateful to him for believing in my script, to come on board in my debut feature film.


Credits to date;

Best Asian Film (Special Jury Prize) @ SalaMindanaw Int'l Film Festival (2013, Philippines)

Closing film @ Southeast Asian Film Festival (2014, Singapore)

Channel NewsAsia 'Singapore Tonight', 10 April 2014

Sayang Disayang film artwork

Here are samples of the film's artwork.

Kindly email reeljuice at gmail for Hi-resolution versions of the posters. 

#sayangMovie

Tickets are now available www.bytes.sg

All photos (except still #5) by han

Artwork by reeljuice

Sayang Disayang official trailer

If music be the food of love, play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.

[Shakespeare]

Announcing the official trailer for my debut feature film, Sayang Disayang.

Sayang Disayang will screen at the 4th edition of the Southeast Asian Film Festival. I am honoured that the film has been selected to close the festival. The screening took place on 4th May 2014 | 5.30pm | Singapore Art Museum. This will be its Singapore premiere.

UPDATE: The film opens on Singapore's National Day (Aug2014). Get your tickets at www.bytes.sg

Synopsis #sayangMovie

Live-in nurse Murni works for Pak Harun, a lonely and bitter elderly man who continually harangues his caregiver. Murni tries to cook a Sambal Goreng dish that is exactly like the one cooked by Harun's late wife but success seems to elude her. Despite this, she sings all day in the kitchen, which serves only to irritate Pak Harun further. What is the elusive ingredient that can unlock the tension between Murni and Pak Harun, remedy these damaged hearts and bring them together to sing the same tune?

Statement

I want to tell a story affecting all Singaporeans and the Southeast Asian region, especially of the elderly and the domestic caregivers by observing the dynamics where families are increasingly depending on the “outsider” to take care of their elderly parents while the respective adult children are out at work or totally absent in the household.

It is also to celebrate the various ethnicities that define the Nusantara (Malay Archipelago) in Southeast Asia - we may share the same food and evergreen songs, but our perceptions to one another differ because of the language, geography and (cultural and national) politics.

In developing the theme for Sayang Disayang, I used the Sambal Goreng. Sambal Goreng is a signature Javanese dish made of the chilli condiment, or sambal and traditionally is stir-fried, or goreng, with livers and gizzards. Like many dishes of the Nusantara, flavour is achieved by the individual's preference and the amount of ingredients is never exact, but usually estimated and simply thrown in.

Growing up, I watched a lot of Malay films by legendary filmmakers such as P. Ramlee, Hussein Haniff and M. Amin whose socially-aware films had influences from classic Bollywood films, where music and dance are used as segues in their narrative. Sayang Disayang, also pays homage to these film genres - but with a contemporary twist.

Kindly visit Sayang Disayang on facebook for details on this film's journey.

The LOVE Trilogy

Take away love and our earth is a tomb. ~ Robert Browning

The LOVE Trilogy comprises of the films LOST SOLE, à la folie and AMEEN آمين. Each of these films addresses the universal theme of love. The residing characters echo various interpretations, personifications and manifestations of love.

Ten years have passed since my dad, Haji Olek bin Bakar left us in the February of 2004. His passing inspired me to write a short film about his real-life experience when he was leaving the mosque after a Friday noon solat. This inspiration had led me to write about LOST SOLE that eventually became my first short film. This film was also produced about 10 years after I left film school. I have been working on television making programmes of various genres prior to this film. Subsequently, the 'success' of LOST SOLE re-ignited the filmmaker bug in me. Not one to be satisfied with just doing television, the subsequent divergence to return to filmmaking has also been a self-imposed personal challenge if I still have that elusive cinematic eye. After all, I was a trained as a filmmaker.

I have decided to put these short films online to coincide with the completion of my first full-length, feature film, Sayang Disayang, in late 2013. It is also to commemorate the 10th anniversary of my dad's passing that triggered me to return to filmmaking. Sayang Disayang marks the beginning of another phase.

