Introducing "Menstrual Man"

Here's the trailer for my latest documentary, Menstrual Man. The film tells the inspiring story of A. Muruganantham, the unlikely visionary whose low-cost sanitary pad machines are empowering rural women across India.

We're kinda-sorta still doing the festival thing. Premiered the film at Full Frame Documentary Festival (Durham, NC) in April. Then in May, we screened it at Hot Docs, where it was voted a Top Ten Audience Favourite.

More info and updates at menstrualman.com.

Screening at Duke University

The ISIS and AMES departments at Duke are generously hosting a screening of "Cowboys" on April 4th. (Gratitude in heaps to @adelinekoh who helped organise the event.)

I'll be there to do a short Q&A after. Since I'll be in town anyway for the "Menstrual Man" world premiere the following day, I might as well grab some free coffee and donuts.

I'm excited, of course, but also a tad nervous. Note to any potential attendees reading this: If you stump me with academic theory, I'll turn on an Indian accent so thick, you'll have no way of knowing whether I answered your question.

Screening details:
Franklin Humanities Institute
FHI Garage - C105, Bay 4, Smith Warehouse
April 4, 3PM - 6PM

Brisbane screenings confirmed

The Brisbane International Film Festival just announced their schedule. "Cowboys in Paradise" screenings as follows:

Fri, 5 Nov, 915pm

Palace Barracks Cinema 1

Sun, 14 Nov, 1200pm

Palace Centro Cinema 2

Booking details through here. I won't be attending the fest, but hope those who do enjoy the film.

Bali heart Germany

Berlin screening details confirmed.

Asian Hot Shots Berlin Festival

Moviemento Cinema 3

Oct 22nd, 4PM

Ticketing details here, methinks.

"Cowboys" / October screenings

October 22nd, Berlin
Asian Hot Shots Berlin Festival.

Details here soon.

October 23rd, Vancouver

Encore screening hosted by Vancouver Singapore Film Festival.

130pm, Pacific Cinematheque.

Book your tix here.

The escapists

Had an interesting conversation with someone who caught "Cowboys in Paradise" at our recent Vancouver screening. It started with her reminding me how I bungled my response to the 'Eat, Pray, Love' question during the Q&A.

Cue dreamy music for a flashback.

Moderator asks me to comment on EPL. It's a predictable question. I should have a response prepared. I'm pretty sure I HAD a response prepared. It's only been asked a million times.

But I don't. Or I'm too tired to remember it. So I fumble and mumble, then recount how I met a couple of Canadian women while shooting in Bali. They were inspired by EPL to travel the world. Not sure if they devoured pizzas and pasta along the way (it certainly didn't show), but there they were in Bali.

They busted the squeal-fuse when my colleague told them he personally knew "Philipe", the expat dude Liz Gilbert found at the end of her self-discovery rainbow. They couldn't wait to meet someone like him. He sounded soooo perfect. And so on.

I spotted them a few days later, each with her own Cowboy.

True story, but neither here nor there as far as the question was concerned. Kinda like the attached picture. (Awesome film, though.)

So... woman reminds me how I bungled my response. "Well, how would you have responded?" I asked her. "I mean, sure, both films have Bali in common. And female tourists, I suppose. But beyond that..."

"The other thing they have in common," she proposed, "is that they're both about people trying to escape to something better."

Interesting notion. Certainly true for the Cowboys but, like many, I was never quite sure what Ms. Gilbert was running from.

One for the least jaded ones

I thank the volunteers every time I address a festival audience because of something a friend of mine once said. She'd taken the selfless, cashless gig at SXSW that year and "Swear to God," she insisted, "we're the least unhappy people here."

That's gotta be true on some level. Attending filmmakers are busy jostling for visibility, distributing flyers, crashing distributor parties and prepping for Q&As (when not hungover). Mostly, they're wondering if the past few years of their lives would amount to anything.

Audiences? Occasionally stressed, or at least in a hurry, as they run between cinemas trying to see everything they ticked on their creased catalogs. And if the film they had high expectations for somehow let them down? Oh boy!

I spoke to a volunteer while at MIFF this year. He seemed much older than the usual student you'd expect in the position, so clearly he wasn't doing it to pad up his resume. Turns out, he loved what the festival brought to the city each year, and this was his contribution to ensure it would never meet the unkind fiscal fate that has brought many a fest to its untimely end.

He needn't worry. In a country where ticket prices average $17.50, MIFF attendance continues to grow each year. But still, what a guy!

Photo courtesy of Dan Po & Vancouver Singapore Film Festival. Model unknown (and I hope a volunteer!)

Next quick stop: Vancouver

"Cowboys in Paradise" will screen at the Vancouver Singapore Film Festival.

Details:

Sept 17th, Vancity Theatre.

More details on the VSFF site (pending update).

Dante over Coppola

Joe Dante is a nice guy.

