"Gui Jie" explores why devotees practise 7th-month rituals
SINGAPORE:
Genevieve Woo not only reads news on MediaCorp's Channel NewsAsia, she also has a passion for making movies. She spent one and half years to make her latest film called "Gui Jie" - Chinese for "ghost festival".
The festival takes place during the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Believers say spirits roam the earth during that month. Genevieve said: "When we first started, we met a lot of naysayers. They would say, 'hey, the Hungry Ghost Month - we grew up with it, it happens every year, don't romanticise it. People just burn stuff, that's all you need to know'. "When I went to deeper research and met the people who are active participants and devotees of this festival, there was so much out there.
And this is what I want to share with Singaporeans."
Director Tony Kern said their 90-minute documentary will add to the present mix of Singapore-made films on the festival. He said: "You're going to see not only 'getai' (song performances on a public stage) and street opera; you're going to see the invitation of the spirits, you're going to see rare rituals, and you're going to get inside to the underlying aspects of why these people practise seventh-month rituals."
The producers are in talks with distributors to show the film in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. There are also plans to submit the film for international festivals in Cannes and America.
No comments:
Post a Comment