- Can you tell a bit about the background for the project?
The idea for Block B actually came about many years ago. It originated from a fascination for big city life. The enormity of structures. Objects bigger than life. Unmovable. Strong. Resilient. It was a childlike fascination for monolithic architecture. When you are inside such a structure, you never feel like you are in it. The perspective changes. You never grasp the scope of where you are from the inside. You only capture it from the outside.
I think it’s hard to say any idea from oneself is original. I’ve been exposed to various formalist works before, so it was never about re-inventing formalism nor trying to find a connection. The first thoughts that people think of when they see the film is the formal approach, but for me, that is just the template, the backdrop. The cement block is empty to me, like most buildings in Malaysia that are abandoned development projects. It was the hues, the movements, and the lines that created a home. It was this simple understanding that helped me make organic sense out of all the heavily cemented cities formed all around us.
- Why was it important for you to make this film ?
It’s simply important on a personal level. It was just instinct. I lived in this building. It was the right time, and the right place. It could have happened elsewhere, but it didn’t. It happened here.
- Is the way you worked on this film similar to your earlier works ?
My previous film Kolam (Pool) is similar in a way that it investigates an object. A filtration tank/pool. A project that looks for an imprint of something organic in an object that is blatantly artificial and irrelevant.
- In what way do other filmmakers inspire you?
The various forms of cinema are definitely inspiring, but what I find most mysterious is how we occupy spaces. I am curious about structures in which people live, work, socialize, and travel through. My projects usually form through observing a space or physical structure, and that’s where stories naturally take place. Therefore, the definitive inspiration comes in the hands of architects and builders.
- Can you say something about the techniques you used. The choice between
film and video. The relation between the image and the sound.
Block B was shot within a compound of four buildings that enclose a swimming pool at its base. The camera was placed from the perspective of one building, and shot directly across into another. Using 35mm film was the only option because of the amount of detail that needs to be captured at that distance, especially during the night. No lights were planted into the building, therefore I treated it like a documentary but with a little hand of fiction.
Sound is essential in this project. I’ve had the great honour of working with a thoughtful sound artist like Yasuhiro Morinaga (Tokyo), who reaches past traditional sound design and brings forth elements that are not normally conceived. Aural elements that come from a place that surprises the viewer but still relating directly with the image. I have immense respect for that aural and visual connection.
Block B was a true collaboration in sight and sound. Visually, light, textures, and movements were used to create a narrative. What little dialogue there is is sparse and done deliberately, allowing small stories and emotions from various perspectives to create a larger narrative of being in transit. (‘In transit’ meaning that the residents were expatriate Indians on temporary executive contracts in Malaysia as engineers, architects, etc.). The more interesting element comes from how the sound elements pull the viewer in and out of the image. The building is static and immovable, but the sounds move from inside and outside of the building. The privacy of the television set and the kitchen is heard in the home, but then it is quickly interchanged with the sounds of the pooja (daily Hindu ritual) heard in the common corridors, and then the azan (Muslim call for prayer) plays outside of the compound itself. This interchange of private and public space is important for the project as a whole.
- Is it important for you that you film will be screened in a competition programme?
It is important the project has an audience locally and overseas. Criticism is important.
- What audience did you have in mind?
The project was created solely out of instinct so I can’t say I had any audience in mind. It was a series of ‘pieces’ that I felt inclined to put together, in hopes that the project would form a single ‘whole’.
- Could you tell something about the next project you will be working on?
Currently, I’m about to edit my first feature titled Karaoke. It is a project that is narrative driven, which is entirely new for me, but at the same time plays with subtitling and artificial/natural landscapes as an alternative storytelling device. The Tour is my second feature that I will be presenting at the Cinemart this year.
Finally, Compound is an audio visual installation, based on Block B, which I will be mounting with Yasuhiro Morinaga in Kuala Lumpur and Toronto in 2009/10.