Prisca Tang
“Watching documentaries can spark imagination in our daily lives and imagination will give you a better comprehension of the world,” 5th Macau International Documentary Film Festival Programme Director Penny Lam Kin-Kuan told The Macau Post Daily this week at a café near Tap Seac Square.
“The thing about documentaries is that they are rooted in people’s daily lives. They are based on reality and sometimes they can be crazier than drama plots,” Lam said.
According to Lam, a lot of people have a misunderstanding that documentaries are mundane and boring yet they fail to realise that there are different styles of documentaries. He pointed out that’s so because people often associate documentaries with being news related, yet there are actually documentaries that are filmed more like a movie.
“Documentaries such as ‘Come Here’ and ‘Nightfall’ by Anocha Suwichakornpong from Thailand are movies about movies. These are easier for those who wanted to get into documentaries but are ‘too scared’ to watch them because they think they are boring,” Lam pointed out.
Lam also said that since the movie “Nomadland”, which closely resembles a documentary which won both a Golden Globe and an Oscar, more people have been intrigued by documentaries. He also noted that the development of filming equipment makes filming documentaries a lot easier so a lot of people have started to specialise in this genre.
Lam said that documentaries do not have to be mundane and rigid, adding that “The Witches of the Orient”, which talks about a Japanese women’s volleyball team that stormed the world in the 70s, used animation and electronic music as additional elements to be more “youthful and attractive”.
Drama comes from life
Lam also pointed out that sometimes documentaries are easier for people to digest because some concepts that they portray are not as hard to grasp as movies.
“The documentary ‘The Painter and The Thief’ is a real-life incident where a female artist’s muse is a man who stole her work. There are crazy things happening in life. Drama comes from life, but life is always better than drama,” Lam commented.
The etymology of the Greek word “drama” translates as “act” into English.
Lam said that “Bitter Love” is another documentary that allows one to reflect and contemplate on “what is love?” He summarised that the film is about a group of single elderly on board a cruise ship in Russia, adding that they were speed dating.
“The difference between a youngster going speed dating versus old Russians doing it is that the latter is way more philosophical,” Lam said.
Lam said he still does not know whether it is because they are Russians or because they are old and have a new found perspective on the topic of love, but hearing them talk about relationships makes one ponder the true meaning behind the word “love”.
Documentaries being a time capsule
Even though Lam thinks that documentaries that were filmed like a movie with a more dramatic plot can attract more “newbies” to this genre, he did not dismiss the importance of documentaries being a time capsule of what has happened in the past.
“Documentaries such as Caught in the Net, Sabaya and Minamata Mandala recorded what had actually happened. Documentaries are evidence that these things did happen and how it affected people. They can be very heavy and hard to digest but the ugliness around is never easy to accept,” Lam said.
Lam said that documentaries give people new perspectives, it makes people see the world that they once think they are so familiar with from a different angle.
“Being in Macau sometimes limits our imagination as we don’t meet as many people from different backgrounds, even our space is very restricted. However, through documentaries we can be in touch with the outside, we can have a sneak peak of the world that we have yet to see, we can travel with the current restrictions,” Lam described.
The 5th Macau International Documentary Film Festival start on Friday and runs until July 25.
Bitter love Photos: 5th Macao International Documentary Film Festival
Festival Programme Director Penny Lam Kin-Kuan
Minamata Mandala
The Painter and The Thief
The witches of the Orient
Caught in the net
