Pecah Lobang (Busted) is back in India. This time, it’s screening at the Kashish film festival in Mumbai next Saturday, April 24. And man, am I excited to be back in my favorite city in Hindustan.

I’m guessing that several short films will be screened back to back from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. And that there will be a Q&A session after.

So don’t be square, see you there.

More details below:

Screening date: April 24 (Saturday)
Time: 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Venue: Alliance Francaise De Bombay
40 Theosophy Hall
Marine Lines, Mumbai
(Though the address says Marine Lines but actually the venue is just few yards walking distance from Churchgate. Churchgate is the beginning point for all the local trains in South Mumbai.)

Thought I’d add it to the page (even though it’s late!)


This Human World, Vienna

Mezipatra Film Festival, Prague

Pecah Lobang (Busted) comes to India.

(Photo by Panoptico)

I still can’t believe it’s screening at The Nigah QueerFest this Saturday. The documentary has been traveling to different parts of the world in the past year, but I haven’t been able to attend any of the screenings, with the exception of San Francisco, because they were all so far away.

But this time, it’s going to be in Delhi. And just 10 minutes from where I live! Pretty kicked about about it all and can’t wait to finally share it with my friends here in the capital of India.

I’ve listed the details of the screening below and look forward to seeing you, your friends and your family. Lots of love.

Venue: India Social Institute on Lodhi Road (Map)
Date: October 24 (Saturday)
Time: 6:15 a.m.

For more details about the Nigah Festival, click on this link.

Watch this space.

Was a little nervous that there would be a low turnout because the festival committee had slotted my documentary mid-day, mid-week. Bahhhh, I know. So during the days leading up to the screening, I sent Facebook, Twitter and e-mail shoutouts to everyone I knew who was in the Bay Area. Pretty shameless, but hopefully not too annoying.

Several of us from the SF State j-department and some old friends met up at the memorable Orphan Andy’s diner (shot a scene for a multimedia piece here a few years ago) for a quick bite before slinking over to the grand old theatre. Once inside, I think my mouth just gaped open by the number of folks who actually made it out on a weekday. Possibly 80 percent of the seats in the entire lower house were filled (and the Castro Theatre is huge!). Many thanks and lots of love to you guys, especially those who played hooky from work.

The Q&A after the screening was a little disappointing though. Folks mainly asked about how difficult it was to shoot the documentary and how Malaysians responded to it.

It’s always nice to hear from people who are critical of the film and who might not necessarily agree with the arguments presented. Then again, I guess I’d be hard-pressed to receive such feedback and as many intense questions in one of the most sexually liberated and accepting cities, compared to Kuala Lumpur last September. Still, it was superrific. There’s nothing like having one’s film about the transgender community screened during Pride Week in one of the largest LGBT film festivals in the world.

Just realized that I haven’t updated this site in ages. A lot has happened since the last post, which was written in Kuala Lumpur a month after the premier of “Pecah Lobang” in Malaysia.

In mid-December last year, I packed my life in two suitcases (once again) and headed west of Southeast Asia to New Delhi. It’s the best conscious decision that I made in 2008. And since then, life’s been one helluva combination of fulfilling work, sometimes bizarre but interesting travels, a few good adventures and some bumps along the way no doubt, and some pretty amazing surprises.

As for the film “Pecah Lobang,” I haven’t been actively sending it to festivals. Reasons: Been busy. And when free, been procrastinating.

And so I was extremely delighted when out of the blue, it was picked up by the Social Justice Film Festival in Seattle last April, and beyond surprised that it will soon be heading to my favorite city; possibly the most beautiful, kind, diverse and sexually liberal and accepting city in the world — San Francisco. (It’s hard not to get all excited and nostalgic, as I spent one of the best years of my life, so far, in the Bay Area.)

The film, which is listed as “Pecah Lobang (Busted)” for the non-Malaysian film circuit, is screening at the 33rd Frameline LGBT International Film Festival on June 24. It will be showcased alongside three other foreign LGBT films under “Global Queers.”

So if you’re in the Bay Area end of June, and for some reason happen to be free on the last Wednesday of the month at 2:15 p.m., please come for the screening. (If you skip work for it, you’ll get brownie points and lots of good karma.) There is supposed to be a discussion of sorts after the film.

So, come one, come all. See ya in the Castro.

Venue: Castro Theatre

Date: June 24, 2009 (Wednesday)

Time 2:15 p.m.

PS. Dear friends in Delhi, I’m trying to get it screened here too. We’ll see. Fingers, toes crossed.

