PUBLISHED ONBYYeo Shu HuiLocal filmmaker Ang Geck Geck Priscilla, who grew up with divorced parents, learnt to be resilient and independent since she was young.
The 38-year-old told AsiaOne during an interview at the press conference for her debut feature Ah Girl on Nov 2: "My parents don't really know what I do for a living actually. Until I called my father to ask for help."
While making the movie in 2024, she needed a location to film scenes that featured the character Mummy's one-room flat. Filming was initially to be done in Malaysia but it was aborted later due to some issues.
She recounted: "I chose to do it at my father's place because I thought I could give him the money to rent his home for filming, but it turned out it was really quite hard to shoot in it, and I had to spend more money to transform the home.
"My father and I grew a bit closer after that, because previously we didn't really talk. For the first time, he knows what I do for a living."
Geck Geck shared that after completing the scenes, she and her father had a chat about her work. While she didn't think he would understand her better, his "curiosity" about her passion for filmmaking is a step forward in improving their communication.
She also told us she lost contact with her mother after the latter remarried.
Inspired by Geck Geck's childhood, Ah Girl is set in 1994 Singapore and tells the story of seven-year-old Ang Swee Swee (Ong Xuan Jing), who is caught between Mummy (Carrie Wong) and Ah Pa's (James Seah) separation, while protecting her younger sister Ah Tian (Sydney Wong), navigating childhood and carrying various big emotions she has no words for.
We asked Geck Geck what she hopes her parents would understand once they saw her film and she responded: "I don't want to put any hopes on what they would get from this.
"This is just a film in which I have many things I wanted to tell them but didn't get a chance to. I just wanted them to see what I was thinking about at that point in time for the choices they had made and if they had made a different choice, how each of us would have seen it."
She also hoped audiences would consider treating children equally as adults and be more sensitive towards their thoughts and feelings after watching the film.
While Ah Girl was filmed in 2024, the script was more than 10 years in the making and Geck Geck revealed during a post-screening Q&A session at the Singapore International Film Festival on Oct 30 that she underwent two years of therapy while working on it.
When asked what her motivation to persevere was, she told us: "It's like a calling. The environment that I grew up in makes me a very resilient person. I can't really say why, but I just know I believe in what I am doing."
She added she intended for the film to be a trilogy and would be making the second one when 10-year-old newcomer actress Xuan Jing turns 17.
Ah Girl is well acclaimed at various film events, including winning Best ASEAN Film and New Voices Award at Bangkok International Film Festival, as well as receiving three nominations - Best New Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best New Performer - at the upcoming 63rd Golden Horse Awards.
At the 37th Singapore International Film Festival Silver Screen Awards on Oct 31, it also received the top prize Best Asian Feature Film.
We asked if she expects to clinch an award at the Golden Horse Awards on Nov 22, and Geck Geck responded: "I don't have any expectations. I am very grateful for everything. Also, no expectation, no disappointment.
"I spent more than 10 years making this film and already felt very relieved when it was finally made, so everything else is a bonus to me."
Despite that, Geck Geck acknowledged that with recognition, she may be able to get more investors for her second feature film - a psychological horror, the script of which she is currently working on.
Geck Geck also shared during the post-screening Q&A session about casting Xuan Jing, who was shortlisted among 13 people from a workshop she held.
The girl was seven when she played Swee Swee.
Geck Geck shared: "I observed all the kids and was finding someone who is closest to the character Ah Girl (Swee Swee) so she doesn't really need to act and could just be herself.
"For Xuan Jing, she's just so different from the other kids; she is naturally very sensitive and sensible, which is very rare, but there is still an innocence in her because after all, she's still a child."
After the workshop, with the consent of Xuan Jing's parents, she brought the girl, as well as Sydney, then four, for outdoor activities, rehearsing the script together and playing at the same time.
Xuan Jing told AsiaOne that she enjoys acting and has good memories filming some of the scenes, such as the one where Sydney, James and her drew together, as well as playing with water in the bathroom with Sydney.
She also had a bowl-cut hairstyle for a scene in the film, and we asked if it was a challenge for her.
Xuan Jing replied: "It was a little difficult because I felt it was a bit ugly. I had very long hair which I thought was very beautiful, but after cutting my hair, it felt very boyish. I was a bit upset. But when I went to school, none of my friends laughed at me."
Geck Geck explained during the post-screening Q&A session that she had asked the girl's mum for permission and they had also discussed it with Xuan Jing beforehand.
She added: "Xuan Jing understands that cutting her hair was for the role and it wasn't easy for her because she had to go to school and face her classmates.
"I told her she might face issues in school and told her mum to look out for her... Xuan Jing gave us the green light in the end. But of course, at the moment when we had to cut her hair [in the scene], we could still feel her reluctance because part of her did not want it.
"I asked her to hold that feeling and release it during filming so she could bring out her best performance, and she understood."
Xuan Jing told us she is "very excited" about her Best New Performer nomination in the Golden Horse Awards and hopes to receive the honour.
She added: "But if I don't win, it's okay, because it's very good to get nominated already. If I win, it's going to be a bonus."
Ah Girl opens in Singapore cinemas on Nov 19.
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