Sherman came a bit later to Dar-es-Salaam. Sherman Ong. Singapore filmmaker with Malaysian passport (Ong Beng Ann Sherman, as in that passport). Artist. Photographer. Theater and installation maker. Likes improvisation. Made a feature film in Japan (Hashi, 2008), that even the Japanese see as a Japanese movie. The first film of him I saw (and showed) was an Indonesian movie (Exodus, 2004).
Sherman had a busy summer. He took part in the Venice Biennale. He contributed to the big work on the memory of cinema, Life of Imitation, by Singapore artist Ming Wong (that got a Special Mention) and he competed in Cinema Digital Seoul in Korea with the film version of his installation work Flooding in Times of Draught.
Yes, Sherman works internationally and in a very personal way. Reasons enough to ask him for the Africa project.
I knew I would see Sherman only shortly - between him coming straight from Korean and we traveling on to Zambia - so I took some pictures for this blog during this overlap.
Too bad in Zambia my camera was stolen for a second time (this time I did not get it back) and the pictures were still on the memory card.
I liked my camera (that was also a gift) a lot so I had to get over that (I am, more or less, by now).
After my camera was stolen. With Cameraman Go and production manager Paul. With the camera of Paul's girlfriend. Picture made by Jakrawal Nilthamrong.
So I asked Sherman to send me some pictures he made himself. All the filmmakers in this project had their own choice of camera. Some preferred an older and trusted mini dv camera, others tried a new HD camera out. Sherman preferred the latest still camera. More filmmakers shoot nowadays with the video function of a still camera because the image quality is superior to that of a video camera. The sound only is a problem, but Sherman improvised his own solution for it. I took a nice picture of his camera on a cafe table. The brand name and type number were taped and it looked like a battered war photographers camera. Here the commercial shot of the camera, just to give you an idea.
Canon EOS 5 Mark II. Camera Sherman
So with the same camera he made some pictures of his cast. He is working on an improvised fiction film with the title Memories of a Burning Tree. I whish I could post the pictures in their full resolution, but with African internet and the picture ending up on this web side anyway, that is quite impossible.
Cast Link Rueben
Loyal readers might recognize this young man. He was Uli Schueppels assistant, body guard, line producer and in the end friend I guess. Now Link was selected by Sherman as one of his actors and I am quite curious to see him in this role. Link is an elegant and soft spoken man. Quite unlike most of his country men.
Still photo of Memories of a Burning Tree by Sherman Ong
Sherman also sent me some nice pictures of his shoot. In the use of space and light I see the hand of the filmmaker of Hashi.
Last thing he wrote me was that one of the actresses had malaria and that he was waiting for her to get better. Yes, we are in Africa.
I asked also for a picture of himself, but so far only the one below arrived. The resolution could be higher and you can see he did not take the picture himself. The situation is typical for shooting movies or pictures in slum neighborhoods in Africa. In no time the photographer or filmmaker is buried under a mountain of children. Dirty, dusty and smelly children I wrote here some time ago and a reader pointed this out to me. I don't think she minds that I did not change it. We went to Africa with fresh eyes. Fresh noses as well.
Sherman with neighborhood children