Jeanette Aw’s short film selected for Tokyo’s Short Shorts Film Festival
She is also one of three filmmakers selected to film a collage video of Tokyo which will be screened at the Festival Awards Ceremony
The Last Entry also stars veteran actress Li Yinzhu
Photos: Picturesque Films
Things are definitely going swimmingly for Jeanette Aw ever since she went solo.
The Last Entry, a short film written, produced and directed by Jeanette has been selected to be screened at the Tokyo Short shorts Film Festival (SSFF) & Asia 2018, a global showcase for short-form cinema which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The festival is said to be Academy Awards-accredited and one of the largest film festivals in Asia.
The actress’ project, which centres around the topic of Alzheimer’s, was selected from over 10,000 films submitted from more than 130 countries and regions from the around the world.
“As an actress, I only have to craft a role, a character, and bring her to life. But as a writer/director/producer, I have to craft the entire thing, script, get all the characters involved, put coherent shots together, and be a storyteller. Definitely on a different scale, and it feels nice to be recognised for work done behind the scenes,” shared Jeanette over a WhatsApp interview with Toggle.
When she was notified about the selection, Jeanette said that her mind “went blank for a while” because it was “something I didn’t expect.” But the bigger surprise was the invitation to be one of three filmmakers on board the “Tokyo Cinema Ensemble” project where she will film footages of Tokyo as seen through her eyes. The final collage video will be screened at the Festival Awards Ceremony in June.
Apart from acting and producing commercial video projects, Jeanette also shared that she is concurrently working on two scripts right now, one of which is for a full-length drama series and the other is for her second short film. Unlike The Last Entry, which is based on her experience with her godmother whom she never got to see for the very last time, both scripts will not be based on her personal stories, she said.
A still from The Last Entry
As much as she enjoys meeting different people and learning new things about what goes on in a production, Jeanette is very much an actress at heart. She recently took to social media to assure fans that she will still be on TV and quell all doubts raised by concerned members of the public.
“When I’m out, the people who see me will ask me about that too, or comment saying they haven’t seen me on TV for a long time,” said Jeanette, who is currently in the thick of filming an upcoming Wawa production (unofficial title: A Thousand Years).
“The most subtle ones are those at petrol stations, cashiers, and also when I was at the post office. They’d just help me or serve me professionally and then at the end of it all, they’ll ask if I’m still acting. I think that’s really nice, there’s a kind of warmth coming from them. So I just thought I’d address that in my post.”
After the Wawa project wraps in June, there’s no time to rest on her laurels as she has other plans lined up all the way to 2019. “Three other productions have approached me, but I’ll see how that goes… I’ll share more when the time comes,” she said.
The Last Entry will also be submitted for the Singapore International Film Festival 2018 (SIFF) which may give fans and interested members of the public a chance to watch Jeanette’s directorial short.
Related:
Jeanette Aw moved to tears by Mark Lee’s acting in ‘Ramen Teh’
Jeanette Aw flies solo
Shopping