I sat next to him during one of the MIFF Guest Dinners. Didn't get past the cursory 'hello', but it's not because he's unapproachable. We were just part of different conversation streams throughout.

Yet I figured I'd eventually find an appropriate opening to strike up a chat. Like if he'd start talking about the creature effects in Gremlins, I'd jump in with "Did you learn that from your time working for Roger Corman?" That kind of embarrassing, fanboy stuff.

But the opportunity never came. Worse, I was due to see Coppola's Tetro that evening but I skipped it because it would have been rude to leave dinner before Dante and my MIFF hosts. So that's two Corman alumni I couldn't learn anything from in one evening.

Still, I maintain, Joe Dante's a nice guy.

On Triple R FM (Melbourne)

Interviewed with Paul Harris for his Film Buff's Forecast show. I was up after Joe Dante (Gremlins, Innerspace) and Bob Rosen (former Dean of UCLA School of Theatre Film and Television), and I remember thinking it was the wrong lineup for a first-time filmmaker. I was sure Paul was going to floor me with some question on film theory. Instead he got me with his Annabel Chong curveball.

(Recorded live at the Forum Theatre, 31 July 2010. Thanks JD for sending the link. It was awesome to see you again, and I can't wait to see your next film.)

"Cowboys" at ACMI

The second of our two MIFF screenings was on August 2nd, at ACMI 2. I was there to present the film and do the Q&A shuffle after.

Several Melburnians had told me they’d skipped the first screening to see the film at their preferred venue. And who can blame them. The ACMI cinemas are worthy of their reputation. Great projection, awesome sound, and a overall vibe that feeds off the complex's tribute-to-cinema air. (You just have to block out the existence of ABBA World though.)

The screening itself went really well. Great turnout, specially for a Monday afternoon. Richard Moore, Executive Director of MIFF, introduced the film. And we had a good Q&A session after.

High points: Meeting Bali-Aussie couples who enjoyed the film and thought it was fair. Among them was a "member of the Ubud Royal Family" who said it took him back to his youth. Also, hearing from a woman whose father "was one of the first Cowboys in Bali."

Low point: Me joking about how I looked as good as fellow festival guest, Adrian Greenier. The audience laughed, which means they didn't buy it.

Thank you, Melbourne!

Loved the cafe-arts scene, the fest vibe, the fellow filmmakers, the sudden shifts in weather, and most of all, the people who came to the screenings of "Cowboys in Paradise". I know, I'm biased.

"Cowboys" at MIFF

The Melbourne International Film Festival has just announced its lineup for 2010. Sessions for "Cowboys in Paradise" are as follows:

Sun, 25 July, 12:15pm

Greater Union Cinema 6

Mon, 2 Aug, 2:30pm

ACMI2

Online booking here.

Old talk radio

Radio Australia program from way back covers the controversy surrounding 'Cowboys in Paradise'. Features Bagus Sudibya, Vice-Chairman Bali Tourism Board; Richard Moore, Executive Director, Melbourne International Film Festival; Dr. Belinda Lewis, Senior Lecturer, Monash University. Windows Media required.

(Link submitted by Jonathan, Brisbane)

Coming soon: MIFF schedule

The full lineup and schedule for this year's Melbourne International Film Festival will be announced on Friday. It's highly unlikely that I'll be able to attend, yet I'm excited to know the screening dates.

"Cowboys" scores 3 noms at AFFF

Just in today. "Cowboys in Paradise" earned three nominations at the upcoming Asian Festival of First Films. Categories are:

• Best Film (Documentary)
  
• Best Director (Documentary)
  
• Best Cinematographer/Editor
  

Nice to finally have a public screening in Singapore. I get to see which of my friends were genuinely interested to catch the film, and who were just being polite ;)

Shutter play

Taken during a four-hour-transit at Beijing airport, on the way back from Korea. Kinda reflective of my current state of mind. A lot of things to digest, evaluate, and be thankful for after the Korean Int'l Doc Fest. (But when I took it I was just plain bored.)

It's a sign!

Some joint in Seoul's Hongdae district. A friend tells me in Korea 'Ride a Cowboy' is slang for having sex with a white man. My boys in Bali know better.

Paju Bookcity

Got into Paju Bookcity earier this afternoon. DMZ Docs doesn't begin till tomorrow, so I walked around for a few hours taking it all in.

PB is... is... oh I dunno. It’s manufactured, yes. No two buildings are alike, yet each is a variation of the same hymn to industrial design, exposed beams and asymmetry. But the net result is a beautiful, modern suburb that houses much of Korea’s publishing community. (Championing print in the age of Kindle? Even the intention is commendable, specially since South Korea is on the net-tech cutting edge.)

The hotel where we’re being hosted equips its rooms with every modern amenity but TVs. In Bookcity, they’d rather you spent time hiking or contemplating. Or reading a book, if you get their drift. But for a few days from tomorrow, they’ll understand if you want to catch a film.