A love story. At first sight maybe a simple love story. About how blind a girl in love can be. Slowly but unavoidable the story will become less simple, will raise more questions without giving too many answers.

Main character - if not main victim - is Ah Peng (Coral Ong Li Whei). A common girl from Penang. She arrives in some outskirt of Kuala Lumpur to find work in the economy rice stall of her aunt. She is taken in by the family like an older daughter and shares a room with little sister Mei (Leong Jiun Jiun). In a way Mei is the main character - and certainly no victim - of her own love story with a mysterious pen pal. The indolent Ah Peng and the bright and lively Mei get along very well. Like real sisters.

Ah Peng has a boy friend in Penang. Regularly she makes her way to the public phones to make her ritual call. Fate has it that just there she attracts the attention of John (Stephen Chua Jyh Shyan). John shamelessly listens in on the conversations between Ah Peng and her boy friend and right there starts a relationship that has to be doomed. John even tells her - in the same shameless way - how to lure a girl into prostitution. But revealing this can not stop this fatal story.

Although certainly not a period film the movie renders homage to two disappearing tools of communication: the handwritten letters by Mei and the fixed to the ground public phone calls by Ah Peng. Soon this kind of phone booths and letter boxes will form a problem for the movie art departments.
(Gertjan Zuilhof)

Malaysia 2006

Director
Tan Chui Mui

Scenario
Tan Chui Mui

Producer
Amir Muhammad (Da Huang Pictures, Malaysia)

Sales
Da Huang Pictures

Print source
Da Huang Pictures

Cast
Ah Ping...................................Coral Ong Li Whei
John.......................................Stephen Chua
Mei.........................................Leong Jiun Jiun
Hong Jie..................................Ho Chi Lai
Ramanamahan

Photography
James Lee

Sound Design
Steven Leong

Editor
Ho Yuhang

ArtDesign
Yee Low Chia

Assistant Director
Gan Hui Yee

Language of the o.v.: mandarin; s-t. english

Year of production: 2006
Country of production: Malaysia
Format: Beta SP
Length
1h30

Supported by
Hubert Bals Fund

Film Festival and Sales:
Lorna Tee
lorna.tee[at]gmail.com


FESTIVALS / PRIX / AWARDS / TELEVISIONS

31st Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2007
> Golden Digital award
> Asian Digital Film award

11th Pusan International Film Festival, 2006
> FIPRESCI AWARD
> NEW CURRENTS AWARD

36th IFFR - International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2007
> VPRO Tiger Award (10,000 Euros and guaranteed screening on the Dutch TV channel VPRO)

21st Fribourg International Film Festival 2007
> SWISS OIKOCREDIT AWARD (10'000 CHF, bestowed upon the producer)