You'll be forgiven if underground film making isn't the first thing that leaps to mind when you think of Singapore, after all the nation state has a well developed reputation for civility and order that seems at odds with much of anything underground, really. But when you think about it those are prime breeding grounds for rebellion and that has certainly been the case with Tzang Merwyn Tong, a Singaporean film maker who first came to our attention with international festival hit A Wicked Tale. But before A Wicked Tale there was e'TZAINTES, a debut film shot guerrilla style for a total budget of about three hundred dollars. A sequel has just been written as Tzang's feature debut and the original is about to find its way to DVD.
[e'TZAINTES] is a no-budget epic teenage black comedy about misfits fighting against the oppressive system in an ivy-league type college. The entire production cost less than US$300 to shoot. Shot in Singapore when we were still teenagers. [e'TZAINTES] has enjoyed a really good response in underground film festivals, from Berlin to Montreal. Film can be described as a reckless, b-grade, unapologetic and fiercely independent coming-of-age film about rejection and rebellion in the new world.
You'll find a trailer for the film embedded below the break and while the meager budget is certainly apparent enough equally apparent is the fact that a lack of budget can't squash talent ...
