Interview: Songlap's Director Effendee Mazlan
A Family Affair
15.10.2012 - Malaysian filmmakers Effendee
Mazlan and Fariza Azlina Isahak have created quite a buzz on the
festival circuit with their gritty second feature, Songlap, which tells the story of two brothers caught
up in the criminal underworld of Kuala Lumpur. The pair are
partners in life as well as in filmmaking - the multi-talented
married couple have been collaborating on television series for
years before making the move to film - but this week Mazlan is on
his own, here on his first visit to the UAE for the screening of
Songlap in ADFF's New Horizons competition. The
self-taught filmmaker makes for an affable and friendly
interview.
When asked about collaborating with his wife, who wrote the
screenplay, Mazlan is candid. "We as husband and wife we work
together closely…. We prefer to work with their own material and we
usually come up with ideas together." He even jokes about the fact
that they sometimes argue.
Mazlan talks excitedly about how Songlap came about as a
project, saying that the initial idea of the film had a different
theme. It started out as a story of two brothers, but later altered
course. "We came across a newspaper article about a lady selling
babies and we changed the backdrop of the story. The current issue
at that time was human trafficking. We used the human trafficking
as a backdrop with the main core being both brothers."
Commenting on the on-screen chemistry between the two siblings
Ad and Am (played by Syafie Naswip and Shazeizy Sam), Mazlan
explains that they had auditioned both experienced actors and
first-timers, but the key issue in the casting was how the two
would pair up, adding that, "Syafie has experience and has worked
with Yasmine Ahmed, a famous director in Malaysia. As for Shaheizy
Sam, he is a big actor in Malaysia - that year he was considered a
top-ranking actor and won lots of awards too. We had to see after
we cast them and paired them up if they visually matched. We were
quite honoured and happy to have worked with them." Sara Ali, who
plays Hawa, a young woman caught up in a child-trafficking ring
whom Ad seeks to protect, adds to the strength of the cast. "Sara
Ali, Shaheizy Sam and Syafie have a great chemistry - and so do
even the actors that portray their parents."
When asked about the significance of the names of the characters
in the film Mazlan explains, "It is just a coincidence. It gives an
interesting touch." He continues by further explaining the
significance of other words used in the film - starting with its
title. "The title itself, it is very powerful, powerful words. Some
say it's a combination of a Chinese Malayan word but its origin is
unknown; it's street slang. Nowadays newspapers have started using
the word 'songlap'. It has to do a lot with embezzlement and
corruption."
Asked about the challenges faced as a director during the making
of the film, he says, "The biggest challenge for us is acting, to
make a decision on how to solve problems with scenes. Some times
what we plan might not work on location. When we write the script
it might look or sound good, but what you imagine on set is
different. We work things out together as a team".
As far as influences, Mazlan expresses his love he and Fariza
Azlina have for all kinds of films. "We love everything; it doesn't
matter if it is artistic or commercial," noting his admiration for
Latin American and French cinema and movies by Steven Spielberg,
"We are movie lovers. It doesn't matter as long as it's a good
story."
When asked about where Southeast Asian and Malaysian cinema are
heading, he says that both have many up-and-coing directors and
that a lot of viewers are supporting cinema. He c"The challenge is
to create something new story-wise. Me and my wife, we try not to
repeat ourselves, that's the most important thing. I can't speak
for other directors, but for my wife and I the challenge is
storytelling, thinking of a strong topic to write about. There are
a lot of potential writers that are capable of doing what other
international filmmakers are doing."
The interview ends with a question about his future
projects "At the moment I can't think about any other theme.
You have to see our next movie. We are thinking of solving a story,
it's still in the works; we are thinking, but not writing," he says
joking. "We solve the story then we write - that's no shocker.
That's definitely no shocker."
Karolina Abbas