| Lyna Mohamad |
A BRUNEIAN artist based in Paris, France, Abdul Zainidi, has pursued a career in the arts by promoting his surreal movies such as ‘Brunei in Paris’ and ‘Vanishing Children’.
Abdul Zainidi studied acting and directing theatre at the Cours Florent, where he won a Lesley Chatterley award for Best Actor. From then, he then developed an eye on the composition of story, which he believes is an essential ingredient in making any film.
“The story is like a car and the actors need to be comfortable inside it before driving,” said Abdul Zainidi, who has made over 10 short films, and his themes have always been the surreal and darkly comic sides of life.
Talking about his work, Abdul Zainidi noted that a majority of his movies, such as ‘Bread Dream’ and ‘Bitungkal’, have always showcased a different side of the country through a very minimal way of filmmaking.
“I believe that one doesn’t necessarily require the best or most expensive camera to tell a story, though of course it does help, yet it’s not an obligation,” he said.
Aside from Paris. director Abdul Zainidi also enjoys shooting at various locations in Brunei. – ABDUL ZANIDI
The film director further elaborated on this idea at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) Short Film Festival event, which carries the theme ‘Beyond Boundaries’ and where he was an invited speaker.
Abdul Zainidi enjoys shooting at various locations in Brunei, especially Tutong. Most of ‘Vanishing Children’, a short documentary about real missing people, was loosely based on the stories he grew up listening to when he was younger.
The movie proved a success as it became the first Bruneian film to be selected at the London Science Fiction Film Festival. It also represented the country in this year’s Cannes Film Festival as well as the Johor Bahru IP Kreatif Malaysian Arts Festival in September.
This year, Abdul Zainidi plans to work on a feature film that provides an unprecedented look at the Brunei society and a mystery incident at a village.
“I hope that much like all the feature films that have come out of Brunei, this will differentiate itself in terms of style and story, with a lot more focus on psychological fugue, and its story of intrigue and musical strangeness,” he added.
This year also sees Abdul Zainidi as the first Bruneian to take part in the Asian Film Academy, Busan International Film Festival’s educational programme, which was created in 2005, with an all-expenses trip to train under the best of Korean cinema.
He takes pride in being the first to represent the country in Busan, along with other candidates from countries such as India and Kazakhstan. The programme will have 24 selected candidates work together on a short film, which will then be screened at the end of the festival.
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