Art Director
Boluomi
Taiwan-Malaysia, 2019. Dir Kek Huat Lau/ Vera Chen
PD Ding-Yang Weng
Feature Film. 1h48m
Cannes Film Festival - La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut français program (2016)
24th Busan International Film Festival (2019)
56th Golden Horse Awards 金馬獎 (2019)
Vancouver International Film Festival (2019)
Kaohsiung International Film Festival-Closing Film 高雄電影節 (2019)
Taipei International Film Festival 台北電影節 (2020)
France CNC Awards - Golden Horse Awards Promotion (2016)
Tokyo Filmex Berlinale - Talent Tokyo Awards (2015)
The film portrays the legacies of trauma and displacement between two floating youngsters lived in Taiwan- a man from Malaysia and a woman from Philippines. The story was built in two timelines: The flashback in the guerrilla warfare in 1950s Malaysia, and the ongoing storyline set in 2000s Taiwan. The film delivers a sense of rootlessness in the contemporary generation, makes a direct connection to Malayan Emergency, reflects the political situation of Malaysia.
The historical background of the story involves Malaysia in the 1950s, and The New Village in the film was a Malaysian village dominated by the UK army. At that time, the Communist Party was hiding in the forest and fought for decades in guerrilla warfare, while most of the residents were forced to live in the New Village. Under the coercion of the UK army, in order for the born child to survive, they used to secretly put the baby in boluomi ( jackfruit ) to send out to a secret family outside the village.
To reconstruct the scene of 1950s Malaysia, extensive research was conducted, and most of the scenes were built and shot in Southern Taiwan, except for the traditional Malay house and tropical forest that were shot in Malaysia. The art department rebuilt the village in a desolate mountain without electricity and water. Except for the traditional Malay house and the forest was shot in Malaysia, most of the scene was built and shot in Southern Taiwan. The art team had successfully built the village within a month with the help of the locals. The giant boluomi and the infant were also made artificially for prop use. The production was divided into two crews: the Taiwan crew and the Malaysia crew. As an art director, I travelled between Taiwan and Malaysia on behalf of the Production Designer and the art department, communicated with both sides, and collaborated with the art department in Malaysia.
