Finally
got to see a screening of Home for Hari
Raya, based on my short story from Lovers and
Strangers Revisted, when a private viewing was sent to be via vimeo. (*Update: HHR was posted on YouTube in October 2013.) Frederick Lewis, associate professor, School of Media Arts & Studies, reported that when Home for Hari
Raya was premiered on 27 April at Ohio University, it was well received. For most of those in attendance, it was their
first real glimpse of Malaysia, or even Southeast Asia other than the news.
As
the author of the story, I didn’t quite know what to expect from the film. I was cautiously optimistic, but then I
quickly became mesmerized from the opening motorcycle ride through a serpentine
road leading to Rina who is waiting for her brother at a bus stop. Visually, I found the film stunning, a lot
was going on; they really caught rural Malaysia, the details. For me, it brought back all these memories
that I have of visiting kampungs in Perak and Kedah, from the kampung house, to
the villagers, to their traditional clothes, and even Rina sweeping away a dead
gecko from inside the house. The film was
rich with sounds too, from the opening call to prayer, to various birds
chirping, to wooden wind chimes.
The
story had several brief flashbacks of Rina, as a child crying, not in the
original story, though it seemed to work as she kept reflecting back to her
childhood, to her father who had taken a second wife. I admit that when her sister Sharifah slapped
Rina, I felt it too. Having worked
extensively on the script through numerous drafts with the director/screenwriter, William Holzer, I knew that slap was coming; still it caught me by surprise. It worked.
I was impressed with the caliber of the acting, particularly the three
sisters; the close-ups, the nuances of their facial expressions, their comraderie;
and even their closeness when they weren’t getting along. It was palpable. This felt like a professional effort, and it was under
the guidance of Frederick Lewis, who brings his vast experience to the student-led
project.
Home For Hari Raya, as I blogged about before, and as noted in the article from Ohio Education, is the first international production effort by students
from the School of Media Arts & Studies, the result of a cross-cultural
collaboration. Fourteen students travelled to Malaysia with Frederick Lewis
from December 15 through January 9, immersing themselves in the culture of the
region.
According to the article, many of them prepared for their experience in
Malaysia by taking a Malaysian culture seminar with Tun Abdul Razak Chair
Habibah Ashari of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), whom I had once had the
privilege of skyping
with in a session with her students. The students raised more than $3,000 and
contributed their own travel expenses to fund the film.
While in Malaysia, the students joined forces with 12 students from UiTM’s
School of Film, Theater and Animation on location. The dozen UiTM students
assisted with lighting, casting and art direction and rented a kampung (village)
house, which served as the film’s primary set location.
Home for Hari Raya, 24 minutes in length, ideal for a half-hour time
slot on TV, was premiered with three other short films, Asleep in the Deep, Monhegan Light and Julie in
the FunHouse all adapted from short stories set in the US.
Frederick
Lewis stated that Amir Muhammad is going to screen Home for Hari Raya at his Malaysian Shorts screening in June. I approached a film festival in Sabah, also in
June, but it looks like the slots are already filled for 2013, a shame we
didn’t contact them sooner. The film will
be sent to other film festivals in the US, and possibly around the world. Hopefully, RTM Malaysia will pick up on it in
time for upcoming Hari Raya, 8-9 August, or even for next year.
Joe
Battaglia, a director of one of the other films premiered at Ohio University,
and also involved with Home for Hari Raya
is quoted as saying, “Time, money and effort may make something good, but
people, passion and persistence makes things great.”
I
couldn’t agree more, and I feel proud to be associated with this film and
honored that my short story “Home for Hari Raya” was adapted by Ohio University
into a movie, a first for me.
**Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited
Here are links to some
of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:
Ivy
Ngeow author of Cry
of the Flying Rhino, winner
of the 2016 Proverse Prize.
Plus:
Beheaded on
Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part
I
