SeaShorts 2019: Festival Team

“To watch films together, to talk about films, or to talk about something else other than films, to meet, and then to go back to continue making films…”

Tan Chui Mui is a Malaysian filmmaker. She has also been a member of jury for many international film festivals like Clermont-Ferrand, Busan, Shanghai, Taipei, and Rotterdam. She plays an active role in mentoring young filmmakers, and was the Directing Mentor at the Asian Film Academy.

“In 2017, I requested two months unpaid leave from the company in order to have time to rest. I believed that two months is rather reasonable and sufficient for me to recover from physical and mental fatigue. However, I started to feel lost just one week into my holiday. I wanted it to end sooner! I missed having so much to do. My body was burning with passion for filmmaking, and SeaShorts was the element that ignited it. The team is small but the Festival is big. Preparing for it is hectic, requiring every team member to handle several tasks at the same time. I love having things to do, and I love when we come up with something to make the film world better.”

Jacky Yeap graduated from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak with a major in filmmaking. He is currently a Junior Director at Da Huang Pictures. With four years working experience under the supervision of Tan Chui Mui, Jacky has helped organise several film events like the FINAS Young Filmmaker Workshop, SeaShorts Film Festival, and the Astro Shortcuts programme.

While at times his boss guides him on filmmaking, other times he learns to cook instead. Sometimes Love Makes Me a Dangerous Person will be his first feature film.

“Why do I work for SeaShorts? Because I want to help grow our ASEAN storytellers.”

Nicholas Chee is the founder of Sinema Media Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based film and media project consultancy. In 2006, he started the Sinema.SG website as a news platform for Singaporean independent film and from 2007 to 2012, he co-founded Sinema Old School, Singapore’s first independent community theatre showcasing independent and short films. He also created ciNE65 in 2011 and the National Youth Film Awards in 2015, both award platforms to discover and showcase young Singaporean film talents. Nic is also an award-winning filmmaker and is the executive producer of original and branded content production company, The Flying Kick Asia, based in Singapore with offices in Kaohsiung and Seoul.

“My first encounter with Film Festival was when I working in Da Huang Pictures back in year 2007,

since then I am interested to work in a film festival and finding out how the whole things work out.

This is my first involvement in SeaShorts festival and hopefully more edition to come.

Sustainability is the main concern because no funder will cover wages, so we work on a charity basis.

When I am stress, instead of saying “I Love my job! I love my job!”, I say “I love film!!, I love film!!”

“When I was studying in university, there wasn’t a film festival nearby that allowed me to watch short films that were eye-opening. Even if there was, travelling would’ve been a barrier as it may have required long-distance flights.

Now that I have a chance to run the SeaShorts Film Festival, I hope that many younger filmmakers will learn about films, especially those from our neighbouring countries. I think Southeast Asian short films can represent this goal of mine.

This is a film festival that is carefully curated and organised by a bunch of young filmmakers.

Like many other festivals, we celebrate and cheer—this time for Southeast Asian short films.”

Lim Han Loong was born in 1992 in Ipoh, Perak. He is a young aspiring film director and actor who has been involved in the industry since 2012. His work The Way We Love was selected as the finalist of the 2014 Astro New Director Award as well as among the top ten ASEAN entries to the 2015 SKT Short Film Competition. His short film 1304km: Girl from Sumatra (2016) was a finalist at BMW Shorties. He is currently working on his first feature film while running errands for SeaShorts Film Festival.

“I’ve always believed that I had a keen interest in cinema, though in reality did not venture any further than a comfort zone moulded by conventional cineplex fare and Rotten Tomatoes scores. That changed during my stint at an arts centric non-profit. As cliché as it is, a new world of film opened up for me, one that included movies serving to not just entertain but to also challenge, provoke, resonate, and perhaps, reform. These deserve a wider audience, and SeaShorts is a fantastic platform for doing just that.”

Tristan is a writer who has penned countless bios but inexplicably finds it difficult to create his own. In short, he dabbles in all manner of communications work, encompassing public relations, marketing, journalism, and translation. When not hunched over his laptop cranking out assignments, he can be seen weeping over Arsenal.

“I am really inspired by Chui Mui’s vision of building the Malaysian New Wave and bringing together a film community in Malaysia. I joined SeaShorts 2018 in Penang, and loved the friendly atmosphere where filmmakers, programmers, and critics all gather as one big family because we love film. I wished there were more film students at the festival last year. So I hope in whatever capacity I have as a film lecturer that I can immerse the young generation in this lovely family Chui Mui is building. I believe however small the Malaysia New Wave may be now, it can always get bigger when we come together. “

Megan graduated with a Master in Arts (in Drawing) from College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. Currently Head of the Foundation programme at Multimedia University’s Faculty of Cinematic Arts, she is also an artist and filmmaker with a background in film editing.

Her debut animation, Libertas, was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2011 Indonesian Film Festival and shortlisted for Best Animated Short at AFI Fest. Study of a Singaporean Face (2015) was commissioned for the opening of the National Gallery of Singapore. In 2017, she premiered her first live-action short, Woman at Home, at the SEOUL International Women’s Film Festival.

“As a film student, I always wish to have chances to watch different short films in the world. As because of the environment every film can tell different stories, emotions and it’s really interesting to learn about other’s culture and story. Joining the event is also a good opportunity for me to work with Malaysian filmmaker and experience things that I never experience before in my school life. So grateful to meet with all these wonderful people.”

“This will be my second time working with Next New Wave as a Hospitality Manager and I honestly do it because we make a good team. SeaShorts is a very good platform not only as a filmmaker but as a budding student fresh out of college, to find a community that will support and teach them a thing or two about filmmaking in general. SEAShorts is a safe space for people from all walks of life to come and speak as filmmakers.”

Sharifah Aryana is a freelance actor and producer based in Kuala Lumpur. After finishing her diploma, she joined Feel Good MY as a public relations manager all while producing for both film and theatre. She was involved in the Next New Wave Young Filmmakers workshop organising team handling hospitality in 2017. She graduated with a degree from University of South Wales the following year.

“I did not plan to join SeaShorts; in fact I’ve never known about the event before I started this design job. My first encounter with Da Huang Pictures began by ordering a movie magazine that is published by the company’s staff. I met up with the editors to collect my order, but it did not end being just that. One of them, Jacky, invited me to be his movie’s supporting actress. Soon later, when he took on the role as Programme Director at SeaShorts 2019, he remembered that there is a friend who studies graphic design, so he asked for my portfolio and that is the continuation of the story between SeaShorts and I.”

Yap Jia Ern, born in 1997, is a graphic designer based in Kuala Lumpur. View her portfolio here.

“I like film, sometimes there is no reason to do something for the things you like.“

Swee Tze Heng graduated with a degree from National Taiwan University of Art. She has worked as line producer, TV documentary writer, and video editor.

“I’m here to witness the new waves in SouthEast Asian cinema unfold in real time before my own eyes. I have joined the first SeaShorts before as an audience. Now given the chance, I feel it’s time I give back to the SeaShorts family.

Eddy Tan Jia Cheng graduated with a filmmaking degree from Multimedia University, Faculty of Cinematic Arts. Along his film student life, life pulled him towards film curation and film festival operations. He is now an assistant lecturer in his alma mater, as he continues the cinematic pilgrimage.