Shooting of Short Film: 豆记
豆记 [Dao2 Gei1] is a short film that’s being shot on location in Ipoh over four days. 豆记 in Cantonese means “child” but it can also mean “absorbing new members/apprentices” into a gang.
This short film, directed by U Wang and produced by Gabrielle Lee, revolves around school gangsterism in the 1990s. During those years, gangsters were trying to spread their influence in schools and recruit students as their underlings. In 豆记, a group of secondary school students from different backgrounds was thrown together for getting into trouble at school. The protagonist, Kit, who had a troubled teenhood, had to decide if the man who chose to help him was trustworthy.
As an Ipoh production, the dialogue of 豆记 is naturally in Cantonese, the most widely spoken dialect. However, it will be English subtitled. Due to financial constraints, everyone involved is chipping in, contributing in their own way, from talent to time, energy, and shared resources. It is also supported by friends of these local filmmakers, as well as their counterparts in the Klang Valley, because everyone just wants to see success out of this passion project. It is artwork that will not be restricted by clientele expectations, but where people are brought together by their love for filmmaking.
With a target date to complete before 21st May, 豆记 will be in time for submission to the 17th edition BMW Shorties, a prestigious short film and digital content competition, for exposure and visibility, if nothing else. Although the run time of 豆记 is approximately 20 minutes, an important decision has to be made to trim it down to 15 minutes, to meet the main criterion of BMW Shorties – 15 minutes in length, including the credits.
There are also plans to submit the film to a few other international film festivals such as the Locarno Film Festival and Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival. The team will then decide on their next steps based on the performance of the film at these competitions. A world premiere screening might just be on the cards. It would be interesting to see Ipoh on the big screen.
In line with Ipoh’s vision as a City of Limestone, Music and Arts, 豆记 can also showcase quality talents, hopefully generating interest in commercial films and theatrical releases with Ipoh as the base, creating more opportunities for locals.
