When creative minds get together
By Zan Azlee

MARCH 4 – Filmmaking to me is almost like a solitary process. Being a solo-journalist, I write, shoot, edit and do everything as a one-man crew. To me, it’s almost like writing or painting, whereby the writer or artist produces artwork in solitude, almost like meditation. I enjoy the process very much as it gives me total control of my work. It is also a form of discovery for me – about the subjects of my films and also about myself.

However, sometimes being in solitude doesn’t do much good for the creative soul. To be a creative artist, one needs to sometimes interact with like minded souls. So, when I was invited to the World Islamic Economic Forum’s Marketplace of Creative Arts in Singapore (held for the second year), I jumped at the chance. [Click to read the rest of the article at The Malaysian Insider]

Tun Musa Hitam (Chairman of WIEF Foundation) does his best Facebook pose!

Some panel discussion going on.

This was the panel discussion to be at since I was a part of this one! Topic: All the World is a Stage- Role of Education & Information in Propagating Appreciation of the Arts

Me, Sirajuddin (one of the Singaporean organisers) and Yosep Anggi (a filmmaker from Jogjakarta)

Of all people to bump into... I bumped into Amanda.... We acted together once in a film called 'Benda Aneh Bernama Cinta', directed by Azharr Rudin.

Click here to watch the trailer of ‘Benda Aneh Bernama Cinta’.

The whole lot

I had to indulge an adoring fan!

And a video of Otam during rehearsals.

I’ve been invited this year (again!) to screen some of my films and to speak at the World Islamic Economic Forum’s Marketplace of Creative Arts in Singapore, this 19th February 2011, at the Asian Civilisations Museum near the Esplanade Park. Click here to check out more information on the event. So all you fans of mine should come out in droves! Singaporeans… here’s your chance to see me in the flesh… my very sexy flesh!!

“The WIEF Young Leaders Network is coming up with another excellent showcase on creative arts. This time it will be just next door in Lion City – Singapore, organised in partnership with the Young Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) in Singapore. This will be the Marketplace’s first ever regional leg, focusing on up-and-coming artists in the Southeast Asian region namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Phil…ippines. Visual artists, great musicians, exotic dancers and thought-provoking filmmakers awaiting you in the city of lions. Excellent venue, near the Esplanade Park and by the Singapore river.

For those who are interested to attend, please be informed that this is a registered event i.e. only registered participants are allowed entry (no walk-ins on event day), and for licensing purposes we have limited the crowd to 300 participants for the day. We have to close registration if we reach 300. So, if you want to book your place, please register online by clicking here. First come, first served!”

(Left-Right) Zan Azlee, Dr Marshall Clark, Elyna Shukri, Jajang C. Noer and Dr Sarah Maxim, director of Centre of Southeast Asia Sudies

So I’m still in California for the Islam Today Arts & Culture Festival at UC Berkeley and I recently was part of a panel discussion which consisted of the late Yasmin Ahmad’s producer, Elyna Shukri, veteran Indonesian actress, Jajang C. Noer, and moderated by Dr Marshall Clark from Deakin University in Australia.

It was a great discussion of course! So great that I had to write about it in my latest column at The Malaysian Insider!

Malaysia and Indonesia — how we make films

By Zan Azlee
APRIL 23 — I’m still suffering from the cold winds of the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently, after the screening of my films and lecture at University of California, Berkeley, I was part of a panel discussion entitled ‘Making movies in Indonesia and Malaysia”.

Aside from me, the other panellists included the late Yasmin Ahmad’s producer, Elyna Shukri, and veteran Indonesian actress, Jajang C. Noer. It was moderated by Dr Marshall Clark from Deakin University in Australia.

First of all, I was a little intimidated being in the presence of such experienced industry professionals. Elyna had produced some of Malaysia’s most thought-provoking films in recent history, while Jajang has starred in more films than the years I have been alive! [Click to read the rest of the article]

Outside the screening venue in Berkeley. Notice the huge crowd gathering around me trying to catch my films!

I gave a lecture to a group of students at the University of California, Berkeley. It was fun and we had a laugh!

These are the professors... Prof. Jeffrey Hadler and Dr. Sarah Maxim.

