Singapore-born filmmaker Nelicia Low’s feature debut, Piercing, is making waves on the film festival circuit, winning the Best Director award at Karlovy Vary and qualifying for the Busan International Film Festival. . The film is deeply based on Rowe’s personal experiences as a former national fencer and sister of an autistic brother.
“Pierce” depicts Jijie, a young fencer who reunites with his estranged brother Jihan after he is released from a seven-year juvenile prison for killing his opponent during a fencing competition. Believing Han’s claim of innocence, Jijie defies her mother’s attempts to erase Jihan from their lives and decides to help him. As Jihan trains Jiji for the national championship, their relationship deepens. However, an argument reveals Ji-han’s hostile past, and Ji-jie begins to question whether her brother is actually a violent sociopath.
Low’s journey to create “Pierce” began with a violent crime that occurred on the Taipei subway. There, the actions of young people shocked the community. However, it wasn’t just the act itself that surprised Lowe, but the aftermath. “While his parents took to the streets of Taipei to publicly apologize and beg the government to execute their son, his younger brother came to the police station crying and denying that his older brother would do such a terrible thing. .”
The incident triggered a period of introspection for Lowe, causing her to examine her own family relationships. “Seeing my brother’s reaction made me question my relationship with him,” she explains. “When I was little, my ideal was for him to be a loving and caring big brother, but as I grew up, I realized that because he is actually autistic, our relationship was all in my head. I realized that it was created by
Lowe’s personal journey became the emotional backbone of “Pierce.” “It’s been a difficult journey for me to accept that I’ll never know if my brother actually reciprocated my love, much like the path taken by Jijie, the main character in ‘Pierce,'” she says. .
The director’s competitive fencing background provided an additional layer. “Later, we added a fencing theme to the story after the character of Ji-jie’s older brother, Ji-han, who was highly intelligent, mysterious and manipulative,” explains Low. “I used to be a fencer on the Singapore national team, so I know a lot about the sport. Fencing is a lot like chess played with swords, and it’s all about strategy and anticipating each other’s moves.”
This strategic element of fencing serves as a metaphor for the psychological interaction between the brothers in the film. “This also reflects Jijie’s experience trying to deduce what her brother’s true intentions and motives are, whether his brother is actually a sociopath, and whether his brother really cares about her. “We’re working hard,” Lowe said.
At its core, Pierce grapples with deep questions about the nature of love and recognition. Law clearly states the central theme. “Pierce asks one essential question: What happens when you project your emotions onto someone you love and realize it might all just be an illusion?”
The film’s success in Karlovy Vary and its selection in Busan vindicates Lo. But it’s the audience’s reaction that gives her the most satisfaction. “The emotional victory for me is the reaction from the audience,” Lowe says. “Audience members have come up to me and messaged me on Instagram to tell me how moved and impacted they were by this film, many of them right after seeing ‘Pierce.’ He said he called his brother and told him he loved him.
Potocol producer Jeremy Chua was drawn to Low’s unique perspective from the beginning. “I’m always looking for directors who have unique life experiences and can adapt subliminal moments into film,” says Chua. “When Nelicia first introduced this story to us, she described in vivid detail what it takes to win a fencing match. She used evocative imagery to “The combination of explosive, agile bursts of physical attack and psychological mind games used to deceive opponents.”
Chua was particularly impressed with Lowe’s vision for translating these elements into film. “She explained to me how she wanted to blend the intense elements of competitive sports into the directing, cinematography, and editing,” he recalls. “I was immediately drawn to her unique approach, which tackles the duality of love and war, violence and vulnerability in a way that only a former national fencer can.”
Producer Sam Chua Wei-shi added, “When I first met Nelicia to talk about ‘Piercing,’ it not only tugged at our heartstrings, but also challenged the way we understand the world around us. We talked about our desire and ambition to make a film like “We.” After seeing her work in the short film Freeze (2014), I knew Nelicia would bring out the best in her actors and creative collaborators to deliver an emotional visual and auditory spectacle. I was convinced. ”
The production of “Pierce” also provided opportunities for international cooperation. “‘Pierce’ was also an interesting opportunity to explore new co-production structures between Singapore, Taiwan and Poland,” says Weisi.
Following the success of “Piercing,” Lowe is already working on his next project. “I’m currently working on my next film, Duet, which is set in San Francisco in the early 2000s,” she reveals. “Like ‘Pierce,’ ‘Duet’ is deeply autobiographical in its emotional core. It is a comedic melodrama in English and Cantonese in which a successful Cantonese opera actress in her late 40s follows her longtime stage partner… The story is about an older, charismatic transvestite actress whose career is in jeopardy when she is about to be usurped by a new, young actress.
Meanwhile, Chua has worked on The Mau Naing’s film “Ma:The Cry of Silence,” which was submitted to Busan’s New Currents Competition, and Natesh Hegde’s Busan APM project “Tiger’s Pond,” which is in the final stages of post-production. , is involved in several projects. Production and Rafael Manuel’s “Filipinana”, It won an award at APM last year.
Wei Shi has collaborated with up-and-coming Singaporean directors on his debut films, including director Gisele Lin’s youth drama “Midnight Blue Spring” and director Huang Junxian’s drama “Build to Order” (tentative title). are.
