Blog #2 by Grace Lee

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for a week already. So much to see and do, and way too many things to eat...I’ll try to list some of the highlights here and then try to keep better track on this blog of my impressions during the residency.

Arrived very early on March 21, and in several hours time I found my way to the Objectifs office with the help of a fellow Grace Lee! Actually, Yuemin, one of the office staff told me when she picked me up from the hotel that her English name is Grace, but she barely uses it – only at Starbucks when she doesn’t want the barista to mispronounce her Chinese name.

We headed down to Objectifs on Liang Seah street via the MRT and as we surfaced up the escalator into the Bugis Junction food court, I was overwhelmed by the swirl of colors and smells around me. I realize that this is essentially just a shopping mall, but no food court in American looks like this! I basically try to stay away from shopping mall food if I can help it. Mental note: come back here and try everything; from freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, to Indonesian crackers to Japanese soft serve ice cream, curry puffs, Yong Tau Foo, and on and on. Got settled at Objectifs, where I m et Yuni and Dawn, before heading back home to rest before my screening.

At the Singapore Art Museum a few hours later, had the Singapore premiere of The Grace Lee Project, plus a short film I made a few years ago called Barrier Device. The audience responded well, and a couple of Grace Lees even showed up. We made plans to meet up later during my residency…I’m looking forward to quizzing them about what it’s like to be a Grace Lee here.

My residency time is largely spent working on a draft of a feature film script and teaching a couple of workshops, but I am also here to explore and be inspired by the filmmaking scene here in Singapore.

Objectifs has been great about introducing me to filmmakers and I had already met a few people in my festival and other travels abroad. So far in week one, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing an old friend, documentarian Tan Pin Pin, and she introduced me to filmmakers Eva Tang and Jasmine Ng. Lillian Wang is another filmmaker who I got to know briefly when I was at film school at UCLA. I also met up with Gavin Lim and his producer Emily Moy, who made a short film called HELLO? that was at Slamdance a couple of months ago. It’s great to see them in tropical Singapore – way more pleasant than subzero snowy Park City, Utah. The Objectifs gals also invited me to a screening at The Picturehouse art house cinema – which was run by Oi Leng Lui, whom I met last year at the Pusan Film Festival.

Another event organized by Objectifs is the Digital Film Fiesta – where 12 filmmakers were commissioned to make short films on HD. Went to the awards ceremony, where fellow Objectifs artist in residence Victric Thng won first prize for “The Mole,” a whimsical mix of live action and animation that I really enjoyed. Some of the other entries were great as well – I really enjoyed Superdong and Flat Dreams by Eva Tang. It’s great to see such diversity here in form, genre, and content.

In my first week, I also met filmmakers Tania Sng (and was graciously invited by her to a special screening of CAGES, on which she was producer) and I also met up with producers Juan Foo from Shooting Gallery Asia and Kevin Lee from OneTon Cinema.

Pin Pin invited me to a benefit screening for a film called Pink Paddlers, by Jasmine Ng, that was commissioned to raise breast cancer awareness in Singapore. It was at the Grand Cathay theater and it’s about breast cancer survivors who participate in dragon boat racing, as a way to raise awareness as well as create community. The film is really well done – it’s funny, touching, inspiring, and educational…and very human.

One thing that strikes me most after a week in Singapore is how comfortable I am here. Particularly as an Asian American. Many Singaporeans – at least those closer in age to me – have many of the same cultural references ( largely American TV and movies) and I have a greater sense of camaraderie than, say, some of my peers that I’ve met from other Asian countries. Even though I am of Korean origin and speak the language and have spent quite a bit of time in Seoul, there is something, dare I say, uniquely Singapore, that I’m trying to put my finger on, that makes me feel more comfortable here. I’m sure language has a lot to do with it, and I have a ways to go before I will master Singlish,. But it’s an intriguing connection that could foster many creative collaborations for the future.

More to come…