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SINGAPORE: A child about to come into his own has a way of rubbing his parents the wrong way.
And that's what the made-in-Singapore documentary is doing at the moment: Testing boundaries to see what it can get away with.
And, going by Martyn See's experience, the answer is: Not much.
Last Monday, the film-maker had his documentary, Zahari's 17 Years, banned by the Media Development Authority (MDA).
The 50-minute film comprises an interview with former opposition leader Said Zahari, who was held for 17 years without trial for alleged subversive activities.
The MDA previously banned See's 2005 effort, Singapore Rebel. A 26-minute profile of opposition leader Dr Chee Soon Juan, it was classified by the police as a party political film and thus deemed to have contravened the Films Act.
But See's run-in with the authorities takes nothing away from the fact that the documentary form is fast emerging as the medium of choice for local film-makers.
For instance, A Hero's Journey (2006), Grace Phan's film about Timor Leste President Xanana Gusmao was one of three documentaries that shared an Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival.
Another local film-maker, Tan Pin Pin, has earned more than 20 awards and nominations.
Increasingly, Singapore docus are making their presence felt on the festival circuit, with three making the cut for this year's Singapore International Film Festival: Feet Unbound, The Changi Murals and Aki Ra's Boys.
"Many young people have begun to feel the need to voice their opinions about issues close to their hearts," said 40-year-old producer and director Phang Kien Yip in an email interview with Today.
His company, Bronco Media House, is developing an hour-long pilot for a series to be broadcast on US network PBS in November.
"With the relatively low cost of owning a video camera and editing station, they can make their own short films for next to nothing."
In the case of Harry Chew, it wasn't quite that cheap — but it was close.
The 25-year-old director spent just $600 on Plunge, about two skydivers promoting the sport here.
The gamble paid off because his 21-minute film was showcased at the prestigious 8th International Panorama for Independent Video and Filmmakers in Athens last year.
"I'm drawn to the documentary form," he said, "because it's a spontaneous process whereby the investigation of a subject leads you rather than the other way. It's very much a learning journey."
Still, it's not without its challenges. Former TV producer Lynn Lee should know — she and co-director James Leong spent two years making Passabe (2006), a story about the reconciliation process in Timor Leste after the killings there in the late 1990s.
"Yes, you can just point and shoot," the 34-year-old said when asked if docu-makers simply lock their cameras in place and wait for things to happen.
"But how does everything come together to form a coherent whole? And unlike fiction films, you never know how your story will end.
"We also have to convince our subjects to allow us to film them, then make sure we're there when the action takes place. There's no such thing as a retake."
So, unlike the shoot-and-post stuff you get on websites like YouTube, a docu actually involves a lot of work behind the scenes — in fact, as much as any fiction film. After all, it, too, must tell a compelling story.
Lee's Aki Ra's Boys, for instance, relates the tale of two Cambodian boys maimed by landmines left behind by the Khmer Rouge.
And Ng Khee Jin's Feet Unbound hits the road with a young Chinese woman retracing the Red Army's Long March of 1934-35.
"To produce a good documentary, intensive research has to be done," said Phang.
"Crafting the appropriate point of view is also important. This is the crux of the entire documentary."
But what's considered an "appropriate point of view" is, of course, precisely the issue at stake now with See's political documentaries.
Still, though he disagrees with the ban, Chew doesn't see the restriction as a leash on creativity.
"I guess as film-makers, we can make calculated creative choices or compromise, like employing subtlety, irony, metaphors and humour in portraying sensitive or political topics," he said.
In other words: You don't have to rant and rave to be heard. And that's what growing up is all about. - TODAY/fa
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