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Aiks… The 4th day of November, 2013 is ending real soon! Was rather occupied last week. Finally get to update this post now.

Last Friday, I was invited to interview The Journey’s director and watched the documentary of The Journey known as End Credits at GSC CityOne. It was also one eventful night that got me so damn stress out and almost cried my way home while driving. Long story cut short, I was not only lost in CityOne but also when I was on my way home. ARG!! That moment, all I think of was if only I have a bf then I don’t even have to be so lost! I know… I know… Crazy thoughts… Totally unrelated *LOL*

Anyway, back to the main topic.

This is Director Chiu Keng Guan and I with the novel inspired by the movie, The Journey. You know how usually movie is made based on a novel but this is the other way round.

Let’s talk about the making first, End Credits. Was lucky to be one of them to watch it.

The making of the Nation Movie tells a remarkable tale of how a group of golden-agers with no professional experience in acting ended up playing leading roles in the much-anticipated movie, which is directed by Chiu Keng Guan. To keep a record of their life-changing experience, Astro is pleased to present “End Credit”, a 90-minute documentary directed by Bak Chee Hong. The documentary captures the behind the scene moments of how the elder actors, namely Uncle Frankie (an art enthusiast in real life), Uncle Khong (an avid bird photographer), Uncle Meng (a sports enthusiast) and Uncle Huat (an owner of beef noodle stall), acted out their roles with passion and heart.

Film production might seem like a wild dream to most of the people, yet, there was this group of elders chose to go beyond their age limits, and marched on to realize their aspirations. Most of the retirees have never involved in acting or film production before. Their dedication and perseverance were highly driven by their hearts filled with passion. Their over-brimming energy serves as the best testimony showing that age is nothing but a number.

It’s so heart-warming and close to our heart. Tears inducing too! I am very sure Malaysians will be able to relate to it very well. I’m sure the movie would be even more awesome! Looking at how everyone, young and old, all involved in the movie making, it was amazing! Kudos to all those who took part in the production.

Now, let’s go to the movie, The Journey.

The movie incorporates motifs such as family, friendship and cultural values in a light-hearted and heart-warming approach for audiences of all ages, featuring 73-year-old amateur actor Frankie Lee, winner of Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2007 Joanne Yew, and Australian stage actor Ben Pfeifer.

The story revolves around a conservative father who reluctantly agrees to his daughter’s marriage to a Caucasian man and insists to host a traditional Chinese wedding for the sake of his reputation to celebrate this union. Together with his son-in-law to-be, he then embarks on a road trip around Peninsular Malaysia to send invitation cards by hand. Along the journey, their strained relationship undergoes a subtle change.

While setting against the backdrop of picturesque landscape at Cameron Highlands, Penang, Kedah, Melaka, to name a few, The Journey also intersperses portrayals of uniquely local Chinese culture and lifestyles such ‘Pai Ti Kong’ (Worship of Heaven) at the Clan Jetty, Penang, and the Chingay Parade in Johor.

Chiu also revealed that Astro has a plan to host gala premieres for The Journey in each and every state of the country simultaneously in January 2014.

The highlight of the movie is the hot air balloon. It’s handmade by all those in the production and guess what it’s made of? Plastic bags and cellophane tape!

In End Credits, looking at their perseverance and dedication just to make the balloon fly moved me to tears! They failed many times. Imagine such hard work, making the balloon and when you wanted to get it to fly, it was torn while going up and damaged even more when it got hooked on the basketball net and tore even further when they brought it down. The balloon is 80 feet tall and with the width of 50 feet! 100% handmade by common people! At the end, finally when it can be flown, two uncles managed to take a ride on it for the sake of the movie.

All the settings were not just setups but it’s real events (Pai Ti Kong in Penang and Chingay Parade at Johor), there’s no rest for them during Chinese New Year too. The shooting went on in order to capture the real atmosphere of Malaysia’s unique celebrations.

If you would like to watch it, be sure to mark your calender, 30th January 2014, CNY’s eve, at major cinemas in Malaysia. I highly recommended it.

Few weeks back, I was invited to join a phone interview session with Khan Lee. So… This is how phone interview works, interview with phone! *LOL*

Who is Khan Lee? I’m sure most people don’t know who he is. Do you know Ang Lee? Khan Lee is Ang Lee’s brother. However, Ang Lee is not as HUGE as his brother who has made a name in Hollywood. Khan Lee is also a director but not for the silver screen. He is more well-known for directing and producing Taiwan’s telemovies. He prefers to venture into this genre as he found satisfactions in doing telemovie. Besides, it doesn’t require very high cost unlike the usual movies or dramas. He also doesn’t need to worry about whether the movie will sell or not in the box office.

Khan Lee has background in shipping and navigation but he later discovered his interest in producing movies. He had also tried his hand on novel writing but it didn’t do well. His film-making career started in 1994 when he won the Excellent Screenplay of the Year Award which was organized by the Taiwanese government. By then, he was already in his 30’s.

As with the conservative Chinese family, parents hope that their children can work in a more stable field such as doctor, lawyer, teacher, and so on rather than venturing into the more artistic fields such as acting, dancing, singing and so on. His dad objected it due to that while his brother, Ang Lee, objected him to be in this field was because he knew too well about this industry and wanted to protect Khan Lee from the industry’s cruelness. Nevertheless, at the end he succeeded.

