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.
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PPANDirector
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PPANWriter
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PPANProducer
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PPANEditors
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PPANVisual Effects
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PPANSound Design
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Project Type:Experimental, Feature, Student
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Genres:Drama, Comedy, Fantasy
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Runtime:1 hour 23 minutes 21 seconds
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Completion Date:December 12, 2015
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Production Budget:5,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:Viet Nam
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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.
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.