It took director Tzang Merwyn Tong eight years for his latest feature, Faeryville to come to fruition.
After making a world premiere in Los Angeles earlier this year, the film finally hits local cinemas, opening on 26 May exclusively at Filmgarde Bugis+.
“It took a long time because it was an independent film and funding took a long time. Things happened; we had to re-shoot scenes and it went on for years. We didn’t intend to take eight years to finish it. We thought it would just take about one-and-a-half years,” said Tzang at the press conference last Tuesday,
He added: “A lot of things changed throughout the eight years but without those plot changes hurting the script. There were big scenes that I had to take out as well.”
Faeryville is a dystopian teen movie about a group of misfits who struggle to find themselves and make sense of their ‘teenhood’.
Inspired by ‘youth idealism and rebellion’, Tzang, who also wrote the film shared that he had experiences being a part of the ‘nobodies’ and ‘misfits’. “I wouldn’t say I was bullied, but I knew how the ‘nobodies’ felt… so I can completely understand the feeling of not being included.
“I want to make a film that speaks to a generation of young people and also to potentially explore how idealism can be a dangerous thing in our increasingly surreal world,” he added.
(Watch the trailer for 'Faeryville' here!)
The film held its first public screening in Los Angeles (LA), together with a gala premiere where the cast and Tzang were present for the premiere. True to the nature of the film, Tzang and his team organised an independent screening where they booked a theatre, sold tickets and hoped for the best. Fear and excitement turned to happiness when the audience in LA ‘resounded well’ with the characters.
“Right before the screening in LA, I was fearful as the film had never been screened to any audience. I guess Faeryville attracts misfit types and there were people in the audience that dressed like the ‘nobodies’! At the end of the screening, they stood up and said they really connected to this film, being called ‘rejects’ and ‘outlaws’ in their lives,” recalled Tzang.
“It’s very heartwarming for us because it means this film meant something to someone. It gives us a lot of confidence in our next steps ahead.”
Despite the long development process, funding issues, major script re-writes and two meltdowns, Tzang pressed on to complete the film as he felt ‘the nobodies mattered’.
“It’s really about wanting to finish what I started. I’ve spoken to a lot of people: those who believed in me and some who didn’t. For those few who believed, I didn’t want to disappoint them. It’s very much wanting to complete it, but in the best possible way.
Faeryville stars Lyon Sim, Aaron Samuel Yong, Jae Leung, Farid Assalam rand Tanya Graham, opens InCinemas 26 May 2015.