LOST SOLE was inspired from several personal experiences. When I was about 8 years old, my late father arrived home from a Friday noon solat at the mosque bare-footed. The thought of him walking home with no footwear for about 2 kilometers from Masjid Assyakirin, the nearest mosque, awed me as a child. The image of him at the house doorway looking exhausted, frustrated and helpless inspired me. As I grow older, I discovered that missing footwear at the mosque is a regular occurrence and often wonder the circumstances that would have allowed such occurrences in the "house of God". LOST SOLE was filmed in 2005, ie post-9/11, at time when I realized having Mohamad in my name - unfortunately - stood as a dangerous "badge of honour" at airport immigrations in western nations. I faced irony head-on as the profiling made me fear for my being and getting anxious with the western notion of freedom. 

à la folie "like crazy", is a story of love, manipulation and revenge that was loosely inspired by the classical Ramayana text. It was produced from my desire for a less structured filmmaking style. I had just completed 6 months of shoot for a television drama series - a process that was largely structured by the needs of commercial television and scripted narrative. I chose to deconstruct the Ramayana - the greatest love story ever told - and jazz it up with rock-and-roll as the catharsis. With just a concept, a camera and no script, I devised with my actors over 2 nights. Furthermore, this process allowed me to be in a filming technique where I can be intimate with my actors. In tune with the origins of the original text, Singapore's Little India district at Serangoon Road became the set-up for this improvisation.

As a child, I attended six years of Islamic madrasah education while concurrently attending secular education at a public primary school. Subsequently, I attended secondary education at an all-boys, Methodist missionary school. Upon reflection, I feel blessed to have the privilege not many boys at that age could experience with these diverse education. I remember that in all these institutions, a consistent religious strain persisted - to love a fellow human being and accept one another unconditionally. In classes at both institutions, I often pondered if sexuality and spiritually can co-exist, while watching the lovely Ustazahs (female Islamic teachers) recited the Quran verses and then listening to the very melodic hymns during weekly chapel services. It was with these ideas in mind that the concept for the final film AMEEN آمين was realised.

#sayangMovie first award

Jury Prize for Best Asian Film goes to Sayang Disayang (Sanif Olek, Singapore) #Salamindanaw
— SalaMindanaw IFF (@SalaMindanawIFF) November 30, 2013

They say that good things come to those who wait.

Truly, after more than 5 years in film process hell hole, this award came as bittersweet victory for my debut feature film Sayang Disayang. If you have been following my thoughts throughout the journey of the film process on this blog, you might have sense how this little gift at the end of 2013 came as a huge sparkle. This is only the beginning of Sayang Disayang's new phase.

This award is a testament to the perseverance and will to tell an important story of the human condition.

The films showcased in the main competitive section at the festival are multi-genre with respective diverse narratives. All the films are exceptional in their own way. I came to the SalaMindanaw International Film Festival 2013 with zero expectations other than wanting to tell a story affecting all Singaporeans and this region, especially of the elderly and the domestic care. It is also to celebrate the various ethnicities that define the Nusantara. We may share the same food and songs, but our perceptions to one another differ because of the language, geography and (cultural and national) politics.

This is the first major film award for Sayang Disayang. I hope that it will open more doors for the film to be seen by more international audiences because of its universal appeal.

Sayang Disayang has a unique Singaporean voice that needs to be heard to the rest of the world.

Cheers to 2014 and beyond!

BERITA HARIAN (4 Dec 2013, Singapore Press Holding)

'Sayang Disayang' in the Philippines

So yeah, after more than 5 years, my debut feature, Sayang Disayang, will have its World Premiere at the SalaMindanaw International Film Festival 26 - 30 Nov 2013. It will compete with 7 other feature films in the main section for Best Feature and the NETPAC award. 

This article is reproduced from SPH's Berita Minggu (10 Nov 2013).

POTENSI FILEM MELAYU SINGAPURA
'Sayang Disayang' di Filipina
Oleh HARYANI ISMAIL


PEMBIKIN filem setempat mana yang enggan hasil titik peluh mereka ditayang di negara sendiri?

