An experiment on a new type of filmmaking style, inspired by Zen Practice to allow the filmmaker to be more ‘in-the-body’, present with the moment, and to tap into intuition and acceptance of things ‘as-is’ to create a film.
The Zen-Mind Filmmaking approach will embrace minimalism, co-creation, and intuition, allowing room for inventiveness and intuition in storytelling. The purpose of the Zen-Mind experiment is not to attain any sort of spiritual awakening but to investigate if filmmaking can be approached with a Zen Mindset. Can filmmaking can be distilled to its essence - as an artistic practice / a storytelling art fom, where practice can happen without excessive entanglements (financing, obligations, hustle).
The experiment involves making a film / telling a story under minimalist conditions, 4 hour shoot, 4 hour edit, minimal preparation with room for failure. Completed works will be compiled and presented as an experimental omnibus film in festivals.
We are currently on the look out for Research Volunteers / Assistants (4 hours commitment) - Actors, Filmmakers and Location in January 2022.
Tzang Merwyn Tong is an arts educator and underground film director known for award winning offbeat films often set in surreal worlds. An alumna of Berlin Talent Campus, Tzang is the writer/director/ producer of Singapore’s first dystopian feature film, Faeryville, which made its world premiere in Los Angeles and was selected to be the Asian closing night film of the Central European Film Festival Timisoara in Romania to celebrate 30 years since the Romanian Revolution.
His other films (V1k1, e'Tzaintes, A Wicked Tale) have travelled to international acclaim and full house crowds in film festivals in Rotterdam, Montreal, Berlin, Potsdam, Munich, Tel Aviv, Lund, Leeds and has enjoyed a brief cult following in underground film circuits. He is currently an educator doing his MA in Arts Pedagogy and Practice with LASALLE in partnership with Goldsmiths University in the UK.
The Zen-Mind Filmmaking Manifesto is written and available upon request.
A-LIST, Astro Channel 456, celebrates the Crème de la crème of cinema with 8 critically acclaimed films a month, released in stunning HD. Faeryville will make its International TV Premiere this month, on 20th April 2017, 10pm in Malaysia on A-List.
Other S.E. Asian Countries will soon be able to pay a visit to “Faeryville” College as well. They include Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, East Timor, Indonesia and Brunei, as Faeryville has signed a 7 Year deal with ASTRO to bring the film to these regions.
Directed by underground filmmaker Tzang Merwyn Tong (dir. of A Wicked Tale, 2005 / V1K1, 2011), “Faeryville” tells the story of college misfits who experimented with home-made bombs to get back at their bullies. The film made its World Premiere in Los Angeles, California in 2015 and was the Closing Night Film of the Brisbane Festival.
“Needless to say, I’m thrilled to know that Faeryville is going on be released on Television and Astro’s new media platforms. South East Asia is changing and there is a growing demand for independent and alternative films. I’m proud to be feeding that demand to this changing audience,” says director Tong. "Faeryville" will make its International Television Premiere in Malaysia on A-List, Astro Channel 456, on 20th April 2017, 10pm. Check it out here.
Hear Alex Oh's atmospheric OST theme for Faeryville
In Tzang Merwyn Tong's Faeryville, Lyon Sim stars - alongside Aaron Samuel Yong, Tanya Graham, Farid Assalam, Jae Leung and Kris Moller - as a youth making sense of his rebellion in our increasingly surreal world. First Audiences at the World Premiere in Los Angeles has called Faeryville "A Dystopian Fairytale", "A Mindbomb!" and "a Timely Critique on ideology and influence".
Alex Oh is one of Singapore's most prolific and versatile film composer. His philosophy to scoring is telling the story of the film through music. In his career, he has scored many award-winning features, ranging from comedy, family-oriented, action films like Taxi!Taxi!, My Dog Dou Dou, Imperfect, It's A Great Great World to darker films like Bait 3D, Rule Number One and The Maid . He was nominated for Best Original Music Score from Asian Television Awards in 2004 for TV Series, The Frontline.
