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CATEGORIES ::
> Blah! > Movies, Music, Guitars & Comics > Fiction
BLOOD, SWEAT N' TEARS ::
> Y2k > Ciplak
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FRIENDS' BLOGS ::
> Albert > Az > Cynthia > Debbie > Eddy > Effigy > Izuwan > Jordan > Kevin > Pete Teo > Rina > Shelley
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"Ten thousand ringgit to make a full-length film? You'd better believe it. Determined to make a feature film before his 26th, Philippine-born, England-bred Khairil M. Bahar produced, wrote, directed, edited and starred in his very own, Ciplak. Opening night was in a tiny cafe in Old Klang Road with a wide-screen projector, crisps for snacks, and a room full of supportive friends - gala premiere sans glitz and glamour.
"Nobody would have had even the slightest clue that his debut film was put together at the very last minute. Starting off on a romance project, which he had been working on for several months with a producer who unceremoniously pulled out, Bahar was then forced to find a substitute. With time ticking away, and funds running low, Lady Luck was certainly working in his favour when Bahar magically discovered a gem among his past works.
"Shot mostly in KL, with several UK scenes thrown in, Ciplak was accomplished with tremendous help from some firm friends spread all over the world. Story? About Jo (Bahar) a young student in the UK chasing his dreams. Eager to save enough money to successfully finish film school, he is just about ready and up for anything that allows him to fulfil his desire. Savvy bloke that he is, he picks up on how desperate the UK market is to break away from secondary market status and be on par with the U.S. on film releases - even if it means illegally.
"And what does Jo get up to? He caters to demand. Business is huge. Far from limiting supplies to just close friends for petty cash, Jo's genius extends to catering master copies to London's illegal black market traders at a whopping 50 quid (RM340) a pop! With such a thorough business mind, one is surprised at Jo's enthusiasm for film school when he can spend the rest of his life making millions feeding off piracy alone.
"Passion they call it. According to Bahar, Jo represents a breed of people who are truly passionate about something. And, when that is built, logix and reason fly out the window.
"Infused with a fine mix of reality, zeal, humour, Cockney, not to mention promiscuous girlfriends and gay inclinations, this indie film with an abrupt yet perfectly appropriate ending, leaves viewers making their own assumptions based solely on how they relate to Jo. Some might wish Jo the worst, but others might beg to differ. Some might call it sheer exploitation, while others will cheer "Go Jo!"" Below are links to two Malay write-ups in ROTTW (the Malaysian equivalent of Rolling Stone and Kerrang combined) which I haven't had time to translate for all you English-speaking types. Just click on the pics.
Pic from Albert's blog of the Troubadors/Open Doors gig I played:
I do look like I'm weeping, don't I?
One of the actors from Ciplak, Rauf Fadzilla, is now doing something a lot more serious than wearing a hooded jersey in a movie making Lil' Jon impressions whilst playing a PS2 and extoling the joys of 'afrogina'.
He's gone and written, directed and acted in a play at the KLPAC. It's called 'The Damnation Cycle' and it's part of ROJAK, a series of original shorts and monologues. Ticket prices and dates are up there on the flyer and if you'd like to pre-order your tickets from the man himself you can e-mail Rauf at this link here.
I've read the first draft of the play, by the way. Disturbing stuff. Beware. This wee man's been working out and he's got Tyler Durden pecs.
Everything was gearing up towards a really good day last Sunday.
I woke up some time before 12pm, got out of bed, took a shower, got dressed and kissed my mom on the cheek goodbye before leaving the house. It's very rare for you to find me giving my mom a peck on the cheek. It was her birthday party the night before and she seemed a happy bunny, thought I'd let her stay a happy bunny for the rest of Sunday.
After that I had a great time with my girlfriend, chilling out in the house in Taman Tun, watching DVD's and eating goreng pisang (there's a really cool place in Taman Tun that sells ten for a buck). I sent her back at around eleven and arrived in Taman Tun to get some work done for Monday.
That's when I got the call.
At around 10pm one of my cousin's found his sister dead in her office. The coroners would later tell us that she passed away sometime around 8pm, a heart attack triggered by her asthma. The guards had no idea she was in the office.
Now, I'm not very close with relatives, particularly so on my dad's side. We just never seemed to connect, too different from each other. Whenever there was a death on that side of the family I was always left feeling a bit sad but not too bugged by the whole thing. This one bugged me. It stayed with me more than any other of my relatives deaths. Why?
Because she worked in Corporate Communications.
I used to work in Corporate Communications. Then went to the creative side of advertising agencies. But regardless, whether your on the client or agency side, whether your a creative, a suit, whatever, the advertising and communications industry is one where you will, without fail, work your fucking ass off, morning, noon and night. Even on weekends.
My cousin was found in her office on a Sunday night. She was working late, like so many other suits and creatives and clients I've seen in this industry. She couldn't have been older than her mid-thirties, maybe forty at the very most. And she died. At work.
Alone.
I went over to her office when I heard about this to find a whole bunch of my relatives, some of her colleagues, my parents and a whole bunch of cops. I saw her body on the floor, behind her desk, as her brother tried his best to stop himself from bursting into tears.
The next day I went back to the village for the funeral. Usually I'd stand at the side and try to be as quiet as possible. Not this time.
This time I helped carry the body.
I'd never been this active at a funeral before. Never had to carry a body, help bury it, none of that. This was the first time I'd ever had a relative pass away that actually hit me in the chest, the first time I'd ever helped.
It was also the first time I almost cried. Hope you're in a better place, Kak Zizah. Rest in peace. There's a scene in my movie, 'Ciplak', where I take the piss out of the fact that most pirates' English is, well, hilariously poor. The other day I found an example:
Above is the cover of a pirated DVD copy of 'Ray'. Cool movie, but I didn't notice till recently the tagline:
Can you see it? No? Let me help you:
"The extraordinary life story of Ray Charles, a man who fought harder and went fart her than anyone thought possible".
Hehehee...
...God, that was childish. Ok, boys n' girls. More downloads for your viewing pleasure:
First up, a new trailer for Ciplak! It's pretty much the same as the first trailer but with a good 35 seconds added explaining what the movie's about a bit more. You can download either the 12MB version or 7MB version, both in windows media video.
Secondly, a trailer for Tony Pietra's latest short film: Wrath. I'm acting in this one as, well, a complete nut-job. Click here to enjoy 7MB of Wrath! |
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