Special thanks to Leong Mei Yee, Elaine Foster, Brenda Danker, Anna Har, Chi Too and the Freedom Film Fest support staff and volunteers. “Pecah Lobang” and the Freedom Film Fest wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Freedom Film Fest is organized by Pusat Komas, a non-profit social justice media organization based in the Klang Valley. Every year, Pusat Komas awards three filmmakers RM5,000 each to produce documentaries about human rights in Malaysia. The films usually cover issues that are often deemed too “sensitive” by local mainstream media.

The three winning films in 2008 were:
Abror Rivai’s “Pilihanraya Umum Malaysia ke-12: Demokerasi atau rebutan kerusi,” which compares the election process in Malaysia, South Korea and Afghanistan; Justin Johari’s “Who Speaks For Me,” about a Muslim hip hop group searching for its voice in Islam; and of course, “Pecah Lobang.”

The festival also brings in other human rights documentaries from around the world. This year’s film selection included John Pilger’s “The War on Democracy” and William Neesen’s “Black Road.”

And it’s free! Festival go-ers do not have to pay a single cent to catch the films and interact with the filmmakers.

In addition to organizing the annual film festival, Pusat Komas also shoots and archives footage of various political, social issues that do not make it to mainstream media, as they are deemed too controversial by government-affiliated news networks and organizations.

Founded in 1993, the non-profit runs on a shoe-string budget and are dependent on individual donors and organizations like Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Without funding, there is no festival. Without continuous financial support, there won’t be anyone to care for archival footage that you won’t find anywhere else in Malaysia.

If you would like to support Pusat Komas please contact:
Pusat Komas (Community Communication Centre)
40-A, Jalan 52/18,
46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 603-7968 5415
Email: freedomfilmfest@gmail.com

Terima kasih, kam siah, xièxie, nandri for your support.

Sincerely,
Poh Si

If you are in Malaysia:
- The price of one DVD is RM20 if you collect it directly from the filmmaker who lives in PJ/KL.
- If you want it shipped to your mailing address, it will cost RM20 + RM5 (shipping and packaging).
- Contact the filmmaker directly at pohsiteng@gmail.com

If you are NOT in Malaysia:
- The price of one DVD is US$15 + US$5 (shipping and packaging).
- For each additional DVD, US$1 (shipping and packaging) will be added to your total bill.
- You can purchase it via PayPal by clicking on the button below.

Thank you for supporting an independent filmmaker!

The Freedom Film Fest comes to a close in Penang next weekend.

“Pecah Lobang” is screening Saturday, 28 Sept. at Wawasan Open University on Northam Road. There will be a Q&A session after.

Look forward to bringing it home. See you.

Please make reservations with FFF coodinator, Elaine Foster: freedomfilmfest@gmail.com

State screening date, time and number of tickets in e-mail. You will need to arrive at 7:30 p.m. to collect your free tickets.

Friends from Komas said there was a heated discussion after.

Here’s an excerpt from a post on Yawning Bread about how the audience at the Freedom Film Fest responded to the LGBT films, including “Pecah Lobang”:

“… Islam figured strongly again during question time following three queer (LGBT) films. Except for two Malaysian women in the audience who identified as gay, almost all the other Malaysians who spoke adopted a negative stance, usually based on their religion, be it Islam or Christianity.

One young woman in a headscarf argued that in Islam, a person is not complete until he or she marries and procreates, and that is why being homosexual is wrong, because it frustrates the possibility of completion.

A young man, asked whether he would marry someone he couldn’t love — something often demanded of gay people — evaded the question, saying it was “hypothetical,” without explaining why he thought it was so.

The same negative attitude was seen after the screening of “Pecah Lobang,” a documentary about transsexual sex workers, 88 percent of whom were Malay-Muslim, according to the film. Again, the audience’s stance seemed to be that they “should not be like that”; it’s against the teachings of Islam which says “males must be male and females must be female.” Also, why can’t they hold a proper job, they asked, without even realising that it was the job discrimination the transsexuals faced that forced them into prostitution.

I was quite amused to see how a group of people, obviously attracted to a film festival that celebrated “Democratic Space” as the tagline of the event called it, and perceptibly sympathetic to the demand for greater freedom of expression, reverted to religious authoritarianism once the subject of sexuality came up. One moment they are nodding when the Mufti of Perlis is shown in a film saying that when someone asks to leave Islam, he has already renounced it in his heart and forcing him to stay within the religion is meaningless, another moment the same people are demanding conformity with the religion in matters sexual. It only goes to show how difficult it is to integrate various aspects of liberty in people’s thought processes.”

Read the entire article by Au Waipang from Yawning Bread by clicking on this link.