In Soul 37, it's all about familial ties

Singapore — A recently widowed taxi driver dies in a tragic car accident and ends up striking a deal with an underworld minion to find a missing soul. In exchange, he gets to see his young daughter one last time.

This heart-wrenching storyline about family and loss in Soul 37, one of the films in the spotlight at the National Youth Film Awards (NYFA) 2016 ceremony tomorrow, highlights a theme that is prevalent throughout many of the films nominated this year — an openness in exploring family and personal relationships.

For Soul 37’s young director Joann Wong, who recently graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with a Diploma in Digital Film and Television, the film, which has garnered a slew of nominations from best direction to best screenplay, stemmed from a sudden memory of someone dear to her.

“In the midst of pitching my story for the film, someone asked me: ‘What do you really want to communicate to the audience through your film?’ At that point my grandfather, who passed away a few years prior, came to my mind,” she recalled.

“It was truly astonishing, as it was not a thought that often crossed my mind. I simply replied: ‘We fail to cherish people when they are around, why do we only regret after the passing of our loved ones.’”

Another film, Han, from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) School of Art, Design and Media, follows a man who travels to Korea to meet the parents of a girl whom his son killed in a hit-and-run accident back in Singapore. During his stay in Korea, the protagonist is invited to stay with the parents of the dead daughter, and is forced to confront the remnants of a family devastated by loss.

For Han’s director Jonathan Choo, the reason for making family the focus of the film was a very straightforward decision. He wanted “to show people that family is the core of one’s life, and this is what one should live for”.

He added: “I think that even though we all live as individuals and ultimately live for ourselves, it is important to constantly be aware that a good part of who we are (for the better or the worse) is shaped by our families. Unconditional love and support or the passiveness, heartbreak and failure to understand — these are experiences that we learn by being with one another as a family.”

Soul 37 and Han are part of 57 nominated films at the annual film competition that aims to recognise the best of emerging talents. This year, NYFA saw a record number of 260 submissions from across 16 educational institutes.

This theme of human connection and familial love can also be seen in other nominated films.

For example, After Taste by NTU students from the Bachelor of Communication Studies programme features Dennis, a quiet 27-year-old man who reminisces about how as a child, in a bid to cope with his grandparents’ demise, tried to learn to cook their favourite porridge from a porridge seller they used to frequent.

The 19th, a film by LASALLE’s The Puttnam School of Film, tells the story of Ailing, who is forced to take care of her estranged mother-in-law, Xiu Lan, after the latter injures herself. Set against the backdrop of the post-Asian financial crisis, their differences in outlook create unbearable tension between the characters.

Asked if focusing on familial relationships make their films more relevant and accessible to the audience, the filmmakers’ response was emphatic and in the affirmative.

“Family is universal. People know what it is like to sit through awkward dinners or feel genuine support from a quieter parent,” said Choo. “When people see what family members can do for each other in film, be it personal sacrifice or unconditional love, they empathise because they have been through it. This is why commercials love circling their narratives around family,” he added.

“Beyond accessibility, it allows the audience to connect to my film on a deeper, emotional level; allowing a completely different experience from a film that merely entertains,” Wong pointed out.

She added that she noticed Singaporeans are increasingly finding familial relationships portrayed on media “to be very cliched and hard to relate to”, and has observed a strong indifference towards this subject matter.

Rebecca Ng, director for After Taste, concurred. “Family is often underrated. Akin to how the roots (the most important part of a tree) is hidden from sight, familial ties and relationships are often underappreciated, even though they form the core of our identities.”

Wong hopes that her film, which paints “a very real picture of family, how imperfect and raw it usually is”, would allow the audience to be more receptive.

All three filmmakers, who are nominated for the NYFA Best Direction Award, said they would continue using family as a percolating theme in future films. “Relationships within the family, be it parent and child, grandparents and grandchildren, as well as among siblings, intrigues and inspire me as a writer. I would love to continue my exploration of these relationships, albeit as a backstory or subplot of my future films,” said Ng.

“Just as these relationships shaped me as a person, I believe in their power to shape my characters into authentic figures that people find relatable.”

Winners of NYFA 2016 will be announced during an awards ceremony this Saturday.