Lobster babyyyy!!

And.. here’s this week’s column for The Malaysian Insider.

How much did that film cost?

By Zan Azlee
APRIL 16 — Here I am at the San Francisco Bay Area, with the freezing cold wind blowing in my face, giving me extremely chapped lips.
I came here to attend the Islam Today Arts & Culture Festival, organised by University of California, Berkeley’s Centre of Southeast Asia Studies.
They were screening two films of mine, and had invited me to give a lecture and be part of a panel discussion. [Click to read the rest of the article]

Now I’m off to The Castro!

Looks like FAT BIDIN is gonna rock the San Francisco Bay area!

Two of my films (I’m Muslim Too! and The Life & Times of an Islamic Insurgency) will be screening at the University of California, Berkeley’s Islam Today Arts & Culture Festival. So I’ll be heading to San Francisco this Friday and will be there for a couple of weeks. I’m pretty excited since I’m also scheduled to give some talks over there.

So if you’re in the vicinity next week (12th to 22nd April 2010) and would like to get a good look at my beautiful face, come on over! Check out the website and schedule here.

Oh… other Malaysian films that will be screening there aside from mine include Yasmin Ahmad’s (Gubra and Muallaf) as well as Amir Muhammad’s (Village People Radio Show and Malaysian Gods).

But still I managed to complete a report for Dutch TV station VPRO’s Metropolis TV. It’s about polygamy in Malaysia… I shot a polygamous Muslim family… four wives and 17 kids! It went on air in Holland last Saturday… but you can watch it online by clicking here.

Alright! Looks like my film I’M MUSLIM TOO! Heading to the border won’t be seeing the light of day on Malaysian television thanks to the ban! But no worries! The kind folks at KOMAS have decided to bring it on their 2009 Freedom Film Festival tour around Malaysia.

Here are the dates and venue:
Kuala Lumpur – The Annexe, Central Market (3pm, 3rd October)
Penang – Han Chiang College (3pm, 10th October)
Kuching – Sek Men Chung Hua 1 (3pm, 24th October)
Johor Bahru – Tropical Inn (3pm, 31st October)

I’ll try and show up at a couple of these venues. So come and get an autograph from me! Haha!

Visit the Freedom Film Festival website for more information.

Have you heard of APOSTROPHE? Its a yearly art project organised and sponsored by DiGi. Its been going on for two years now (the first focused on literature while the second was on photography). This year is the third installment and it will focus on filmmaking. I’ve been asked to be one of the mentors (the others are Azharr Rudin, Woo Ming Jin, Tan Chui Mui and Mussadique Suleiman). There was an article in The Star recently which you can read.

Recognising how my blog has such a massive cult following, the organisers kindly asked me if I could help promote the project. And being the humble superstar celebrity that I am, I obliged.

Basically, its a competition where all you need to do is to produce a film between 90sec and 160sec based on the theme ‘makan’. Winners will win prizes and a trip to some obscure country, I think. Just go visit the website at Apostrophegallery.com for more information. Once there, you’ll also get to see the works of the mentors which were done specifically for the project.

I cheated though… I cut out a short scene from my film ‘I’m Muslim Too!’ which I thought fit the ‘makan’ theme and could stand alone. The video above is of the original scene from my film. For the purpose of the Apostrophe project, I did make a slight adjustment (I’m not that much of a cheat!). So if you want to watch that version, check out the website, yeah?

(The 2008 General Election heat is still pretty intense. I have so much documented on video which would be great to release online right now, but I think I should hold on as the main purpose is to complete the feature length film, ‘I May Be Malaysian, But I Carry A Big Stick’, and not to have a newsflash blog. Woo!! Suspense wohh!!! Can’t wait for the film huh? Well… there’s still a little bit of shooting to do and then editing. So just hang on.)

Bloody hell! Seng Tat’s movie ‘Flower In The Pocket’ wins again! This time in Rotterdam! It must be all the pork he eats! Congrats!

I think its still playing in GSC… so go catch it quick!

Liew Seng Tat’s film ‘Flower In The Pocket’ just won the Pusan International Film Festival’s New Currents Award and the KNN Audience Award. Dude…. WOOHOO!!