FILM
Exploring the relationship between man and technology...told from the perspective of a phone.
Hi Redheya thanks for talking to TNC, any nerves ahead of the screening?
All going well. I guess I am nervous but excited about what type of reception the audience will have and if they will like my film
InShort Film Festival aims to promote global discussion, how important is it for you as a filmmaker to be part of this type of film festival?
Extremely important to me. That's what one strives for as a filmmaker. Hoping your film is seen in all parts of the world and hopefully being a trigger for discussion. Film festivals with this focus are of course important. I come from a 'global' family as well in a sense. My mom told me that I traveled to 4 countries before I was born. Japan, South Korea, Singapore and then finally Malaysia where I was born, and my heritage includes all those countries including India, Sri Lanka, and China.
Tell me a little bit about iRony, how did the film come about?
It started out as a poem I wrote in my final year of high school called 'Seven Billion'. To my huge surprise, it won 2 National poetry awards: The Young Australian Writer’s National Award for Poetry, selected out of a field of 30,000 and the Karen W Treanor Poetry Award (Youth). After Journey, I wanted to do something else, and something different, so I thought I should turn the poem into a film. My dad initially told me its a bad idea to try and turn a poem into a film and I should think of something else, but I stuck to my guns and he eventually became the narrator for my film!
What was the most challenging part of making this film?
Hand drawn animation is really hard and composing and playing the music as well was difficult. Those were the challenges. Creating the right baseline images as well as getting the sound right.
How much has your style and the approach to your filmmaking changed since your debut?
My debut was with the film 'Journey' which was an animation about astronauts lost in space trying to 'find home'. At the time I was nervous and unsure of myself, but it had a remarkable reception around the world playing in 6 continents and since then I have a lot more confidence in myself and I approach the creation of film from a point of view of confidence
How would you describe iRony in three words?
Reflection of Society.
"My goal with this film was to hopefully cause a discussion..."
Do you have any advice or tips for any fellow filmmaker?
Believe in yourself, and keep working at what you are passionate about. You are better than you give yourself credit for
And finally, what do you hope people will take away from this film?
The message of the video isn't to say technology and social media is evil and we should go back to the stone age, it's about humanity and our relationship with it. This entire film was created on my laptop, the soundtrack is completely digital, and I use social media and technology - this all goes back to the name of the film, iRony. We reap the benefits of social media and technology every day and of course, it's incredibly useful and convenient, I just wanted to look at particular aspects of it through a more critical lens and bring awareness to terrible issues such as cyberbullying and in turn, teen suicide. My goal with this film was to hopefully cause discussion or at least contemplation about these issues in a creative way and to make people reconsider the overconsumption of social media or the ways in which it can be harmful.