My name is Zan Azlee. I’m a FREELANCE MEDIA PROFESSIONAL who can’t decide which aspect of the media I enjoy more. So, I get myself involved in everything. I’m a TV/FILM DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, VIDEOGRAPHER and WRITER (not just for the screen, but also for print). I’m involved in JOURNALISM both for broadcast and print, a content developer for NEW MEDIA/INTERNET, and a CONTENT CONSULTANT. I'm also a mass-comm LECTURER at a local university.
I found a picture of myself in front of a line of riot police taken by my brother at the Sunway anti-toll hike protest in January 2007. I was filming for my ‘I May Be Malaysian, But I Carry A Big Stick’ documentary film (yeah… it’s been 2 years since I started working on the film).
This is a picture of one of my favourite documentary filmmakers, Sean Langan, who happens to be filming in front of a line of riot police too (in Argentina, I think). Somehow… he can pull off that ‘cool’ look way better than I can!
Here’s my video of the Sunway demonstration (I first posted it online on 8 January 2007). After the general elections last month, the guy who increased the toll rate is gone and some of the participants of the demonstration are now members of parliament! Wooo! This is the first time I’m working so long on a film and it’s pretty cool because you get to see things evolve and change.
Have you heard of APOSTROPHE? Its a yearly art project organised and sponsored by DiGi. Its been going on for two years now (the first focused on literature while the second was on photography). This year is the third installment and it will focus on filmmaking. I’ve been asked to be one of the mentors (the others are Azharr Rudin, Woo Ming Jin, Tan Chui Mui and Mussadique Suleiman). There was an article in The Star recently which you can read.
Recognising how my blog has such a massive cult following, the organisers kindly asked me if I could help promote the project. And being the humble superstar celebrity that I am, I obliged.
Basically, its a competition where all you need to do is to produce a film between 90sec and 160sec based on the theme ‘makan’. Winners will win prizes and a trip to some obscure country, I think. Just go visit the website at Apostrophegallery.com for more information. Once there, you’ll also get to see the works of the mentors which were done specifically for the project.
I cheated though… I cut out a short scene from my film ‘I’m Muslim Too!’ which I thought fit the ‘makan’ theme and could stand alone. The video above is of the original scene from my film. For the purpose of the Apostrophe project, I did make a slight adjustment (I’m not that much of a cheat!). So if you want to watch that version, check out the website, yeah?
(The 2008 General Election heat is still pretty intense. I have so much documented on video which would be great to release online right now, but I think I should hold on as the main purpose is to complete the feature length film, ‘I May Be Malaysian, But I Carry A Big Stick’, and not to have a newsflash blog. Woo!! Suspense wohh!!! Can’t wait for the film huh? Well… there’s still a little bit of shooting to do and then editing. So just hang on.)
Jeff Ooi knows how to win the hearts and minds of his constituency. When other candidates spew out speeches, he rocks out with a guitar! This is during the DAP rally on the 6th of March 2008 which saw more than 60,000 people showing up. Pak Lah could only pull in 6,000.
The video above features Mustafa Mohe, an Iraqi refugee who now lives in Syria with his beautiful wife (feeewiiit!!). I bumped into him while searching for Hezbollah’s computer game, Special Force.
Don’t you just wish you could watch my film? Be patient… I can feel a special screening of ‘I’m Muslim Too!’ in the near future…
Here’s Ali Azhari, lead guitarist and producer of Arsames. He lives in Tehran and not in Mashhad with the rest of the band. Aside from playing music, he’s also a TV and film director.
I have finally finished editing ‘I’m Muslim Too!’. The first cut was a freaking 2hours 10minutes long torture-struggle fest! I cut it down to 90minutes… showed it to the Outphace gang (sarcastic mofos!) and got some valuable comments… and now the final cut is 73minutes.
Aggressive hawking of the film to broadcasters and distributors shall now go on full force! (Sponsors and funders are still welcome! Muahaha!)
Check out the video. It’s Ali Sanaei, the bassist of Arsames who can only speak English by impersonating Robert De Niro. Quite a funny guy… and pretty good on the instrument too! I’m glad he’s in my film.
I’ve been working hard on ‘I’m Muslim Too!’. Not just on editing (damn its going slow!), but on trying to get it distributed and screened. The good news is that I’ve met with a couple of broadcasters and it looks promising. Now if I can just sit my butt down to finish the editing!
On another note, I’m heading down to JB next week for the FSI Education Fair to give a talk on documentary filmmaking. Why the hell would they want to listen to me? I dunno!! But hey, if you’re free and you’re down south, just pop by the Puteri Pacific Hotel. I’ll be hanging out at the HELP University-College booth. Come and say hi and I might just say hi back to you! And if you pay me RM5, I’ll even give you my autograph!
