Film Directors Workshop

Featuring our prolific Filmmaker Wee Li Lin. This was recorded last June when we were coming out of a CB and we may be heading towards a new CB as we speak.It's ironic that it is twelve months apart- nothing has changed much and yet everything did. She has of course done a lot more since but this series serves to a be a time-librarian of filmmakers in flux. Think its highly relevant and always cool to hang out with WLL- Our WW fllmmaker.

00:5:00 intros
00:39 "Such an effort to document and revise your showreel."
01:00 On how LiLin decided to put her showreel in order
01:32 How doing a showreel made her feel 'better about her work'
02:14 "when you put it together then you realise on you can do waht you do"
02:33 Overall Consistency in her body of work
03:46 How she conceive the short film title "Areola Borealis"
04:15 The use of Dialect Cantonese in "Areola Borealis"
05:10 LiLin on her tackling the use of Cantonese even when she is not versed in the dialect
06:31 Indirectly wanting to 'pay homage to her mom' who is Cantonese.
07:27 "Areola Borealis" had more ad-libbing than her previous works
08:49 The ad-Libbing and the delivered dialogue made the work very natural
09:00 On how English 'doesn't seem natural' in our works
09:45 Mentions on "Areola Borealis" writing being tight
10:11 LiLin on whether she directs mostly her own writing or otherwise
12:12 To be hired for one's unique 'Director's Voice'- about 'Directors having free reign over the scripts'
13:00 on Her personal successful relationship with a fellow writer- Jean Tay
15:02 "Keep chipping at the same Block" again on LiLin's on the type of stories, themes , characters and outcomes.
15:40 On being a craftsman in your work
16:00 LiLin on challenging herself to do things that are not in her usual domain
16:53 About being older and pushing herself to try new stuff, genre, characters and themes.
17:25 LiLin's love for her characters.
19:20 Same same but not necessarily different and doing something different for being different sake may not be beneficial
19:28 "Always a sense of fun" in all of LiLin's works
20:03 Always the 'nerdy underdogs' in all of her works
20:31 Where LiLin psycho-anaylsesing that this theme may be form her formative years as a teenager
21:28 Beyond the eye candy pastel visuals and 80's syths, "CP Kids" was a forgotten stigmatised counter culture in SG
21:45 On how "CP Kids" was supposed to be a docudrama but she couldn't find anyone to commission it.
23:50 On her trying to emulate the fashion and style in her school days (CP Kids) totally ‘out there’
25:50 CHIJ uniforms
26:24 Autograph vs My Autograph 2015
27:50 Time-slips and time jumps concepts
28:15 On her prolific shorts filmography-how she keeps it going
30:00 on doing personal passion projects. Thirties was occupied with two feature films and going back to school at Tisch
30:15 in her forties she decided to go back short films and how Nicholas Chee facilitated her going back to her Utter Short "That Loving Feeling"
31:04 on her time stamping her works with her own age
32:56 Talking about Box Office 'success' and the true 'merit' of the film
34:42 Looking for a local audience
35:00 End of Part One.

Show Notes

Li Lin Wee
Director. Storyteller. 

Wee Li Lin (b. 1973) is one of the pioneer female filmmakers in Singapore. Her films have a signature humour, warmth, and whimsy to them. 
 
Li Lin has made numerous short films, two feature films, as well as several telemovies and commercials. She has won several awards locally and internationally, such as "Best Director" at the Singapore International Film Festival. In 2018, Li Lin was commissioned to direct Singapore’s National Day music video "We are Singapore". It was such a hit that it became the highest trending video on YouTube in Singapore that year.
 
Li Lin's films have screened at prestigious festivals around the world, such as the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, Short Shorts in Tokyo, the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy, the Shanghai International Film Festival, the Hawaii International Film Festival, and many others. 
 
Li Lin did her undergrad at Brown University and her graduate studies at NYU-Tisch Asia where she studied dramatic writing under an IMDA scholarship. She also teaches film-related studies at various tertiary institutions around Singapore on a part-time basis. Li Lin enjoys photography, audio books, and going to the cinema whenever she can.

What is Film Directors Workshop?

“FilmDirectorsWorkshop” Podcast
“FilmDirectorsWorkshop” is a podcast where Singaporean and some regional directors and crew talk about filming in Singapore. Each episode features a different director and crew shining a light on their projects and their journey into filmmaking.