The first time Qi Yuwu shouted “Rolling, action!” for his directorial debut short film Cendol was very memorable.
“It was a historical moment for me,” the 48-year-old local actor said while recounting the experience to AsiaOne in an interview recently.
It was such a surreal experience that even as the actors started performing, he forgot to look at his monitor.
Yuwu explained: “I felt an inexplicable feeling of being moved. From an actor being called to ‘Action’, to calling actors to ‘Action’, it was an unforgettable moment for me.”
Cendol, which is premiering on Nov 29 as part of Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) Singapore Media Festival, centres on award-winning interior designer Sarah (Sharon Au), who returns to Singapore to visit her mother Daisy (Goh Guat Kian) and reminisces how much she, her ex-boyfriend Joe (Darren Lim) and her city have changed.
The film also marks Yuwu’s first attempt at scriptwriting, which he said wasn’t his initial intention.
He shared: “I had never worked as a scriptwriter before and thought I wouldn’t be good enough if I didn’t have the experience. I always believed that professional work should be done by a professional… But in the process, I understood that everyone’s emotions and experiences are different and they would write differently. So, to make sure that the script has what I truly want to express, I would have to write it myself.”
While he was reluctant to take on the work and underwent a very stressful period to write it, he was happy with the final product, and the whole process also made him respect scriptwriters and their craft even more.
Cendol is Yuwu’s reflection on and expression of life and its inevitability.
He explained: “I’m middle-aged now and at a stage where I treasure my past but at the same time, realised that many of those things are not around anymore, and only exist in my memories. We wouldn’t know what will happen in the future, and while we are looking forward to it, the future that we know now will also become a part of the past someday.
“As we grow older, we may also forget many things eventually. One day when we die, our memories and experiences will also cease to exist with us, as if none of this has ever happened before. I am trying to explore my emotions, experiences and thoughts at this stage in my life.”
Joanne Peh encouraged Yuwu to cast Sharon Au
Casting a suitable actress for the protagonist Sarah was Yuwu’s next step after completing the script and while reading it, he thought Sharon would be a good fit based on her life experiences.
However, his production budget was a concern as they would have to foot Paris-based Sharon’s airfare to return to Singapore for filming, on top of her fee.
Yuwu killed the idea and looked for another suitable actress in Singapore for the role.
When asked why he didn’t think about casting his actress wife Joanne Peh, he said the 42-year-old is not suitable as Sarah is a middle-aged woman. He added that Joanne was also aware of it and didn’t seek to portray her.
Despite that, she was crucial in Sharon, 50, ultimately getting cast.
Yuwu recounted: “Joanne asked me, ‘I think Sharon fits the role very well, why don’t you consider casting her?’… I replied Sharon is in Paris and Joanne said I should still try to discuss it with her because she might be okay to do it.
“I decided to just try talking to Sharon, although I thought the budget was still a problem. I also sent her the script to have a look, because I also didn’t know what she would think. But she told me later that she liked the script because she was touched by it.”
He approached the producer for help on the budget and they were able to cast Sharon successfully.
Yuwu clarified: “I told the producer and executive producer from the first day that I didn’t want any friendship rates when hiring actors and production staff, because I dislike this working style. Handling this professionally is very important and they should be paid equally.
“I don’t believe in friendship rates because I think it’s very unfair to hire them at a discounted salary while expecting them to put in 100 per cent of their effort. We hired everyone at the market price.”
‘What is the cendol in our hearts?’
Note: Spoilers ahead.
In Cendol, Yuwu questioned and reflected on whether we can hold on to anything in this life and what could have been, and these are shown through subtlety and details throughout the short film, encouraging audiences to look closely and reflect deeply.
He shared: “The characters in this film want to hold on to the past but they are unable to do so, and their memories and experiences are probably destined to disappear eventually. In this aspect, all of us are helpless.”
Despite that, it’s not all hopeless, as Yuwu believes there are still some things in life that everyone holds on to dearly in their hearts, and in this short film, it is represented through a bowl of cendol, an icy dessert familiar to Singaporeans.
In the film, Sarah’s father used to buy cendol for her and after he died, her mother Daisy continues the tradition by purchasing a bowl for her when she returns to Singapore. Sarah laments that the cendol now is different from the one she had in the past because of customisation.
“I think everyone has something that matters to us in our hearts. So, what is the ‘cendol’ in our hearts? Maybe the ‘cendol’ could have changed, but we would always remember it for the way it is in our hearts,” Yuwu explained.
Later in the film, Sarah also meets her ex-boyfriend Joe by chance and sees that he is already married to someone else and has become a father.
Yuwu shared: “Looking at Joe, she realises that his appearance has changed completely… he has become plump, grown a beard and become a father. Time has already passed and they can’t go back to how they were before.”
Sarah breaks down in front of her mother later and it’s not just from meeting her former love, but also coming to the realisation about the inevitable changes in her family, including her father’s death and her mother growing older. She has no control over keeping them and is reluctant to have to part with them eventually.
“In life, such a heartbreaking process is inevitable, and there are some things that we are unable to keep, thus becoming regrets,” he added.
Despite the heartbreak and inevitability of life, Cendol ends with a sense of relief and hope for the future through a bunch of brightly coloured balloons floating into the sky.
Yuwu told us they represent breaking free from burdens and a state of our lives where we can also have a carefree life.
“A floating balloon can’t decide on its direction because it is led by the wind and this is just like us — can we really decide on the direction we want to go? Many times, the decision does not lie with us and it’s dependent on the changes in society, country and people around us.”
There are many more details in this short film which he hopes audiences would be able to reflect in and find more meaning in when they watch it.
Life is just a process
Yuwu emphasised that the intention of the film is not to teach audiences how they should live their lives or to “convey some great wisdom”, but to lead viewers to form their own opinions, including about the purpose of life.
We asked what Yuwu for his take and he replied: “Life is just a process of experiencing. There is actually no purpose to life, we supplement purpose to life through our experiences and people we meet, and we find meaning among them… So, it’s the process that matters and not the result, because the ultimate result is our eventual death.”
Yuwu, who moved to Singapore to work in Mediacorp after winning the China round of Star Search 1999, also reflected on the changes that he has seen and experienced, having been apart from his family in Guangzhou since.
“Every time I returned to Guangzhou, I realise that a lot of things are different, such as the school that I used to study in, my living environment, the people around me… I experienced these changes deeply. Having been in Singapore for over 20 years, I also saw the major changes here. I believe Singaporeans have also experienced them.
“While they may not have thought about it, I hope this film brings awareness and who knows, they may also find their bowl of ‘cendol’. This ‘cendol’ represents the past and what matters to them the most, it could be a person or a place they can hold on to.”
Yuwu will also be speaking to the audience at a Q&A session after Cendol’s premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival, under Singapore Panorama Shorts Programme 1, on Nov 29, 2pm at Golden Village Cineleisure. Tickets are now available on Sistic.
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