人質

主演：

羅子涵Justin Kan Rui LiangRaymond Yongwith 『OMEGA』 voiced by Lim Yu-Beng

導演：

羅子涵

類型：

電影 短片

地區：

新加坡

年份：

2009

劇情：

Country of Production: SINGAPORE Expected Date of Completion: April 2009 (In Production) Estimated Duration: 15 mins Language: English / Hokkien Dialect Subtitles: English / Mandarin Shooting Format: HDV (uncompressed) Director and Screenwriter: Loo Zihan Producer: Derrick Chew Director of Photograp… Country of Production: SINGAPORE Expected Date of Completion: April 2009 (In Production) Estimated Duration: 15 mins Language: English / Hokkien Dialect Subtitles: English / Mandarin Shooting Format: HDV (uncompressed) Director and Screenwriter: Loo Zihan Producer: Derrick Chew Director of Photography: Lim Teck Siang Production Designers: Annette Heitmann, Daniel Lim Music Composer: Lim Yi Benjamin Still and Publicity Photographer: Mintio Synopsis: Threshold – Nation before community and society before self. Threshold is a 15 minute experimental short inspired by a true Singaporean entrapment case. The promise of sexual gratification in exchange for drugs tempts Terry to fall into the trap laid out by the Central Narcotics Bureau. Threshold depicts the various incidents that lead up to the moment before Terry arrives. Two law enforcement officers, Anton and Boon grapple with their own morals and the ethics of their actions, climaxing in a shocking revelation from Anton. Threshold is helmed by an award-winning team – written and directed by Loo Zihan, winner of the 「Nuovo Sguardi」 Award at the 23rd Turino Gay and Lesbian Festival for his debut feature film Solos, and produced by Derrick Chew, producer of Tan Xin (Conversations), which won 「Best Film」 at the 20th Singapore International Film Festival. Director』s Statement: It was April Fool』s Day in 2006, when the incident happened. 27-year-old Adrian Yeo See Seng was arrested for the possession of drugs in a hotel along Bencoolen Street. The incident came out in the papers a few months later and a mix of emotions ran through me as I read about the details of how he was entrapped by two Central Narcotics Bureau Officers. I was indignant, angry, worried and frustrated – most importantly I was wondering, what would I have done if I were in his shoes? Being human, would I have been able to resist the promise of sex by a charming stranger? Adrian and I graduated from the same secondary school and junior college, and like him, I am gay. I never knew him personally, but I almost knew how it felt like to be him, living out your teenage years in a repressive all boys』 school. At the same time, I sympathized with the two officers who were tasked to trap him. Did they have any moral dilemma about the task at hand? Did their colleagues crack homophobic jokes about them? Who were these faceless, nameless people? Under this surge of confused emotions, I penned my first draft of the script – Threshold. That was almost 2 years ago, fast forward to the present. Earlier this year, while casually talking about this incident to some friends, someone mentioned that Adrian has passed away - he died as a result of health complications. The sudden news of his demise came as a shock to me, and I felt it was time