All about his mother

TAIPING-born filmmaker Jacky Yeap explores an intense relationship between a mother and a son with a touch of subtlety in his first feature film Sometime, Sometime.

The 107 minute-long film first premiered at the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival in July, earning him a nomination in the Asian New Talent Awards category.

This month the film, made with the budget of RM200,000, will be screened at the 57th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.

The story centres on the relationship between Zi Kien and his single mother. One day, he finds out that his mother has a new boyfriend, Mr Lee, and he is worried that he might lose her to this stranger. This creates an emotional rift between mother and son.

The 28-year-old filmmaker says: “I lost my mother to cancer when I was only five years old. I grew up without really experiencing the bond between a mother and her son.

“Subconsciously, I might be talking about my mother in the film.”

What he is certain is that the inspiration for the movie comes from his relationship with the award-winning filmmaker Tan Chui Mui, who is his boss and his mentor.

“I have been working for her for the last four years,” he says.

“I always thought there is a hierarchy between a boss and their staff. This hierarchy between us does not exist. Our communication is not limited to work matters. We talk about life. Sometimes, we even go grocery shopping together.”

In some ways, he is trying to make sense of his unique relationship with his boss through this film. Interestingly, he decided to play the role of the son, and managed to convince Tan, who is also the producer of the film, to play the mother.

“I believe this casting will help my film to be as close as possible to what I have imagined in my mind,” he says.

His passion for film started way back as a child, when he grew up watching Chinese dramas on television.

“At that time, I could not find any friends to talk to about the shows I watched, since most of my friends were watching cartoons,” he says.

“I was too young to understand why I loved watching these Chinese dramas.”

But as he got older, he understood that he loved the visuals that was presented in these dramas. Slowly, he learned that visuals can be powerful and impactful, and that they can be used to tell stories.

When he was in Form Five, he used his handphone to make silly short films, and would show them to his friends.

“They admired my work, and I was glad to hear their compliments.”

It was then that he decided that he wanted to work on anything related to films. He graduated from University Malaysia Sarawak, majoring in filmmaking.

His all-time favourite filmmakers are Iranian directors Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Abbas Kiarostami.

“Their stories are sincere and lively,” he says.

Speaking of his family, Yeap has two older brothers, one who is working in Singapore as a businessman, while the other is a lecturer. His father sells fish in the wet market.

He says: “Since I am the youngest in the family, I do not have many burdens. I have the freedom to choose my ambition. My father is supportive of whatever I do.”

He adds that for his next project, he will be wearing the hat of a producer and searching for funds for two filmmakers, Lim Han Loong and Isyraqi Yahya, who want to direct their first feature films.

Lim’s work centres on family drama dealing with death, while Isyraqi’s film deals with the idea of narcissism.

“I love their stories,” he says. “It is a dream for every budding filmmaker to make their first feature film. I have fulfilled this dream. Now, it is my time to help other filmmakers to make their first feature film a reality.”

The idea to help other filmmakers came from watching his mentor Tan help many young Malaysian filmmakers to grow.

“Making films in Malaysia is hard,” he says.

“So, we shouldn’t be selfish and only think about our dreams. We should help our friends to make their own films too.”