MOTH (Chew Yun Han)
14min 58s – 16:9
Synopsis
As funeral traditions proceed, loud Buddhist chants echo, teary-eyed mourners hold slow burning aromatic incense sticks. Emotions surface before the deceased’s portrait, with Hao Ran, the eldest, revealing stoicism from an estranged past. Post-rituals, a heartfelt moment with his mother unveils untold stories, reshaping his understanding of the stranger he’s so familiar with. How will Hao Ran react in the final moments, facing an irreversible goodbye?
Artist Statement
The story of MOTH follows a son’s journey to reconcile with his father. The son in the film relates to me in many ways. I have a similar relationship with my father, he isn’t one who expresses love in a direct way and is really strict to me. I grew up with a fear of not hitting the standards that he sets. This fear eventually evolved into resentment as I enter my adolescent years. Fights started to erupt, and we became more distant. During this time, I learned the many ways that he showed his love, through the little things that matter. Until today, whenever we’re under the same roof, he would make sure that I’m kept warm in my room when I’m asleep. He has shown me that love doesn’t have to be spoken out loud, it can also lie in the little things that we do for each other.
The theme of Untold Stories is one that resonates with me a lot. It is a recurring theme in my films, as I believe these stories hold the most meaning and value. In a world where we see the same plots and stories again and again, untold stories give us a chance to see something new, to experience a new perspective that hasn’t been shared before. In MOTH, Hao Ran is introduced to many untold stories about his father. These stories change his perception of the man that he’s resented for so long. Through this film, we show that untold stories are more than just stories, they are perspectives that can change how someone perceives the world.
Chew Yun Han
Chew Yun Han, better known as his nickname Chewing Gum, is an aspiring filmmaker from Malaysia. His style of work is to document and capture stories that are truly Malaysian, to introduce his culture, his perspective to a bigger audience. This desire to tell Malaysian stories is inspired by his belief that if we don’t tell our own stories, nobody else will. He is particularly interested in telling stories that have never been told, or have been overlooked, as he finds these stories to be much more interesting. His current motto in filmmaking is “Everything is a story”, as he finds that everything we see in life can be told as a story.