20 May 2016
Three teams of aspiring filmmakers from LASALLE are featured in 20/20: The Temasek Short Film Project, an inaugural initiative from Temasek, a Singapore investment company, to nurture film talent in Singapore. Through the project, Temasek supported students with funding and mentorship to create short films inspired by real-life stories from Temasek’s non-profit philanthropic organisations. Stories explored include a young man’s dream of becoming a dancer, a caregiver’s struggles, and a church leader who learns to accept an autistic teenager in his cell group.
I Believe is a story of an unlikely friendship between an autistic youth and a popular role-model. The relationship between the two teaches us a precious lesson on love and acceptance. Three student-filmmakers – Leroy, Nikki and Dhinesh – from BA(Hons) Film Programme share their experiences. Keep reading to find out what they have to say.
LASALLE: Groups that work well usually include a variety of personalities. What are each of you like and what did each of you bring to the team?
Filmmakers: Leroy is a decisive director who inspires people to work at their fullest despite setbacks. Nikko is a meticulous and prudent producer, who knows how to make her budget work for her. She also knows how to rope together a talented crew! Dhinesh helped bring the story to life, and is never afraid to get his hands dirty on set to help with production.
LASALLE: What topic did the group choose and what made them choose to pursue that topic?
Filmmakers: We chose the Autism Support Programme @ ITE because Leroy personally knows an autistic teenager in his church.
Image: I Believe, 2016, film still, 2016 © Courtesy 20/20 – The Temasek Short Film Project
LASALLE: Where did you draw inspiration from for your film?
Filmmakers: Leroy personally knows an autistic teenager in church. Over the past year, Leroy had many initial frustrations with the teenager, till the boy one day innocently offered to pray for him. That was a turning point for Leroy, who finally realised he was the one who needed to learn.
LASALLE: What do you hope viewers will take away from watching your film?
Filmmakers: That we are the ones who need to accept, learn from, and guide our autistic friends.
LASALLE: What got the group interested in filmmaking? Why films?
Filmmakers: Leroy wants to tell stories that are larger than life, and believes film is the medium for that. Dhinesh wanted to be a storyteller and what better medium than film to entertain the masses. Nikko on the other hand has always loved art and after stumbling upon filmmaking in polytechnic, she found that making films gave her the opportunity to express her creativity and ideas better.
LASALLE: What was the most challenging part of filmmaking for the group? What was the best moment?
Leroy: The best moment for me was seeing a real impact on the cast and crew of the project during the final prayer scene.
Dhinesh: I think the most challenging part of filmmaking is probably the production itself. There is a certain sense of apprehension and excitement to see the words being translated to visuals and when I wrote the script, I didn’t think it would have a profound effect on the cast, leading to a more genuine on screen emotion.
Nikko: The most challenging part of this whole project was to me was pre-production. Putting together a crew was a challenge as everyone had their own schedules to attend to and getting everyone on board this production was a huge worry for me in the initial stages of this project. Besides forming a crew that would aid my director in telling a story he holds dear to, finding the right cast was also a challenge as we required someone who would be able to pull off an autistic role. We auditioned multiple talents and finally picked Maxi Lim as we felt he was able to portray the character of Anthony the best. The best moment was when the crew and cast told me that they would miss this production. Because I know that we have all done ourselves proud in creating a film that we will all remember.
Cover image: I Believe, 2016, film still, 2016 © Courtesy 20/20 – The Temasek Short Film Project
