Malaysian Short Film By Kit Ong To Screen At Genova’s FLIGHT Film Festival 2022

Written by Eksentrika

Malaysian Short Film By Kit Ong To Screen At Genova’s FLIGHT Film Festival 2022

Kit Ong, an experimental genre filmmaker, will have his latest short film, Woman Trapped In Between, screened in the third edition of FLIGHT – Mostra Internazionale Cinema di Genova.

The film will be featured in the new non-competitive section, Visioni Flight.

“I submitted “Woman Trapped In Between” via Filmfreeway. This is my first time making submissions. I was a novice at this, and am now learning how things work in the film festival world. Back in 2005 and 2006, when I first started out, Amir Muhammad helped to recommend my films to some festivals,” said Kit.

kit ong film 2 — *Kit Ong’s latest film, Woman Trapped In Between, has no music but has a specific sound design to punctuate and accentuate the emotional roller-coaster of the character.*

Kit, is a veteran Malaysian filmmaker, who made Malaysia’s first and only underground silent feature-length film, The Flowers Beneath My Skin.

“The Flowers Beneath My Skin” (was) my first feature film. I (had) wanted to start my feature-film career as if I started at the beginning of filmmaking, during the time of the Lumière brothers. So, it is to progress from “silent” to “talkies”. And personally, I like silence, I find silence to be more than just the lack of sound. There is power, mystery, and knowledge in it,” said Kit, adding that he did not know he was an experimental filmmaker until he began creating films.

Kit Ong's Woman Trapped In Between, is in collaboration with Adriana Agcaoili from the Philippines. — *Kit Ong’s Woman Trapped In Between, is in collaboration with Adriana Agcaoili from the Philippines.*

He pointed out that being called “experimental” puts one in a very niche place.

“I love genre films, and I make genre films, but I explore different interpretations of how to tell my horror, sci-fi, and mystery stories.

“I suppose it’s in my nature to think and do things a certain way. My films have my DNA in them. So, to support filmmakers like myself, I think it’s necessary to embrace experimentation as a basic human curiosity so that you are not closed off to possibilities. That is a good place to start. Humankind’s progress has always been based on experimentation.”

Woman Trapped In Between marks Kit Ong's return to independent filmmaking after a 16-year hiatus since his silent feature film premiered in 2006. — *Woman Trapped In Between marks Kit Ong’s return to independent filmmaking after a 16-year hiatus since his silent feature film premiered in 2006.*

Kit has also made films that are not avant-garde. His early shorts, “Linda”, a sociopathic thriller, and “Happiness Is A Little Teardrop”, a psychological drama, are narrative-driven.

“I Was Here”, a Japanese-language psychological horror, selected as Audience Choice at the Malaysian Shorts in 2005, was an experimental narrative.

“I see films as an experiential phenomenon. When we watch a film, we give our minutes and hours to it. If the film has no effect on you, it’s wasted time. But, if the film connects with you, for whatever personal reason, known or unknown, it attaches its memory to you. I hope my films will have an audience that wants to experience a memory.”

Kit Ong's short film is about a woman trapped in a turbulent cycle of mental and physical subservience to man and child. — *Kit Ong’s short film is about a woman trapped in a turbulent cycle of mental and physical subservience to man and child.*

Kit is currently also working on a documentary with the working title, “Method In Madness” about creative people and their creativity. He is also behind, The Kollective Lab, and UBXED (Unboxed), a children’s story platform.

FLIGHT 2022 will take place in Genova, Italy, from 28th October to 1st November 2022.

FLIGHT showcases films with a poetic or visionary value, experimental and thought-provoking films, avant-garde works, and innovative languages.

The main venue for the event is the Auditorium of San Salvatore, an XVII Century baroque church now used by the University of Genova.

The Festival is organized by the non-profit cultural association Associazione Culturale 28 Dicembre and ACEC, in partnership with local entities and organizations.