Tisch School of the Arts Asia

Weijie Lai, Tisch Asia M.F.A. candidate in Film'10 has been invited to participate in the ASEAN-KOREA Independent Cinema Project in Los Banos, Laguna in Philippines from 15 July to 8 August 2009. Weijie faced stiff competition to be one of the two filmmakers representing Singapore as a Director of Photography on the project.

The ASEAN-KOREA Independent Cinema Project is a “digital production workshop that aims to create a regional alternative cinema community… in the regional and global film markets.” Twenty young filmmakers hailing from all ASEAN-member countries will be trained to produce a 90-minute anthology on the theme “rice”.

Eventually, the 90-minute film composing of three 30-minute narratives will be publicized in festivals within the ASEAN region and in international film festival circuit.

Rare Fish (also known as Ikan Langka), a film made by Basil Mironer, Tisch Asia M.F.A. candidate in Film'10, is gaining accolades as the film travels around the international film festival circuit this summer. His second year film was recently accepted for the 2009 Pusan International Film Festival in Korea along with Dramatic Writing Class of 2010 student, Ken Kwek’s screenplay, Blue Mansion.

In addition, Rare Fish won the sought-after Kodak Award for Best Student Cinematography (Alexa Caravia, Tisch Asia M.F.A. candidate in Film'10) at the 2009 Palm Springs ShortFest.

Rare Fish tells the story of a boy living in a small, obscure fishing village in Bintan Island, Indonesia who tests the measure of life when he strives to catch up to the adults.

To read more about the behind-the-scenes of this film, please visit:
http://weirdfishshortfilm.blogspot.com/