Bagaimanapun, selagi pengendali pawagam masih beranggapan filem-filem tempatan tiada ruang masuk pawagam kerana kurang nilai komersialnya, maka hajat itu terbiar tidak kesampaian.

Yang mampu pengarah filem berwibawa seperti Sanif Olek lakukan buat masa ini adalah menyertakan filem-filemnya ke pesta filem antarabangsa.

Ternyata, penat lelah Sanif, 43 tahun, menyiapkan filem Sayang Disayang yang dibintangi pelakon prolifik dari seberang, Datuk Rahim Razali, berbaloi.

Filem yang turut dijayakan Alin Mosbit, Rafaat Hamzah dan Asnida Daud itu terpilih sebagai salah sebuah daripada lapan filem utama yang dipertandingkan dalam Pesta Filem Antarabangsa SalaMindanaw di kota General Santos, Filipina.

Sebuah lagi filem Singapura, Liberta, arahan Kan Lume, juga terpilih bersama filem-filem dari Filipina, Kazakhstan, Thailand dan Sri Lanka.

Ini kali pertama Pusat Kesenian Filem Socsksargen dengan kerjasama Pusat Imej Bergerak Mindanao menganjurkan pesta filem dari 26 hingga 30 November ini.

Ketika ditemui Berita Minggu baru-baru ini, Sanif tampak lega bahawa filem yang diusahakan sejak 2009 dan pernah tergendala pembikinannya kerana tidak cukup dana akhirnya ditayang dan dipertandingkan.

Beliau mengharapkan filem itu juga akan mengembara jauh seperti filem pertamanya, Lost Sole, yang ditayangkan di Amerika Selatan, Amerika Utara, Australia, Eropah dan Afrika.

"Saya terharu filem ini dipilih dalam kalangan ribuan filem serata dunia. Tentunya impian semua pembikin filem adalah melihat filem mereka ditayangkan di pawagam setempat.

"Cuma kesukarannya terasa sebab ia filem Melayu. Timbul juga tanggapan, selagi ia belum mengembara ke pesta filem besar-besaran seperti Cannes atau memenangi anugerah antarabangsa, ia kurang berpotensi ditayang di pawagam setempat," jelasnya.

Ditanya apakah kemajuan filem Melayu setempat juga dihambat dek pendirian penonton yang sudah terbiasa dengan filem Hollywood, Sanif tertawa dan berkata:

"Kebanyakan warga Singapura melihat filem sebagai satu unsur hiburan sahaja tanpa mementingkan nilai-nilai kebudayaan.

"Justeru, mereka puas setakat menonton DVD atau YouTube. Pembikinan filem macam proses menghasilkan bahan bacaan - ada tabloid dan buku sastera.

"Orang lebih suka tabloid yang padat dengan bahan gosip yang santai dan ringan berbanding buku sastera yang menuntut mereka berfikir tentang plot, persoalan dan perutusan."

Sayang Disayang, misalnya, lebih seperti bahan sastera kerana mengupas isu-isu nilai kekeluargaan dan penjagaan warga senja oleh orang yang tiada kaitan darah dengannya.

Justeru, apa lagi yang diperlukan bagi membangkitkan semula industri filem Melayu agar tidak tenggelam ditelan zaman?

Kata Sanif: "Pertama, seandainya filem Melayu dianggap sebagai filem Singapura dan bahasa tidak dijadikan isu.

"Kedua, alangkah baiknya jika ada usaha serantau mempertandingkan filem-filem Nusantara (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapura dan Brunei), semacam Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM), yang dapat menjana semangat pembikin filem ini."

Social engagement..?

On short film 'competitions'. I was just having a conversation with a friend from the industry last weekend and the topic of short film competitions came up. I have been noticing how, in the last 2-3 years, short film competitions have mushroomed in Singapore. Many of these have been organized by local corporations/organisations and interestingly, many of these organisations are statutory boards.