Alex is one of the few composers in Singapore that uses a large orchestra for a filmscore. His score for Bait 3D is recorded on the Simon Leadley Scoring Stage at Trackdown with the Sydney Scoring Orchestra in Fox Studios, Australia. Bait 3D, distributed by Paramount Pictures, is released in 72 countries worldwide. In his work in Faeryville, Alex Oh's work is dark and broody. See review from Soundtrackgeek.com:
Review from Jørn Tillnes "It’s always exciting to discover something new. Although I am familiar with the composer’s work, it’s been a while and I’ve barely scratched the surface. While his “Bait 3D” score was a fun action-filled ride, Faeryville is different. It’s very dark and brooding, using long synth pads and cello. There’s hardly any percussion here, merely a subtle bass percussion line. It’s pure mood for the first few cues. There are also subtle hints of choir music. It’s buried in the mix, but it’s present particularly in the first cue. There’s no theme to talk about until a few guitar notes near the end of ‘Laer’. Not until ‘Fidei Defensor’ we get something different. Not so subtle choir and a strong electronic melody line with percussion. My favourite moment of the score though is ‘Mother Saint’ which sound almost uplifting. It’s “heavenly” sounding vocal is really good along with a lovely melody line. It is in fact so good I got goose bumps listening to it. I love surprises like that. There are still a few more surprises like the finale of ‘Take Over Or Be Taken Over’ and the guitar heavy ‘Baptism Of Fire’. There is also the massive 12 minute track ‘We Still Have A Soul’ near the end and this is where the action has been hidden. There are some excellent action bits in here, although short, but quite many of them. It’s a bit disjointed, but there are bits and pieces in here that’s pretty great."
Also featured in Faeryville, are music contributions from In Each Hand a Cutlass, ANECHOIS and The Great Spy Experiment.
★★★★ "A Fairy Tale of Nightmarish Real World Consequences." - POWER OF POP
Singapore's first dystopian youth film, FAERYVILLE is out now.
FAERYVILLE is a dystopian youth film set in an alternate universe - by award winning indie / underground filmmaker Tzang Merwyn Tong, dedicated to misfits and dreamers.
Synopsis: After a recent shooting in Faeryville College, fraternities are picking on misfits. Poe and his friends are such misfits. They are used to being pushed around, happy to just get by - as 'Nobodies'. Until one day, a transfer student joins them. He shames them for embracing their 'misfithood' and inspires them to rise above. Together, they stand up to the bullying frats and take on the establishment, first with fart bombs, and later with home-made bombs. Youthful idealism soon becomes an excuse for all-out-anarchy.
Faeryville may be set in a fictitious world, but it explores real fears of the post-9-11 generation and how 'ideology can be a dangerous thing' - thus the theme, 'be afraid of what you fight for'.
WINNER of "Best Original Story" / Official Selection at 2015 FLIXX Festival, USA
"A Cinematic Universe... bleak, exciting, surprising!" - Twitch
"Original and uber-hip... brimming with spunk, intensity and sassy
ideas!" - Hollywoodscript.com
"An impressive blend of story, politics and stunning visuals!" - FLIXX Festival
World Premiere / The LA Downtown Independent Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Closing Night Film / Official Selection at 2015 Brisbane Festival, Australia
"A Cinematic Universe... bleak, exciting, surprising!" - Twitch
★★★★ "A Brave & Remarkable Vision." - Power of Pop
"We're proud to be a part of Tzang Merwyn Tong’s journey – building a new kind of Singapore cinema for a new generation of film lovers." - F*** magazine
After a world premiere, a festival run and limited theatrical release, underground dystopian film, Hear what the first audiences in LA has to say when FAERYVILLE made its World Premiere a year ago.
We are proud to announce that Faeryville has won an award in the 'mythical' 51st State of Jefferson in Scott Valley, USA - a film festival committed to showcase films that capture Jefferson State’s iconic values: rebellion, beauty, irreverence, vision and independence.
