Not So Little Girl In A Reverie

Menu
  • About Me
Menu

Danny Lim’s 2004 Documentary 18? Meme

Posted on July 26, 2006April 24, 2008 by Jolene

A few of you might have read from the news recently about the veto-ing of Danny Lim’s 2004 documentary 18? at the Seoul Film Festival. If you haven’t, here’s an excerpt from The Sun’s article:

AWARD-WINNING FILM PULLED FROM SEOUL FESTIVAL

By Llew-Ann Phang

The Sun. 14 July 2006.

PETALING JAYA: What’s behind the documentary “18?” that it had to be vetoed by the Malaysian Embassy in Seoul from being screened at the EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF) there?

Festival organizers Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) had to close the curtains on the award-winning documentary by Danny Lim after the embassy rejected it for featuring “an anti-government political activist.”

The embassy’s choice for the festival’s Five Nations Fair, being held from Wednesday to tomorrow, is Hisham Abdullah’s 45-minute “Songs of Change”, which tells the story of Kelantanese dikir barat activist and tukang karut Halim Yazid.

Lim, who is a senior writer with Off the Edge, said the festival director informed him of the embassy’s rejection late last week.

Lim said that even though former exiled activist and Internal Security Act detainee Hishamuddin Rais appeared in the documentary, he did not make any political statements.

And an excerpt from The Star’s article.

Filmmaker baffled by decision to axe 18?

KUALA LUMPUR: Independent filmmaker Danny Lim, whose documentary 18? was reportedly vetoed by the Malaysian embassy in South Korea from being screened at a festival there, said he did not think his film would court any controversy.

Made in 2004, the documentary examines the sudden appearance of socio-political graffiti around the city. Most of the graffiti feature the number 18, while others were caricatures of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and also cartoons about the National Service and human rights.

The Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), organiser of the EBS International Documentary Festival, had to pull the film from the festival line-up after the embassy rejected it for featuring an “anti-government political activist.”

Lim: His 2004 documentary has won several awards
But the embassy has since denied that it had any power to veto the inclusion of Lim’s documentary and had only recommended some other documentaries for the festival.

Lim said he was confused about the situation pertaining to his film.

The senior writer with an English magazine said the only political activist who appeared in his film was former ISA detainee Hishamuddin Rais.

“And he only talked about the origins of graffiti, such as cave paintings,” he said. “He also talked about whether graffiti was an art form. What if I made a documentary about the breeding habits of dugong, and I interviewed a political activist who happened to be an expert in that field? Would that be approved?”

I first read about this on a post from the malaysian-cinema mailing list (which I’ve just joined two days ago) So far, the only person (that I know of) who has blogged about this issue is Howsy who suggested that this may be a repeat of Amir Muhammad’s Lelaki Komunis Incident? (Amir’s involved in the production of this film and was the one who recommended it to the fest)

The film was vetoed by the Malaysian embassy in South Korea from being shown in the film festival because it features an ‘anti-government political activist’ – former ISA detainee Hishamuddin Rais. The embassy later denied this and said that they don’t really have the power to veto the film and all they did was recommend some other films.

So be it. I am sure they are very supportive when it comes to matters like this.

Here’s some info about 18?:

“What is 18? This mysterious number is but one of a prominent crop of graffiti that has popped up around the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Sprayed at strategic urban spaces and applied with a seemingly socio-political agenda, the 18? graffiti and its like (eg “Legalize ganja”, “Ada apa dengan National Service?”, “Pertahankan Hak Asasi”, etc) brazenly takes its place alongside advertising banners and billboards in our urban sightlines.

What does it mean? What is it selling? Why? Who did it? 18? – the documentary – attempts to uncover the mystery behind the graffiti.”

The film had won the Gold Prize in the Short Film: Documentary category of the 2005 Malaysian Video Awards, and was also the runner-up in the amateur category at the 2005 Freedom Film Festival. It was screened at the Singapore International Film Festival last year, and at the Jakarta Film Festival in 2004.

It is available for download at Danny Lim’s website (50MB). Or you can even watch the thing via Youtube below:

 

The Malaysian independent film industry is said by many to be undergoing a movement of sorts that is referred to as ‘a new wave’. Many works from this country are being shown in festival circuits, garnering accolades from foreign countries that are unfortunately not noticed by our own countrymen due to the lack of media coverage.

If allowed to grow unhindered, I think, and I want to believe, that there will be a bright future for Malaysian films, and that we can establish ourselves as, in Yasmin Ahmad’s words, a filmmaking hub (of sorts) that will be noticed internationally. But once again, maybe I am immature and naive, thus I believe so much in the future of Malaysian filmmaking, that viral marketing will play a major role in expanding and causing the maturation of Malaysian cinema in an international stage.

Therefore, awareness has to be raised for works that are deserving, appreciation has to be given when necessary, criticism has to be given as a necessity. I wish more people can watch 18? not because I am so blown away by its greatness that I want to share this with everyone, I have my complaints, not with the content, but more with presentation, so pampered by the (seemingly) slick production values attempted by film students in my own Murdoch University that when I first watched this documentary hours ago, I was slightly disconcerted. To me, it is not a perfect film, many stylistic choices chosen by the filmmaker is not something I agree with, I didn’t like the sound mixing, I didn’t like some of the framing (I couldn’t see some faces clearly because of the light, and angles), and the amount of talking heads used might be too boring for those who are not used to something of such languid pacing.