In the last 6 years I have been invited to judge (which I hugely appreciate and deeply humbled) diverse film competitions organized by various bodies and for two consecutive years, this include one organized by a very large organisation. We live in very interesting times and it is interesting to watch how these events that effect us as Singaporeans are being translated into the visual medium. The intention of accepting these gigs has been purely to look out for new voices in the medium and identify diverse perspectives.

However I have noticed a few points…

It seems suspect that statutory boards are organizing these competitions. I’m not denying that these competitions are good at filtering the good storytellers who tell their respective stories best via the visual medium. However perhaps in the long run, it would be detrimental to the art of storytelling itself. It might remove the joy of telling stories and making films about them.

I wonder when The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes or The Princess And The Pea were conceptualized, would Hans Christian Andersen be good enough for competitions. I would have imagined if Snow White & Seven Dwarves failed a storytelling competition, would The Brothers Grimm have lived to tell Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood or even Sleeping Beauty?

Consider this, in the last couple of years I have been invited by several organisations to conceptualise short films based on their corporate brief. These films basically need to fulfill certain checkpoints of these respective briefs. These short fims are not the hardsell type of messages but essentially corporate messages supposed to be hidden wrapped in subtle emotive, human stories. In due course, these processes have spun into drawn-out processes where the journeys of characters are amended at the whim and fancy of those folks in suits and ties. The process would have been much enriching if the folks assigning these projects themselves have knowledge about the filmmaking language.

Organising short film competitions by engaging the public to fulfill corporate KPIs is not healthy in the long run. There are legit advertising and PR agencies to voice the KPIs of these respective bodies. “Social Engagement” has been overly used these days and it’s not healthy to get the public to participate in their corporate messages on the disguise of public “engagement”. If you want a succinct corporate voice, you will have to spend that six-to-seven dollar figure budget - not some glass/easily-corrosive metal trophies.

Films essentially come with that emotive punchlines. Each filmmaker has different life journeys which shaped his world view.

A very special #Eid #telemovie

I’ve never considered myself a pro at making ole sappy sandiwara dramas, especially for Hari Raya. I have always wondered why most Hari Raya dramas telecast during the joyous season need to be all sad and filled with tears.

But hey there’s always a first time for everything.

The moment arrived when I was tasked to direct a telemovie for Eidul Fitri this year. Never one to turn down challenges, I grabbed the opportunity to do this special drama.

But perhaps before you jump to conclusions, this drama is indeed special.

If Christmas has It’s A Wonderful Life, a very special film about redemption, Eidul Fitri 2013 has a special treat.

The drama I was called to direct is called 'Raya Bersama...'. While studying the script, I reflect upon the essence of Hari Raya, especially among the Malays. Besides victory at self-restrain against all sinful activities during Ramadhan, it is tradition to seek forgiveness from one another. To an outsider, it might seem unconventional to literally seek forgiveness, ie, to go on one's knees et al, but it seems natural to do such during the festive season. For many, it would be an emotionally-charged occasion to observe among families, siblings and relatives. Hari Raya is also an opportunity to return to family values.

Thus I focused at those elements to make this Hari Raya telemovie special. Your tears will not be in vain.

'Raya Bersama...' was first telecast on 14 August 2013, 8.30pm on MediaCorp's Suria channel.

Please watch it. It's in the Malay language, no subtitles. It's not a difficult programme to follow after all it's television. Furthermore, I was taught in film school that a good film do not really need any dialogues. Let me know how many boxes of tissues you've dispensed by the end of the telemovie ☺

Dear... am I, really?

I’ve been pondering on this situation very much the last couple of years – in my capacity as “director for hire”, meeting many producers of production houses and being told I’m too expensive to hire.

Does my glorious portfolio accumulated since 1996 suggest that my rates should go the opposite way? Is this the state of the television creative industry in Singapore? Or perhaps many production houses out there are run by business managers more intent to beef up their bottomlines than pursuing high programme content with real production values? Hopefully many are not resorting to wide-eyed interns to justify their costs (as mentioned in my previous posts). To say that I’m disturbed is an understatement.