Tzang Merwyn Tong (director of Faeryville) is featured alongside veteran alternative filmmakers Lynn Lee (The North Korean Picture Show), Kan Lume (Female Games, SOLOS), Sam Loh (Lang Tong) and Daniel Hui (Snakeskin) in a rare roundtable discussion organised by Asian Film Archive.
"I think it is unnecessary for us as Singaporean filmmakers to 'try' to find or speak with a conscious Singapore voice.... that actually make things unauthentic. We end up being stereotypical. We should just do it by being honest with ourselves."
ASIAN PANORAMA: SINGAPORE MAVERICKS
Asian Panorama: Singapore Mavericks is a recorded roundtable dialogue with five iconoclastic Singaporean film directors who have displayed individualistic qualities and a fiercely independent mind in their cinematic pursuits. This chosen panel represents a diverse cinematic palette whose bodies of works and recent representative film demonstrate such ethos.
The session provides an exclusive entry point to the minds of these filmmakers as they share their insights and concerns about the state of affairs with their craft and industry.
Panel:
Daniel Hui (Snakeskin, 2014)
Kan Lumé (The Naked DJ, 2015)
Lynn Lee (Wukan: The Flame of Democracy, 2013)
Sam Loh (Lang Tong, 2014)
Tzang Merwyn Tong (Faeryville, 2015)
Moderated by Thong Kay Wee from the Asian Film Archive.
----------------------------------
CHAPTER 1: Panelists Introductions.
(0:00 - 5:22)
CHAPTER 2: A voice in cinema and the construct of a nationhood identity. (5:23 - 25:50)
CHAPTER 3: The notion of a socialistic approach to art-making in Singapore.
(25:51 - 40:41)
CHAPTER 4: Working in the mainstream and operating along the "peripheral". The distinction between television making and film making.
(40:15 - 57:00)
CHAPTER 5: Fears, Freedom and Obstacles
(57:00 - 1:11:31)
CHAPTER 6: The quandary of Budgets in independent filmmaking
(1:11:32 - 1:26:38)
CHAPTER 7: Distribution, Publicity and "Supporting Local"
(1:26:38 - 1:43:17)
CHAPTER 8: To Dream a Dream
(1:43:18 - 1:50:57)
From left, Kan Lume, Sam Loh, Lynn Lee, Tzang Merwyn Tong, Daniel Hui
Outside the city. With the Outlaws of Jefferson State! And it is Announced. FAERYVILLE will make its Film Festival World Premiere at 'Jefferson State' in the USA.
We wanted our introduction to Film Festivals to be 'unorthodox' much like the film. And what better than the 'mythical' 51st State of Jefferson, located on the border in far north of California, with a history of resistance and rebellion, and a legacy that dates all the way back to the time of the California Gold Rush.
Jefferson State FliXX Festival is a festival that shares values of 'rebellion, beauty, irreverence, landscape, vision and independence', and has gained quite a bit of reputation for living by their own rules. It's easy to see why Faeryville Producers are thrilled to make our Festival World Premiere outside the Big City this time, and roll with FliXX in their first year as an official festival.
From FliXX Festival official website: "Nestled in the scenic and historic Scott Valley among the majesty of the Marble Mountains, and just a hop, skip and a jump from Ashland, Oregon (ranked as the country's number one place to live/work in MovieMaker Magazine 2015), the Jefferson State FliXX Festival (JSFF) proudly claims to be the premier film festival in the "mythical" 51st State of Jefferson, located on the border in far northern California. Although it is our first year as an official festival, our name is already becoming synonymous with film screenings, events, workshops and panels in the area, and In true Jeffersonian spirit we have our own way of doing things. We screen at several non-traditional venues (sides of barns, a massive old tire shop, etc.) and like to have a good time, running an all summer-long festival that brings the best of independent films, animation and documentary to a community hungry for cinema."
"Faeryville is a great underdog story that really captivated the screening committee." says Megan Peterson, Executive Director of Jefferson State FliXX Festival. "It's a thought provoking and well-made film!"
