Filmlab - Film details

The short films will be screened during the Made in Holland program.
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2006 - 17.45 hours - Rialto Amsterdam

Ping - Jimmy Tai

All Ping wants is a Transformer!

Ping is my attempt to show people the world where I grew up. I act and think like a ‘real’ Dutch person, but I was born as a 100% Chinese from Chinese parents. I was raised by both parents, together with my brothers and sisters, and learned Chinese as naturally as any Chinese kid.

Outside my home things were different, though. At school, with friends: all the world was very Dutch and I grew up in two cultures. This is the world I want to show to you. As a Dutch person, I look at the aspects, traditions and rituals of the Chinese culture, and as a Chinese person I try to convey what’s so special about the Netherlands. I observe both cultures through the eyes of 6-year-old Ping.

My film centers around the factors, differences and special aspects Ping gradually learns from his parents and Dutch friends.

Her Patch of Sky - Mayura Subhedar

Portrait of an isolated young woman and friendship found.

In the small details Gayatri’s story is my story and a story that I have wanted to tell for the last few years. It is also a story of many a young person growing up in new economies like India and China.

Here traditional values and lifestyle compete against economic growth that promises a picture-book lifestyle. As the mass migration to the metropolis continues, rudimentary infrastructure is bursting at its seams. Hard work and good jobs do not necessarily result in a better lifestyle; you may have a fancy car and still have to navigate through choking traffic.

In a system where there are no social securities or health insurances, words like burnout, stress, withdrawal, obsessive compulsive disorder are fancy words. The numbers of the people suffering from these disorders is growing alarmingly, however, and there is hardly any acknowledgment of or reference to these problems.

Popular culture like Bollywood films still harps on traditional values and lifestyle and does not rise to the task of holding a mirror to the urban problem. These stories are not lucrative or mainstream enough, though in the year 2020 two thirds of the world population will be living in mega cities like Bombay.

Every time I listen to ‘Lonely’ by Tom Waits I am motivated to tell the story of lonely Maya, cleaning, polishing away any marks she might have left.

Verzameling - Susan Au

A young woman shows her erotic movie collection.

Most young people of non-Dutch origin who grow up in the Netherlands, arrive at a crossroad at some point. Asian kids are no different. They have to deal with external Western influences and an Asian mentality at home. The previous generation of Asian kids felt this discrepancy, but the present generation has to address this issue as well.

I belong to this previous generation which was strongly influenced by Western life. I felt cornered by two forces: Chinese culture (my parents’ origin) and the Western culture of everyday. In my youh, I therefore decided to make what seemed like a clear choice. I wanted to be Dutch, and thus rejected all Chinese, except for my next of kin. The Dutch language and habits I easily adapted and my friends came from all over the world, apart from China. In the process I sort of forgot my own slit eyes and flat little nose.

My lifesyle decision gave me some peace of mind, but Asian culture was more present in me than I was willing to admit. I was absolutely sure of being Dutch, but something was bothering me and at first I couldn’t figure out what it was. In my film, I want to express this vague questioning feeling.