It irks me more that my "costs" are mentioned and circulated falsely within the industry. Where is the decency to pick up that phone and negotiate? Just in case you are not aware, I may do pro bono work if I feel strongly about the cause. 

Let’s think about ex·pen·sive /ikˈspensiv/

When does an item or product become expensive? Here is a very interesting article about products and the assignment of their respective prices from Harvard Business Review.

Now before I go further, here's my standard professional bio (mid 2013), albeit a brief one.

A graduate of Film & Media Studies dept (Film, Sound & Video) from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Media & Communications from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, Sanif Olek is one of the most accomplished and versatile Singaporean-based, television and film director. Since 1996 Sanif received multiple ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Drama Series’, ‘Best Magazine Series’ awards for his television work (ie, Kaki Borak, 1988...Segaris Sinar, Ayah @ Rumah, Soo Lazat, etc). His films have been screened internationally at major film festivals, won a NETPAC film award and showcased at international museums, ie the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and National Museum of Singapore (NAMoS). He works closely with the Singapore museums for commissioned works, residency and public outreach programmes. He is the head consultant at reeljuice, a collaborative creative agency actively promoting effective storytelling as means to enlighten the human condition. He is currently juggling between full-time commercial television work and lecturing. Sanif has just completed his debut feature film SAYANG DISAYANG, and completing another feature film, VOLUPTAS. 

It is odd to consider me expensive when television budgets have generally been raised. The programmes in the PSB funds have generally increased 3-5 fold within the last 5 years, yet I've quoted for a rather constant rate during the last 6 years for local television production. You might not be aware but most of the time, I'm responsible at improving on the original concepts, amending the scripts during filming day itself, repairing callsheets for APs during production and sitting-in during post-production (because many times the video editors these production houses have engaged are either overworked or creatively devoid of soul, or both).

…and oh, I should also add that I’m in this full time.

Furthermore I do not take up any other production on the side while being involved in an ongoing production. With all due respect to the other folks, kindly do not tag my rates to other directors who may be involved in filming as a sideline to their more lucrative 9 to 5 day jobs.

Also, may I add that it won't do any harm to the product if I choose to be hands-on. The results speak for itself.

Here's a thought - if you're gonna pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

The #sayangMovie completed.

In the morning of 30th May 2013, I posted the following tweets,

MasyaAllah! It is done. At Fajr. Remember this date 🙏
— sanif olek (@sanifoo) May 29, 2013

  

Remember this date. Remember this date. Ten years. Remember this day.
— sanif olek (@sanifoo) May 30, 2013

So yes, my first debut indie feature film, Sayang Disayang (previously called Ramuan Rahasia as its working title) is completed. Between the conception of the film in 2001, getting funding, yo-yo national film grant schemes, professional/personal learning curves, shifts in local film scene and 30th May 2013, it has been a long colourful *journey.

No additional filming was done, nor additional funding been received since the Konsert Ramuan fundraiser project in 2011 or efforts in online crowdfunding. My co-writer, Gene Sha Rudyn and myself relooked hard at the script and reworked a narrative outline without leaving out the magic we had set out to achieve when we first collaborated on the screenplay. But just before you jump to any conclusion, this exercise was more to refine the narrative, focussing on the characters and their human condition while keeping the essence of our story - than taking the easy way out to get it “over and done with”. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

In future when the opportunity permits itself, we shall share the journey of making the film itself.

The next phase of Sayang Disayang’s journey begins with getting this film - a voice from the center of the Nusantara - be seen by as many people as possible internationally. It will be another exciting journey.

For future updates, you might want to “Like” its page on facebook, follow it on twitter or search the web with the hashtag #sayangMovie.

*Kindly do “Ramuan Rahasia” in this blog’s search column to read all about this film’s bittersweet journey since 2009.

Thank you so much for your unequivocal support for this film, and for simply being there every step of the way. This means so much to everyone involved.