Alright now. Game on.
Outside the city. With the Outlaws.
We make our Festival Debut this September.
Follow the Revolution
www.instagram.com/faeryville
www.facebook.com/faeryville
www.twitter.com/faeryville
Some said its a film about Hope and possibly dreams, through the eyes of the youth. Or to better put it, the fight for the 'right to dream'. The misfits in Faeryville dream on and fight on, asking the question, 'why then do they fight', when it is a fight they were never meant to win.
"We fight, and we fight on, to remind ourselves that we still can. We fight, so we know, we still have a soul." says POE in the closing note of the film. Tzang himself has said in an interview with SINdie that Faeryville was made to address his own concerns about youth and our increasingly surreal world.
"I wrote Faeryville to address my own fears and concerns about what’s happening in the world today, with the youth of this generation, dealing with issues kids of the 60s-90s, never had to deal with. What’s it like growing up in the Post 9-11 world where nothing is right or wrong anymore? Has idealism become a dangerous thing?" -- Tzang M. / SINdie Interview
But what is FAERYVILLE about? We had a test screening to youth under 20 years old, and these are some of what they wrote in the survey forms.
"It's a film for misfits who don't fit in to know that they are not alone." - Ungkur Omar R., 17
"To fight despite the reaction that you have, and to fight for what you believe in." - Syaqila, 17
"A group of Nobodies who are always being bullied, they want to be somebody." - Joselyn Chua, 18
What are YOUR thoughts on what Faeryville is about? Please comment.
Singaporeans talk about wanting uncensored voices, originality of ideas and having something different. Out comes Faeryville, a dystopian teen movie, not set in Singapore, but in an alternative universe, from the imagination of Singaporean filmmaker Tzang Merwyn Tong.
An alternative Singapore film with difficult themes. A film that challenges, more than just entertain.
Mainstream media has been apprehensive about giving Faeryville a review. TODAY, ST Life!, Channel News Asia, and The New Paper, have written about the film, but no reviews thus far.
But reviews are coming out from blogs and alternative media.
Today, we like to share some voices from the people in the Interwebs.
Our favourite being OFFBEATPERSPECTIVES
OFFBEATPERSPECTIVES (Spoiler Alert.)
https://offbeatperspectives.wordpress.com
Disclaimer: Offbeatperspectives is independently run by a blogger, who is in no way affiliated with INRI studio or Faeryville. The writing here is slightly raw and unpolished but it offers great insights to how this fan interprets the film. Do note that her thoughts and interpretations are her own and do not represent that of the filmmakers.
Other Reviews from Singapore include:
POWER OF POP
★★★★ "A Fairy Tale of Nightmarish Real World Consequences."
MOTHERSHIP.SG
"Unorthodox and inventive…Faeryville flies the flag of alternative cinema in Singapore."
(read more)
HERE BE GEEKS
"When was the last time you walked out of a movie wanting to discuss it further with your friends? FAERYVILLE WILL make you do that!" (read more)
SCAPE
"Faeryville is a great attempt at highlighting the issue of bullying in modern society, and how it can push the bullied into doing things they normally wouldn't do to fight for their ideals, which can sometimes be a very dangerous thing. " (read more)
FIVE STARS AND A MOON
"A surprisingly good cast, top-notch original score, and some hidden gems (in the form of rising talent) - that will challenge the very core of your ideology, or the lack of."
F*** Magazine"Faeryville can travel far better than any Singaporean film before it. Faeryville does have the potential to become a cult classic, a rare quality among Singaporean films, but Tong does struggle with articulating the many questions raised in the film. In its heightened stylisation, the film also has a tendency to lean towards the overwrought and unsubtle. That said, it is a crucial step forwards in the diversification of the local filmmaking scene and Tong is certainly a talent to watch." (read more)
SINEMA
"The question is, WHO is the real ENEMY? This film has orchestrated a rebellion, but I do not know its cause... Maybe some of you teenagers might like it. I know I might have liked it more while I was still streaming Simple Plan, Green Day, and all that angsty punk rock on my mp3 player like there was no tomorrow. But I have long since moved past enjoying the formula of teenage rebellion movies that gripe about an oppressive system in an abstract way." (read more)
SINdie
"At the core of it, what makes it hard to root for The Nobodies is not that they don’t have a fighting chance of becoming winners, but that there is little heroism in their fight as underdogs." (read more)
FAERYVILLE ends its first theatrical run here in Singapore tomorrow.
