Q & A: Chris Chong Chan Fui
1.
In an
online interview, I read that you were originally a student of business and are
a self-taught filmmaker. How were you
able to make this transition?
CCCF: The transition from business to film was made
blindly. In business, decisions are made with historical data so as to graph a
direction of what the future holds. I
took the opposite, and more naïve approach, and believed that the unknown
future ahead would lead me to answers of the past. Moving into manipulating film was out of pure
wide-eyed curiosity. A curiosity much
like opening a book of fantasy that leads to a more entertaining and
unpredictable realm.
2.
As a
child, what were some experiences in your background that cultivated your
artistic pursuits?
CCCF: My childhood was in a fishbowl, as it is
now.
3.
In Block B, your internationally award
winning short-film, the setting is a Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) apartment
complex. Please describe the demographics
and background of this site.
CCCF: The area,
called Brickfields, is a major local transportation hub (mono-rails, trains,
and buses), but also an area of red-light prostitution, blind massage parlors,
Indian cafés, temples, churches and mosques alike. This is a place where
the overriding sounds of the azan (Muslim
call to prayer) coming from the mosque compete with the chimes rising from the pooja (Hindu
prayers). In effect, this mélange of sounds mimic the disparate voices
that comprise the country’s own religious complexities and insecurities. Brickfields
is also known as the ‘Indian’ part of town because of the large population of
expatriate Indians working in Kuala Lumpur (KL) in IT, engineering,
architecture, etc. for 2-4 year contracts. The husbands, who are hired to work
in KL, bring their families along. Their wives are usually highly educated, but
become housewives in an effort to support the husband’s careers. It was common
that the wives rarely left the apartment compound. Only venturing outside with
their husbands, and sometimes with their neighbors. Usually they
visit others within the same floor, or from the floors above/below. But they
rarely venture far. In a country that highly discriminates against
Indian-Malaysians, these residents fall between the cracks because
they are expatriate, middle-upper class, highly educated, brought to KL to
work. They are self-contained within their own compound, looking at the
troubles of Malaysia and the Indian-Malaysians from a distance even though they
live in the same area. It’s a community within a community. A detail within a
detail. Connected, but distant.
4.
Why
did you choose this specific place for the film?
CCCF: I had lived in this building for two
years. This was my community for that
period of time. This was my
sightline.
5.
What
was the artistic process of Block B
from start to finish?
Block B is a moving painting. The project started from a canvas of the
monolithic cement building which neither had a personality nor unique
features. The challenge was to allow the
different personalities of the building and their stories seep out. What this meant was to partially choreograph
or paint the singular unmoving image of the building into a vibrant
‘moving-image’ using physical movement and varying light sources.
6. How can individuals in the United States
and abroad see more of your innovative work and other international short
films?
CCCF: That’s tough question as it depends on
festivals / exhibitors. Perhaps the
website.
7. Where do your artistic inspirations come
from and how do you hone your creativity?
CCCF: Normally, I am provoked to create a
work. It is not necessarily an idea
because I feel an idea is too casual. I
am provoked like a nagging voice. A
clear nagging voice with no source.
8. Who are some of your favorite filmmakers,
artists, and authors?
CCCF: Francis Bacon.
9. What are your current projects and how can
people outside of Malaysia see more of your amazing work?
CCCF: I’m sorting that out at the moment. Hoping to be provoked very shortly.
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