don’t publish yet. Review/Interview: Made in Taiwan

Having been highly impressed by the feature film Made in Taiwan—which is about a filmmaker who realises that his flickering films can be used as a drug—I couldn’t wait to interview the filmmakers. After spending three years in Taiwan, Jonny Moore became inspired by the country to make this unconventional film set in Taiwan and wrote the script with his sister Leonora. Funded with Kickstarter and with the support of their family, the siblings created a mind-blowing film which was only filmed at night within one month. The highly strenuous shooting hours messed up their concept of time and gave lead actor, Alexander Jeremy, the worn out look which he features at the end of the film.

Another behind the scenes secret was to apply lipstick around the eyes to create dark under eye circles. The duo had already produced a feature film and learnt a lot from their experience. “To any aspiring filmmakers out there: my advice is to just do it. You’ll learn from your mistakes and there are so many funding possibilities out there. On top of that, equipment has become cheaper and lighter, we wouldn’t have been able to follow through with such a project fifteen years ago.”

Their journey is not going to stop with this project; they are planning to film another feature which might also be set in Asia, too. Their enthusiasm is truly inspiring and this translated well into the film which had a dreamlike feeling to it. Alexander mentions that as a foreigner, one easily loses boundaries in another country where everything is different and foreign. He tried to translate that feeling into his role on screen and succeeded in creating a three-dimensional character plagued by his own creation. The film won the category for Best UK Film at the Manchester Film Festival 2016.