“In quoting others, we cite ourselves.” ― Julio Cortázar, Around the Day in Eighty Worlds
Here are just some of the Quotable Lines that people remember in Tzang Merwyn Tong's Faeryville (2015). Write to us and let us know what lines you want to include, and we'll have a Part 2 of this.
POE: We're used to being pushed around. Like it or not, fraternities rule. We've come to accept it.
---
CK: Why are we here?
TAURUS: It's Friday night.
CK: Exactly. It's Friday night.
TAURUS: Must it always be video games night after night, do you really wanna waste your youth on video games?
---
POE: Welcome to Faeryville. The college of the stars. A place where future leaders are born. Here stands the statue of Mother Saint.
And a gun to ensure that power… stands in the hands… of the order in power… (grinning to camera) but if you ask me…
CHLOE: THere you go again.
POE: (ignoring CHLOE) It's not about power. It's about fear. Fear of losing control.
POE: How am I ruining your documentary Miss Chloe?
CHLOE: By pretending to be a smart ass. Can't you just be normal.
POE: You want to be normal?
POE: [to Chloe] Listen. We all know how fear and power controls everything. But what we don't know is that those in power are actually the ones who are afraid. Guns. MOther Saint is holding a gun because she's afraid of losing control.
---
POE: What do you see?
TAURUS: Chicks. (Shouting over the music) Lots of chicks doin' hot chick stuff.
CK: What hot chick stuff? I wanna see! (Stretching his neck)
---
CHLOE: That’s why you’re always trying to do. Always getting yourself into trouble, and getting your ass kicked, and then you come back and talk about revenge. but then it never works out. you just get into more trouble.
POE: Chloe... come on. How long have I known you? Twelve years? I’ve never known you to be afraid of trouble.
CHLOE: Not afraid. I just choose my own (walks off).
POE: (a beat) Me too.
---
Poe: Don't you guys ever give up.
CK: No, we don't. You want us to give up so you can call us losers.
---
POE: Frat Parties are exactly what you expect it to be. Parties like these belong to the privileged ones in our privileged school. THese are the same kids who pick on us everyday. The ones who call us losers and make us feel like … Nobodies.
----
POE: That's us. That's what we do. We run away. We escape. Nothing matters - when you're a nobody. You dress up, mess up. And try to get away with it if you can.
We have nothing to care about...
Four months away from graduation.
That's all the time we've left. To truly find ourselves.
To find meaning in our lives - the nonsense - outside the parties and the politics. I don't know.
We're the Nobodies - we've no purpose and no need for one. Tired of trying to fit in - happy to be who we are than try to be what we're not.
Happy? That's what we tell ourselves. This is our lie. And this lie… is all we have.
---
MR MATHIAS: Laer, we have a tradition of (look at picture) fraternities here in Faeryville college. One that offers life long bonds. Friendships that extend well beyond your academic age.
There are two paths that you may choose here in Faeryville College. One prepares you for greatness and all that the world has to offer; the other is the road of the misguided, a path filled with resistance and romantic distractions.
---
POE: That's was how it began. The first explosion.
---
POE: What's it like in a foster home?
LAER: It's a place that no kid wants to be by choice. YOu have to live, study, eat and sleep with people who hate you just as much as you hate them. You learn how to defend yourself.
TAURUS:
Ho ho. Were you bullied?
LAER:
All the time. But I learn to push back. I learn to always get up and push back.
---
---
LAER: [Pointing at the altar of W. Ashe Faeke] You know it's a joke. You know it's a lie. A lie so important it's become a god-damn religion.
