Making it count
London-based Malaysian cinematographer Ong Rui Jiang wins awards at international film festival.
IT was during the height of the pandemic that Malaysian director of photography Ong Rui Jiang learned that the Dutch film he had worked on, Patroon, received recognition at an international film festival.
The short film won the Best Cinematographer Of The Month as well as Best Cinematography For A Short Film at the Asian Cinematography Awards 2020 in Manila, Philippines.
Ong, who is currently living in London, could neither attend the festival nor celebrate.
“It was bittersweet,” recalled the 25-year-old of the win, in an email interview.
“It was at the time when the coronavirus situation had worsened in the European Union and everyone was scrambling into their newfound lives in lockdown.
“I guess the win did not hit everyone as much as we wanted it to because we had just lost all our jobs for the next few months, and were internally confused as the daily lockdown rules were changing by the hour.”
However, Ong added, he’s happy especially since the wins gave everyone involved accreditation for future projects.
Besides these two awards, Patroon was also recognised at Netherlands’ HKU Awards, Netherlands Film Festival, New York Cinematography Awards and Prague International Indie Film Festival 2020.
Patroon which Ong described as a film that explores “the discrimination of young Dutch-Caribbeans in the Netherlands” is directed by Mario Michael Gonsalves.
Ong first met Gonsalves when both were attending a summer music video course at the University of South California Film School in 2015. They kept in touch while choosing their respective fields; Ong in cinematography and Gonsalves in directing.
Ong shared: “When Patroon was in pre-production stage, Mario sent me the initial script which I thought was a very personal and authentic piece of writing about his experience as a Dutch Caribbean youth in the Netherlands.
“At that point in time, I was starting to push my work towards more socially impactful projects that were in line with my values. As such, it didn’t take long for me to say yes.”
The two friends have also worked together on the music video More Than OK by Dutch artiste R3HAB, featuring Clara Mae and Frank Walker.
A former national athlete on the
Malaysian National Water Polo Team from 2010 to 2012, the Melaka-born went to New York to finish his last two years of high school there.
From there, a pre-college course in filmmaking led him to apply to universities for filmmaking courses.
“The decision to pursue filmmaking was one of the riskiest but best decision I have made to date,” said Ong, who graduated from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2017.
He knew he wanted to be a cinematographer when he was doing an internship in Los Angeles. “(There) I connected with a gaffer and a camera operator who took me under their wings and opened my eyes to the world of high-end film and TV productions.”
After graduating, Ong moved to Los Angeles and worked on a voluntary basis and as a freelancer, establishing as many contacts as possible. This led to some paying gigs like shooting music videos and commercials.
“I worked with companies such as Vogue, ESPN, Tiffany & Co, and on the second season of TV series Lethal Weapon. Other productions include music videos with talents such as Nicki Minaj, Drake, Elle Fanning and Big Sean.”
Ong is now based in London, where he is looking to create new long-term creative partnerships with upcoming directors, and at the same time working as a camera technician.
When asked what the win means to him personally, Ong replied: “The win means a lot to my career.
“As I started picking up jobs in April after a bleak month in March, the coronavirus hit and I lost a number of jobs.
“The wins have given me the exposure and accreditation I need to push my career once the industry gets back in motion.
“Artistically, the win also means that I did the right thing by choosing the right stories to shoot. As this is my first professional narrative, to receive this kind of acknowledgement is just tremendous.”