A film is seldom universally loved, for everyone who lauded 18?, there will always be someone like me who picks at what is regarded as the most superficial aspects of a film, like, well, production values. Yet at least I am still talking about this film.

I am starting a meme for the first time ever. And I’m not sure whether it’ll be successful. And because this meme is started by someone who has never started a meme and whether it’ll be successful is suspect, I will keep things VERY simple. All you have to do is do any of the following:

  1. Post Youtube’s embeddable player of 18? on your entry.Post a link to Danny Lim’s site to download his film. (if you are nice, you can even start a mirror site for him)
  2. Voice out your opinions about the film , whether it is positive or negative. It can be a line, it can be a word, it can be a paragraph, it can be a fully essay, it’s all up to you. No one’s going to berate you for your opinions, you don’t have to love the film, but at least spread it around.
  3. Tag three others to do the same.

I was tagged by The Great Swiftyto do this. Mummy always teach that to build ties between bloggers, we must reply to memes. (I’ve been a bad girl as I still have one from my brother and from Kai-Linwhich I have not yet done. I think I’ve got a one year old plus plus one from Fashionasia about shoes…hmm.)

So if independant film making is your cup of tea, go ahead and spread the love.

levitra pillslevitra professionalcheap viagracheap viagrabuy viagra soft tabsgeneric viagra onlinediscount generic cialisorder cialis soft tabsdiscount generic viagracialis pricespurchase cialischeap cialis professionaldiscount viagra soft tabsviagra onlineorder viagra professionalpurchase phentermine onlinephentermine free shippingtramadol 100 mgtramadol free shippingsoma prescriptioncheap somaclomid 100 mgclomid free shippingindocin 50 mgorder indocinprednisone 20 mgpurchase prednisonefemara letrozolefemara free shippingeffexor 75 mgeffexor prescriptionphentrimine adipexphentrimine free shippingcheap female viagraorder vpxlorder phenterminebuy phentermineorder tramadolbuy tramadol soma carisoprodol buy soma discount clomid buy clomid cheap indocin indocin free shipping prednisone 20 mg order prednisone discount femara buy femara effexor 75 mg effexor prescription phentrimine adipex phentrimine free shipping cheap female viagra order vpxl purchase viagra jellybuy viagra jellyorder cialis jellybuy cialis jellyorder kamagra kamagra online viagra cialis price buy viagra cialis levitra free delivery levitra online purchase cialis professional online cialis professional free shipping purchase viagra professional viagra professional free shipping cialis soft tabs free delivery cialis soft tabs online purchase viagra soft tabs online cheap viagra soft tabs cialis price cialis online viagra discount prices viagra online

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pages

  • About Me

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • March 2013
  • July 2012
  • December 2011
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • February 2005
  • December 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003

Recent Comments

  • generic cialis on Samsung Galaxy S Maxis10 Review Part 2 – Perfect For The Social Media Addict
  • cialis coupons on Samsung Galaxy S Maxis10 Review Part 3 – Click, Record, Save and View Your Life Away
  • tadalafil 5mg on Samsung Galaxy S Maxis10 Review Part 3 – Click, Record, Save and View Your Life Away
  • cialis vs viagra on Samsung Galaxy S Maxis10 Review Part 1 – This Phone Here, Is A Magical Tool.
  • viagra pills on Samsung Galaxy S Maxis10 Review Part 2 – Perfect For The Social Media Addict

Blog Addictions

  • Kinky Blue Fairy
  • Xiaxue

Friends and Family Who Blogs

  • Albert’s Blog
  • Audrey’s Blog
  • Chee Kiang’s Blog
  • Chung Lern’s Blog
  • Melody’s Blog
  • Sher Lyn’s Blog

Met In Real Life

  • 5xmom
  • Asyraf
  • Avril Chan
  • Boss Stewie
  • Fireangel
  • Galvin Tan
  • Kenny Sia
  • Kimberlycun
  • Loopymeals
  • Minishorts
  • Pinkpau
  • Simon
  • Sixthseal
  • Smashpop
  • Yee Hou

Traffic

  • Site Meter

Categories

  • 56k killer
  • Advertorials
  • audioblogging
  • Bitching
  • Blog
  • Blogshops Love
  • buy buy buy no need money ar?
  • Celebrations
  • Dentistry
  • DIY
  • eat shit sleep
  • Emo
  • events
  • Jo's Cook Book
  • JOCK Wedding
  • Jolene's theories
  • Ngam ngam cham cham
  • nightmares & dreams
  • no need money ar?
  • old blog
  • Period Pains
  • Pimpin'
  • PMS
  • Sugar High
  • Trips!
  • TV and Movie Reiews
  • Uncategorized
  • with videos!
  • Wtf?
© 2023 Not So Little Girl In A Reverie | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme
This blog is protected by dr Dave's Spam Karma 2: 32905 Spams eaten and counting...