Rare Craft Award QUEK SHIO CHUAN
JOHNNIE WALKER BLUE LABEL 1-IN-10,000
AS A FILMMAKER, Quek follows a simple philosophy ‒ which is to share authentic Malaysian stories. His passion for people and dedication towards perfecting on-screen storytelling are most evident in his awardwinning feature-length directorial debut, Guang The Movie, adapted from his 2011 BMW Shorties Grand Prize-winning short film, which earned over a whopping 12 awards globally, including Best Short Film at the Alto Vicentino Film Festival, Italy.
With this film, Quek lets us in on his personal experience of growing up with an autistic brother, enlightening his audience on the plight of the disadvantaged and their families navigating conventional life. Guang The Movie debuted to critical acclaim at various international and regional film festivals, winning Best New Director and Best New Actor at the 13th Young Generation Chinese Film Forum, and the coveted Kumamoto City Award at the 2018 Fukuoka International Film Festival.
In addition, the film was nominated for four awards at the Shanghai International Film Festival, including Best New Director and Best Film.
After travelling the world, Guang The Movie returned home for its Malaysia premiere on 29 November 2018, with a nationwide theatrical release that ran for six consecutive weeks, making Quek’s dream of having a feature film to his name, and releasing it on the big screen, come true.
On baring his personal, innermost experiences in his work and telling emotional stories drawn from everyday life, the Johnnie Walker Blue Label 1-in10,000 Rare Craft Award recipient once expressed in an article, “As a filmmaker, you have an inherent responsibility to create content that imparts a beneficial, uplifting message. While it’s easy to make a film watchable by throwing in something trendy or controversial, it’s a test of the true filmmaker’s craft to do so without such sensationalism. I also love exploring fringe characters in society like the autistic guy from Guang and the mortician in Sunflowers. These people are all around us and I’d like to share their story with the world.”
Quek’s filmmaking pursuit is enabled by a prolific career in commercial production established with an illustrious body of work. Among his more notable commercials
are Yuna’s Sparkle music video for
Samsung; heartwarming Raya web film Strangers, featuring Redza Minhat, and Chinese New Year shorty Young Hearts for Petronas; TNB’s humorous Raya video Rumah Epik Fantastik and Deepavali commercial Family Mischief; and Lazada Malaysia’s Buah Hati Raya.
The filmmaker from Batu Pahat began his professional journey as a personal assistant at Reservoir Productions and has since blossomed into a consummate director and filmmaker, not to mention an integral part of the company. With passion, enthusiasm, commitment and an open mind, Quek seized the opportunity to train in nearly the whole spectrum of filmmaking metiers and, in doing so, gained the holistic understanding of film production required in a director, a deep respect for unique expertise and rare talent, and, most of all, the support and confidence of his colleagues, a family to join him in his ongoing pursuit of greater heights.
How do you feel about your unique journey to filmmaking?
Filmmaking doesn’t feel like work to me. Since the day I joined the production line, it has really felt like I’ve not worked for a single day. I’ve been able to live my passion and do the things that I like, exploring new things and new ways of telling stories on-screen. Guang is a story that is really close to my heart. Being able to see it come together with a theatrical release and share it with the public on the big screen has meant the world to me.
What was your approach to mastering the a of filmmaking?
As a filmmaker, I don’t just see myself as a director. For Guang, I played multiple roles; I was also the screenwriter and editor, as well as an actor in the short film version. Filmmaking is creating art together with a great many artists, weaving the individual crafts, skills, passions, instincts, ideas and experiences ranging from technical to artistic, conceptual to physical, business to creative, into colourful cinematic plots that capture both imagination and heart. I’m passionate about the entire process from top to toe. I think except for lighting, hair and makeup, I managed to lend a hand in all the different aspects of filmmaking along the way. It’s important for me as a filmmaker to understand the different skills involved in order to produce the final product in the best possible way.
In your experience, what do you think is key to driving success?
Adversity. Challenges. For me, the biggest challenge came during the editing of Guang, which led me into a brief period of depression because I couldn’t sort out how to make the film better. I’m usually excited and confident about making films. It’s only when I’m kind of lost, unsure about how I can make the film in hand better, that I’m like that. But I’ve realised that this overwhelming feeling of drowning and losing sight also triggers in me an almost instinctive response to refocus and reorganise my thoughts, which I believe is what will usually lead people to finding better clarity and producing better work. AM
“I’VE BEEN ABLE TO
LIVE MY PASSION
AND DO THE THINGS THAT I LIKE, EXPLORING NEW THINGS AND NEW WAYS OF TELLING STORIES ON-SCREEN.”