Ripple Effect:
Southeast Asian Films
Though perhaps less well-known in mainstream media, Southeast Asian independent cinema has often been celebrated at international film festivals. The rise of post-2000s SEA cinema has, in particular, been driven by technological progress that rendered digital video-making equipment more readily accessible.
This panel examined the interplay between films and narratives of post-colonial nationhood, with an eye to understanding how SEA films have given voice to histories of trauma and post-war/colonial re-building, while simultaneously providing room for citizens to contest dominant narratives. The panel discussed the need to adapt film genres and formats to local contexts as well, both due to differences in the cultural backgrounds between SEA and the West, and recent changes in the film industry more broadly.
This panel examined the interplay between films and narratives of post-colonial nationhood, with an eye to understanding how SEA films have given voice to histories of trauma and post-war/colonial re-building, while simultaneously providing room for citizens to contest dominant narratives. The panel discussed the need to adapt film genres and formats to local contexts as well, both due to differences in the cultural backgrounds between SEA and the West, and recent changes in the film industry more broadly.
Mr Said
The challenge is to translate Western motifs to a SEA context, adapting it to connect with audiences… Existentialist characters don’t exist in the sweatiness of the tropics.
Prof Bernards
History is interesting when it is a compilation of narratives that reflect the imagination – not just reality.
Mr. Lân
The transition to small screens will influence how films are viewed by shaping, for example, audience’s concept of time.
Mr Said
We cannot escape our historical context; the fact of coloniality. We can only respond to it.
Panelists
Mr Dain Said
Malaysian filmmaker and a film studies graduate from Westminister University in London, Said served as the Festival Director of SeaShorts 2022, a film festival for short films that showcases Southeast Asian stories and emerging filmmaking talent. His filmography includes Wira (2019), Fly By Night (2018), and Interchange (2016), which was nominated for two awards at the Locarno International Film Festival 2016.
Professor Brian Bernards
Associate Professor who leads a course in the University of Southern California on Southeast Asian Film and Literature. He frames regional comparative literature and film studies as a marker of the region’s diasporic behavior, colonial history, and globalized behavior.
Phạm Ngọc Lân
Vietnamese filmmaker, Director of The Unseen River, the film that won the Youth Jury Prize at the Singapore International Film Festival.
