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Arbitrary Fairytales

A wounded teenager challenges Death to figure out the identity of a whimsical serial killer. A chaptered recollection of memories and existentialist contemplation, shot entirely with a rotated camera, 'Arbitrary Fairytales' is also an absurdist puzzle designed to topple cinematic conventions, one vertical frame at a time.

  • PPAN
    Director
  • PPAN
    Writer
  • PPAN
    Producer
  • PPAN
    Editors
  • PPAN
    Visual Effects
  • PPAN
    Sound Design
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Feature, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Comedy, Fantasy
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 23 minutes 21 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 12, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Viet Nam
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - PPAN

Selected into Forbes Vietnam “30 Under 30” entrepreneurs list in early 2015 for pioneering achievements in musical theatre, PPAN (Phi Phi Anh Nguyen) is a DIY Vietnamese artist known for his talents and persistence in writing, directing, and producing extremely low-budget and curiously high-concept stories, both on stage and on screen. With a unique visual flair for the surreal and the tragic, PPAN is all about crafting narratives that challenge the mind and break the heart.

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Director Statement

There was a point when I looked at what I had, and asked myself: what does it take to make a movie? I had a little bit of savings, an old camera, and a team of children. The answer was straightforward: I had to aim for something drastically unique, because there was no point in trying to replicate a filmmaking process that others who, most likely with better resources, had accomplished much more successfully.
I grew up reading manga on weekdays and watching Hollywood blockbusters on weekends, and these two cultures have since then became part of my artistic vision. I like small, intimate stories that can be staged in a confined, distinct frame, but must somehow accumulate to form a larger and more satisfying picture. The American movies that engrossed my childhood were all seamlessly immersive, with every element seemingly tailored to make sure the audience care a lot about the story, and forget that nothing is really real. But this is 2015. I think suspension of disbelief has become a somewhat default state of mind, when it comes to cinema at least. When we watch a movie, we automatically try to feel it and to understand it. In the construction of this film, I have attempted to test the potentials of the relationship between the audience and my images. That hopefully will make this film a visually unique experience that challenges the mind and breaks the heart.