Kirsten Tan’s debut film was a ‘gigantic undertaking’, literally

SINGAPORE — Young Singaporean film-maker Kirsten Tan has always seen herself as a wayfarer who never quite fits in anywhere.

“I’ve always felt like a bit of a wanderer. Having lived in Singapore, Jeonju, Bangkok and New York within the last decade, I’m not quite sure where I fit in sometimes. I’m never sure where home is, and I’ve always felt for outsiders who don’t sit comfortably within one particular system,” Tan told TODAY.

Her sentiments can be felt in her debut feature film, Pop Aye, Singapore’s first film to compete at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival this year.

“Pop Aye is essentially about two misfits — a man past his prime and his displaced street elephant — searching for meaning and belonging in space and time,” she explained.

The elephant, named Popeye, was made to roam and perform in the concrete jungles of Bangkok, until by a stroke of chance, Thana, the disillusioned main character played by veteran Thai singer-songwriter Thaneth Warakulnukroh, bumps into him on the street. Thana recognises Popeye as a long lost elephant from his childhood and rescues him off the streets. Together they begin on a road trip across Thailand in search of the farm they grew up in together.

Produced by Lai Weijie and executive produced by Anthony Chen, whose family drama Ilo Ilo (2013) won the prestigious Camera d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Horse Awards for Best Feature Film and Best New Director, Pop Aye makes its world premiere at the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, which takes place from Jan 19 to 29 in Park City, Utah.

Shooting entirely in Thailand was a concerted choice on the part of the film-maker: She was inspired by her personal experiences living in Bangkok and travelling throughout Thailand in her early twenties, before she moved to New York.

“I (operated) a t-shirt shop at Chatuchak Market with my friends; we hardly made enough to cover rent, but we had fun. I travelled around Thailand a lot and whilst filming at a beach once, I witnessed a group of village boys pulling their elephant to sea to shower him. That memory of the elephant by the sea came up when I was writing Pop Aye. It was not merely because it was beautiful, but because it was both mystical yet banal.”

ANIMAL DIRECTION

Directing an elephant in a film was definitely something new for the 35-year-old. Describing it as a gigantic undertaking, she felt very much like she was walking into “the endeavor blind-folded, since there really aren’t any books or pre-existing materials online that teach you how to cast for and much less direct an elephant”.

“We are probably one of the very few independent films in the world to have an elephant play such a crucial role,” she added.

With no one to learn from, Tan set off for Surin, Thailand in 2014 to live in the house of a family of elephant mahouts (trainer) for two weeks as part of a research trip. Surin is Thailand’s main ‘elephant city’ — elephants still play a huge role in its culture, tradition and way of life. Tan spent the time getting well acquainted with an elephant Bong, whom she would later cast in her film.

Tan still remembers the first time she met Bong vividly. “It was really early in the morning, I walked out of the hut at first light and saw Bong standing in the field. He was really tall, about 3m in height. I walked up close to him and still recall clearly the way he looked at me. Not being dramatic but at that moment, I felt like time stood still and I was staring into something ancient, benevolent and kind. In his eyes, there’s an openness and generosity of spirit I cannot begin to describe. I was stunned.”

Initially she was hesitant to cast him, as she thought he was way too majestic and good-looking for the role, “I wanted a street elephant that felt more abject and miserable — an elephant that could immediately evoke pity.”

So when she returned to Thailand half a year later to officially cast for the part, she sought out several other elephants, but they did not have the distinctive effect Bong had on her. “I visited most of the elephant camps in Surin, Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai and saw so many elephants, but none of them moved me in the way that Bong did,” she shared. She went back to Bong, and the rest as they say, is history.

CHALLENGING TIMES

Still, while Bong had the charm down pat, Tan said plenty of preparation was needed to get him ready for the role.

“I created a checklist of simple exercises for the elephant to do — such as walking up and down a path and stopping in his track to hit his mark. Or being able to hold his gaze at a spot without moving his head or turning away. It sounds really basic but that was very much the elephant’s rehearsal for the film,” Tan explained.

“We also made our main actor, Thaneth, stay with him for a week in Surin. They’d go for long walks in the outskirts of town together in the morning and evening just to build chemistry and get accustomed to one another,” the filmmaker added.

There were other challenges as well, such as having to apply for permits and making time for the elephant to be showered down during shoots in the hot weather.

“The amount of permits my producers had to clear for having an elephant on the streets were insane. We would have crowd control issues with many passerby stopping to look at the elephant,” she said.

Eventually, everything worked out well. “By the end of the shoot, we learnt to work well with one another. I tried not to go beyond five takes with him and in between takes, the elephant mahouts would take him off to shower him down since the weather was brutally hot during our shoot.”

The most hilarious thing Tan discovered about her animal star during their time working together was that he liked durians as much as the average Singaporean, but for very different reasons.

“One of my most shocking discoveries on set is witnessing Bong munching down on durian shells. The mahout told us that durian shell is one of his favorite snacks! The crunchiness probably felt like chips to him,” Tan joked.