One of the main features in my film ‘I’m Muslim Too!’ is the band ARSAMES. They are the most awesome metal band in Iran. I flew in to Mashhad (a city near the Afghanistan border) from Tehran and went straight to Ali Madarshahi’s (the drummer) house and was treated to an exclusive live performance. To listen to more of their music, check out their MySpace page.
Editing has begun on ‘I’m Muslim Too!’. This is the first video blog entry documenting the production. By the way, I’m still looking for funding. Got some money to give?
Here’s the video of the small gathering at Blog House in Damansara Heights a day before the forum.
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I hope none of you have forgotten my (extremely) long term film project ‘I May Be Malaysian, But I Carry A Big Stick‘. Well, in relation to this, All Blogs (National Alliance of Bloggers) organised a forum on Digital Democracy with David Sasaki of Global Voices Online as the main speaker. Other’s included Jeff Ooi, Rocky and Datuk A. Kadir Jasin. It was held on 3rd October 2007 at KLGCC, Kuala Lumpur. I was there to document the event on video. Check it out yo!
Keroncong in Jogja eight months before the earthquake. But everyone is doing fine after. As for this film, its boring. Don’t waste your time. If you do watch it, don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Searching for Sheila (2006)
Synopsis :
When the filmmakers went to Jogjakarta in Indonesia, they were hoping to find the popular Indon rock band ‘Sheila on 7′. They searched high and low throughout the city…
Screenings:
- Jakarta SlingShortFest 2006
- Malaysian Documentaries 2006
- 2007 Singapore Indie Documentary Film Festival
Some student of mine videotaped me giving a lecture! Bloody hell! (Sonia Heng… you’re going to get it from me tomorrow! I demand to be paid royalty!) But I guess this proves I’m a funny dude! Muahaha!!!
I made this film in 2004 after watching a couple of Errol Morris’ films. Muahaha! The film is 30 minutes long but I’ve broken it up into three parts here for easier online viewing.
R.A.H.M.A.N. (2004)
Synopsis : Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, is such a respected man. So much so that his name RAHMAN has been turned into a prophecy in determining all future Prime Ministers of the country; R - Rahman, A - Abdul Razak, H - Hussein Onn, M - Mahathir Mohamed, A - Abdullah Badawi. While N has yet to come, many predict that it will be the current Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak. How true is this prophecy? And what is in store for the country after R.A.H.M.A.N. runs its course? This documentary is a snapshot of the lives of several Malaysians during the country’s 2004 11th General Elections.
Screenings & Awards:
- Malaysian Video Awards 2004 (‘Best Short Film – Documentary’, Silver Award)
- 2004 Asian Film Symposium (Singapore)
My first work to be invited to an international film festival. I like it. I think it’s funny. You may now kill yourself for the time wasted here.
Popiahs, Murtabaks and a Patriotic Donkey (2003)
Genre: Documentary/Video Essay
Role: Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
Screenings & Awards:
- 26th New York Asian-American International Film Festival 2003
- The Emergency Filmmaking Project 2003 (Singapore)
- Cyberjaya Digital Video Competition 2003 Gold Award (Humour and Spoof)
- 2004 Eksperimento Film & Video Festival (Philippines)
So I attended the Bloggers United Malaysia Gathering 2007 (BUM2007) last Saturday. After such a long break from the ‘I May Be Malaysian, But I Carry A Big Stick’ film project (due to work that actually pays the bills and feeds the stomach!), this event was just what I needed to get the momentum going again. I also have to mention… the roast lamb was excellent! Thanks Howsy and gang for inviting me.
(Apologies for the less than satisfactory audio. My mic was acting up. Should have paid more attention. So much for wanting to be a pro!)
It seems that the topic is getting quite a fair bit of attention. Al-Jazeera International’s 101 East focused on the Jeff Ooi and Rocky case in one of it’s episodes (first broadcast on Thursday, 3rd May, 10:30pm - ASTRO20). If you missed it, you can still catch it on these dates:
- May 4 (Friday) at 1.30 pm
- May 5 (Saturday) at 3.30 pm and 9.30 pm
- May 6 (Sunday) at 4.30 pm
- May 7 (Monday) at 10.30 am
- May 8 (Tuesday) at 11.00 am
- May 9 (Wednesday) at 9.30 am and 3.00 pm
- May 10 (Thursday) at 8.30 am
Have you ever been so busy with work that you feel like crying yourself to sleep at night? Arghh! I hope that come the month of May… I can breath a little.
Here’s a short video I did when I followed the MERCY Malaysia relief mission to Jogjakarta, Indonesia after the earthquake in 2006. The doctors, nurses, psychologists and logistics volunteers have hearts of gold. All I did was volunteer my videographing skills. Dammit! I should have studied medicine… I’m sure I would be more useful to society today instead of corrupting it with my stupid videos and films!