I did something with this script I had written, before the memory of this incident gets erased over time. Essentially, this fictionalized treatment of the incident does not serve to be a factual account of the event, but rather a means for us to question ourselves – a mirror for self-reflection. Ultimately I am questioning what choices would a person make in a situation like this, in a nation that supposedly values society above self. Public Appeal: Threshold is currently in pre- production, and will be filming in Mid January - we will be looking at raising an estimated amount of SGD$26,000 for the production. We need your help to realize this film, if you think this is a film worth supporting, please donate generously. We accept Paypal donations for smaller sums, you can donate and specify your own amount by clicking here. Alternatively, you can contact us at [email protected] if you would like to make a larger contribution or support the film in kind. Production Team Biographies: Loo Zihan – Writer / Director Touted to be one of Singapore』s boldest filmmakers, Zihan is completing his BFA in Digital Filmmaking at the Nanyang Technological University』s School of Art Design and Media with his thesis film – Threshold. Zihan wrote, co-directed, co-edited and starred in his debut feature film Solos (2007), which premiered at the 12th Pusan International Film Festival, and is the first Singaporean film to be selected for the prestigious AFI (American Film Institute) Fest in Los Angeles. 在2009年7月23日的南洋理工大學畢業典禮上，畢業生致辭代表是來自藝術、設計與媒體學院的羅子涵。這名幾年前早在國內外影展獲得不少獎項的青年導演，在自己的畢業演講中向校方提出了抗議。羅子涵為畢業短片《人質》（Threshold）設計的海報，本應在舉行畢業典禮的南洋禮堂展出，但校方行政人員卻在畢業典禮的一周前發電郵給他，指「畢業典禮有兒童出席，海報設計並『不恰當』」，要求他修改海報作品。海報呈現的是一名在鏡子前回頭的半裸男子，一名男性的雙手從背後搭著他的肩和攬著他的腰。事實上，今年4月末，在藝術、設計與媒體學院的畢業生作品展中，這張海報已亮相了兩個多星期，公眾與嘉賓（包括主賓新聞通訊及藝術部代部長呂德耀）在出席學院開幕典禮時，也未對海報提出任何異議。 在演講中，羅子涵表示自己原想照校方的指示修改海報，但在面對自己的作品遭審查的情況下，他發現自己無法由衷地說出講稿中所倡導的「（藝術家的）尊嚴」與「開創新境界」等字眼，因為他覺得自己必需誠實，才「對得起推選他為畢業生代表的同學們」。 最後，他決定不展示海報。 一般人很容易將羅子涵的抗議斷定為「大逆不道」，「不知感恩」。實際上，這類普遍見於主流媒體如海峽時報在線讀者的意見，犯上了斷章取義和管窺蠡測的毛病。說斷章取義，不僅因為大部分讀者都在未觀看過電影的情況下妄下定論；此外，羅子涵在演講中呼請畢業生起立，以掌聲對親屬表示感激，還向教授們致敬。他的語氣真摯懇切，而就算是談到審查事件時，也沒有表現出強烈而憤慨的對抗性姿態。 說管窺蠡測，則因我們還未理解「大學」這個空間本身的意義。實際上，羅子涵發言的場合、時間和對象是最恰當不過了。大學本來就應該是一個包容異議、學術自由和獨立思考的空間，而當大學的行政人員儼然充當審查官時，才是更值得關注的問題。他們在回應媒體的詢問時表示「校方原本是要求羅子涵更換而非修改在南洋禮堂展出的作品」。難道更換不是另一種審查行為嗎？我們更應該問的是，這些行政人員侵犯藝術家的尊嚴（artistic integrity）是否正確？此外，畢業典禮更應被視為大學生展現理想主義與獨立人格的最佳場合——在此時進行的儀式、演講和歡慶——無不隱含著重大的象徵意義。羅子涵拒絕展出海報，勇於在畢業典禮上和權威對話，與其說是大逆不道，還不如說是維護個人藝術尊嚴，公民不服從（civil disobedience）的表現。南洋理工大學應該為培養出像羅子涵這樣的優秀生而感到自豪，因為在一個普遍以就業機會和起薪高低（而不是獨立思考、治學精神和社會理想）來界定大學生存在價值的務實世界中，他的膽識和獨立人格顯得尤其可貴。我們常在指責新加坡大學生「缺乏獨立思考」、「社會意識貧乏」，而為什麼當大學生有了主見，勇於提出異議的時候，我們卻變得惶恐不安了呢？ 另一方面，羅子涵的抗議事件，還揭露了另一些問題。 我們的體制中是否存在著一批愛粉飾太平、矯枉過正，急於當道德警察的中間管理階層？我們的審查機制是否又過分完善，對投訴者趨炎附勢，對藝術家的尊嚴卻視而不見，哪怕是還未接到任何投訴信前，就已不假思索地將藝術家視為罪犯？什麼時候，我們才能認識到，藝術家也有尊嚴？什麼時候，我們才會明白，藝術家應該享有一個不受泛道德主義者和政治所干預的自主空間（autonomous space）？ 慶幸的是，南大最終雍容大度地對待羅子涵的抗議，既不譴責也未採取任何處分。但如果真有人對海報提出異議，大學是否能在倡導學術自由的名義下，繼續捍衛學生的藝術尊嚴？這恐怕才是真正的考驗。 反諷的是，羅子涵還是南大招生的廣告代言人，亦即所謂的「海報男孩」。他的廣告詞，是非常有趣的：「南洋理工大學光輝燦爛的歷史，啟發了我的某些作品」。雖然廣告中沒有解釋這段「光輝燦爛的歷史」指的是南大的哪段時期，但若將廣告詞與羅子涵遭審查及抗議事件相互對照，其中所存在的多重吊詭和時空錯位，甚是令人玩味。 羅子涵在演講中說：「身為藝術家，我們不只應該追求創作偉大的作品，也應該為我們的創作負責。否則，我們就出賣了自己及觀眾。」但願他能在藝術探索的道路上面對不合理的審查時， 繼續勇敢地堅持自己的立場。 詳情