The following movies were inspired by the lives of immigrants in Taiwan especially Vietnamese and Mainland Chinese brides are getting more and more in the society nowadays. These are some of the movies by Khan Lee:

– The Happy Life of Debbie 黛比的幸福生活

Debbie used to live on a coffee farm in Indonesia and dreamed about becoming a barista. Such a dream was interrupted by an accident and Debbie was forced to leave her hometown and her first love.

Debbie came to Taiwan and married to a retired soldier. For 15 years she has worked as a coffee bean picker to support her family and coffee is the sole comfort to her mind. Her son Han now is a teenager with distinguished facial features and dark skin. He often gets teased and bullied because of his Indonesia mother and drunken father. Han has a secret crush on a girl in school and one starry night he decides to reveal his feelings for her. Her husband Lu is jobless because of his drinking problems. Debbie and Han are disappointed in him because he always makes promises but never puts his words into practice. One day a mysterious Indonesian man shows up. A big family secret is about to be exposed…

No matter how hard life gets, how strong the yearning grows, when the coffee aroma fills the air, everything will find its place.

– Moonlight In Jilin 吉林的月光

Weiwei often dreams about her hometown Jilin and her childhood friends. Despite the sweet memories, she cannot go back. To get the substantial betrothal money, Weiwei dropped out of school, came to Taiwan to marry a man she’s never met before. Weiwei promised her friends and relatives that she would lead a happy life in Taiwan. Surprisingly her husband turns out to be gangster and suddenly absconds. Weiwei has no choice but to make a living in a massage store in which some”special services”are offered but Weiwei insists on being a professional masseuse. One day the police makes a raid and a junior officer Jiahao falls into love with Weiwei at first sight…

– My Little Honey Moon 野蓮香

Meinung, southern Taiwan, the present day. Hsiao Tien-hsin (Hung Chi-yang), eldest daughter of the Hsiao family, marries Tzu-chiang (Chang Chung-jui) and leaves the village. Left behind are her younger brother Tien-fu (Chen Chu-sheng), his Vietnamese wife of six years Chiung-e (Helen Thanh Đào), their young daughter Yu-ping (Teng Chih-hsuan), and Tien-fu’s mother Huang Wei-mei (Chiang Ching-hsia). Chiung-e helps her husband in their small vegetable farming business and is resisting family pressure to have a second child as she thinks they can’t afford it. At school, Yu-ping is uncommunicative but shows a talent for drawing; she’s encouraged by one of the teachers, aboriginal Sun Ming-chen (Yangui’e Yasiungu), whose hobby is photography and who befriends Chiung-e as a fellow “outsider”. Feeling pressure to earn more money now he’s head of the family, Tien-fu considers starting up a prawn-breeding business and, when he borrows the house’s title deeds one day as a guarantee, his mother accuses Chiung-e of stealing the documents. Some time later, their fields are heavily hit by a typhoon and, when Tien-fu discovers Chiung-e has been taking contraceptive pills, tensions explode. Chiung-e sets out on the road with Yu-ping to visit Ming-chen, who’s moved to Taitung.

– The Golden 金孫

In a village in Taiwan, Lehue is a traditional housewife who spends her life taking care of her paralyzed husband and her children. In order to ease her burden, Lehue arranges a marriage between her only son Kam and a young Vietnamese woman. To Lehue, all she wants from Kimki is to share the domestic chores and to bear a grandchild. However, such a simple plan leads to unexpected dismay and surprises – having the chickens that live around her house as strange witnesses.

– Yang Yang

Cheng Yu-chieh wrote and directed this story of a woman whose broken family history leads her down an unexpected path towards self-acceptance. Chang Ching-yang (Sandrine Pinna), nicknamed Yang Yang by her friends and family, was born to a Chinese mother (Yu Tai-yan) and a French father, but her parents divorced when she was a baby and Yang Yang has never met her dad. 20-year-old Yang Yang is a gifted athlete who runs track, and her best friend Xiao-ru (Her Sy-huoy) is a fellow runner as well as the daughter of her coach (Chu Lu-hao). When Yang Yang’s mother marries Xiao-ru’s father, at first she’s delighted — Yang Yang finally has the father she’s always wanted, and her best friend is now her sister. But love changes all that when Yang Yang falls for Xioa-ru’s boyfriend Shawn (Chang Ruei-jia), and their clandestine relationship drives Yang Yang and Xiao-ru apart. Yang Yang gives up athletics to follow a new dream as an actress and fashion model, and she finds herself exploring a side of herself she’s never cared to acknowledge when she lands a role playing a woman who is partly French and searching for her long-lost father.

Would you like to watch these telmovies that Khan Lee produced? If you do, do subscribe to Astro A-List channel via a monthly subscription of RM 15 for 8 titles for Astro Byond pay-TV subscribers in Malaysia and Brunei as well as ala carte purchase of titles at RM8 per title via Astro Byond VOD. For more details on how to subscribe to A-List, please log on to http://www.astro.com.my/A-List or go to Channel 200 or contact 1300 82 3838.