---
PRINCIPAL: Teenagers need to be saved from their own ideals. Minds can be moulded. And the wrongdoers can change. If they are given a second chance.
Do you have a favourite Faeryville Quote? Share with us.
KITAAB.ORG, a literary blog that celebrates poetry and literature, recently invited FAERYVILLE director Tzang Merwyn Tong for a Lounge Chair Interview.
In this interview, conducted by KITAAB's Poetry Editor Desmond Kon, Tzang talks philosophically about his reason for writing, his idea of bliss and what he would take with him if his house is burning down.
Tzang himself has expressed that he felt honoured as a filmmaker to be featured alongside many big Asian names in Literature. Read the full article in the link below.
Extract: Describe your Writing Aesthetic I wouldn’t dare to describe my writing aesthetic. I’m still learning as a writer. I feel I still lack discipline. But I’m Punk Rock that way. I care about the expression, sometimes more than the craft. There is also a Buddhist expression for this. Finger pointing to the moon. The writing, the film, the story, is the finger that is pointing to something. I don’t care about the finger. I care about the moon. - Tzang M.
Kitaab is a Blog that promotes and covers Asian writing in English. Kitaab aims to help you avoid information overload which is the curse of the information age. The idea behind Kitaab is to create a link-based information storehouse where the most important stories on Asian writers and writing are carefully curated, so that lovers of Asian writing do not have to look anywhere else for the assorted news and views on their favourite books and writers.
What is FAERYVILLE really about? Friendship. Idealism. Disillusionment. Anarchy? Fitting in? Fear of the world? We've been getting a myriad of feedback ever since our launch in Singapore.
So far, young people under 20, being the age where they are still trying to find themselves, tend to connect most with FAERYVILLE.
"The Nobodies are the show-stealers. They remind us of simpler times when we had nothing to fight for."
"Four months away from graduation, that's all the time we've left, to truly find ourselves.... wow... mindblown!"
"The film makes us think about our childhood and how we have been bullied and how we later become bullies ourselves."
"The casting is fantastic. The Nobodies are awesome."
For audiences over 20, we get an interesting 60/40 split, with some really loving, and some absolutely hating the film.
"What's the point?" says an audience member. "You make us sympathise with the Nobodies, and you make them such fall-able cowards, and you destroy them. Why do this to us? Why bother making a film like that?"
"We wonder what the director is trying to say with this? To get out there and quit life?"
People with strong convictions, a strong sense of purpose and a desire for triumph, tend to hate Faeryville, which is what director Tzang says he is comfortable with.
"Faeryville forces you to question your ideals." says Tzang in an interview before. "Faeryville exposes audiences to the vulnerable truth that we can all fail, or that we all know nothing, and thus should be afraid about fighting for anything."
Not everyone can roll with that. We've been fed the 'take a stand', 'fight for what you believe', 'live/die for something or fall for anything' trope for so long. It's this very idea that is turning us into divisive people championing cause after cause, turning against each other so we can be part of something, and perhaps that's why Faeryville is so relevant.
Mature audiences who love the film often highlight how brave the film is, exposing the truth, that ideology can be a dangerous thing.
Here are some thoughts.
"It's about fighting on, even though you don't stand a chance."
"It's about the world, the powerful and the powerless, and how we still have to get by."
"Faeryville is an astounding gut-twister of a film. Tzang Merwyn Tong’s allegory of the relationship between society and rebellion will have you questioning who you are for a long time. It stands both idealism and cynicism on their heads."- Dr. Gwee Li Sui, Poet / Literary Critic
"Nothing is right or wrong anymore... this film says it, masterfully."
"Faeryville is not just timely, it's timeless. I admire the Director's courage in killing (this character). The writer in me truly appreciates that he was meticulous enough to close all the loops (such a rare commodity in movies these days, agh! haha…), and so skillfully, managed to do it without imposing on the audience and still left it up to them to make their own decisions about right or wrong or neither."
- Farah Bagharib, Copywriter
Posts
