We Learn To Breathe In Distant Places

Many Singaporeans have been said to go missing on hiking trails. The tale of these spirit-infested forest grounds is a common ghost story among locals. I decided to expand on these stories that we grew up with and wanted to explore a deeper discussion of existence between the spaces of life and death and nothingness. It’s especially interesting to explore the ecology in my film, especially with the juxtaposition of the city-state of Singapore, with the lush environments we are encapsulated by. Folklore like this also seems to contradict the metropolitan image of Singapore. Yet, the prevalence of our ecological landscape and such tales reflect an underlying resistance or response to our national progress.

This film explores how the real world is sometimes a repetitive, clinical and stifling place, leading us to seek a sort of freedom and hope elsewhere, be it in our imagination or fantasy or stories. This film is a nihilistic proposal of our reality, showing how life and reality are always suffocating us and we can't ever find peace or eternal happiness neither in life nor death. Hence, this desire to disappear, expresses the desire not to exist or not be perceived as to be a part of nothing, and tether all ties to reality and escape the world. I try to capture this introspective, bleak yet intimate exploration of the self, and one’s identity in this film through a slow pace, pensive atmosphere, and music, to create a very suffocating yet mystical film that reflects the complex emotions of being alive. The film takes on mostly a reflective tone, with discussions, repetition, and a sort of dreaminess that reflects the state of mind of the protagonist.

Distant Places is a film that is quite dear to my heart as it is an honest exploration of the anxieties and feelings I have as a woman and a daughter. As a director and writer, I also find myself drawn to female relationships and how they function, hence, I enjoy interweaving feminist undertones into my works. The film hugely aims to show the experiences women have in suffocating marriages and how they have unfair expectations to fulfil the needs of their husbands and sons leaving them no room for themselves. Through the motif of dance, and having Mahia discover herself better and find freedom through her relationship with an ethereal being, I aim to explore the solidarity and comfort women offer one another, and how conversations with other women, and this dependency offer some release to the pressures one has due to the world. All women have some sort of deep understanding towards their mothers, especially as they grow older and start to see themselves in their mothers.

This film was inspired by my own family and how much I have seen my mother sacrifice or my family, and how much of herself she has lost in the process, and also expresses my fears of marriage and responsibilities. As I grow older, I start to realize how much society dictates your roles and functions, be it as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, etc. and even if we transgress it somewhat, we are hugely trapped in the circumstances we find ourselves in.