Director Boo Junfeng ‘pleasantly surprised’ by MDA support for ‘Apprentice’

32-year-old Apprentice director Boo Junfeng. Photo: Hannah Teoh/Yahoo Singapore

There cannot be many Singaporean filmmakers who have been to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival twice, not to mention getting a standing ovation for his latest movie.

Three years after director Anthony Chen won the prestigious Camera d’Or at Cannes with “Ilo Ilo”, it was Boo Junfeng’s turn to shine with “Apprentice”, the story of a correctional officer who befriends a veteran hangman.

Screened at the Festival last month, the film did not garner any awards but the standing ovation was “really overwhelming” for Boo and lead actors Firdaus Rahman, Mastura Ahmad and Wan Hanafi Su.

Along with K. Rajagopal’s “A Yellow Bird”, it was the first time that two Singaporean films had featured at Cannes. “People haven’t seen the film yet, but I suppose the pride associated with having two films (at Cannes) this year, is something I think people have responded to very positively,” said Boo, 32.

Filming in Australia

Video by Jeremy Ho

Soft spoken and thoughtful, Boo spoke to Yahoo Singapore on the day that “Apprentice” was released in France. The movie has also been picked up in countries such as the United Kingdom, Turkey and China.

It took Boo five years to make the movie, following lengthy conversations with former executioners, families of executed prisoners and former religious counselors who took inmates through their final walks. The goal was to “listen to their stories and understand what that trauma might have been like from a first-person perspective,” said Boo.

Once funding was secured from numerous sources such as the Singapore Film Commission – the film is a co-production involving five countries including Singapore and France – the decision was made to shoot the prison scenes in two disused gaols in Australia.

Boo noted, “I wanted the prison space in the film to not just be a physical space. It needed to be a psychological space, for the character to go through what he goes through, as he journeys deeper into the prison, in the way he journeys into himself.

“For me, the most ideal place would have been the old Changi Prison, if it still exists. Currently, the new prisons (in Singapore) are all a bit too clean and a bit too sterile to be really cinematic, in my opinion.”

Capital punishment debate

Firdaus Rahman plays a young correctional officer in Apprentice. Photo: Paris Match

“Apprentice” certainly goes to dark places, with key scenes including a five-minute Steadicam take of a condemned inmate’s final walk. It addresses the death penalty in Singapore, a controversial subject which human rights organisations like Amnesty International have regularly assailed against.

As such, Boo admitted to being “pleasantly surprised” by the Media Development Authority’s support for the movie. “I can’t speak for them, and I can’t speak for why we got the funding. But I think, so far at least, the subject matter hasn’t been too big of a barrier.”

But when asked if his perspective on the death penalty has changed since he wrapped up production, Boo replied with an emphatic ‘No’. He elaborated, “I don’t believe that society has the right to take the life of any person, even if the person had done something terribly wrong. But I always say that that’s not what the film is about.”

Coincidentally, just three days after “Apprentice” screened at Cannes, Sarawakian Kho Jabing was executed in Singapore for murder, following a long legal battle. When Yahoo Singapore asked how this made him feel, Boo took a long pause before replying.

“I was sad that he had to go. It was quite a surreal week for me, having all that red carpet and the applause and all that, and then realising that Friday, someone was going to be executed. But I think it’s a discussion that needs to be had for the longer term.”

Freedom of expression in Singapore

Boo Junfeng at Cannes. Photo: MDA

Recognition has come at an early age for Boo: he first went to Cannes in 2010 with his debut film “Sandcastle”, the story of a teenager who is about to enlist for National Service. He has also made numerous short films since, including one released last month that has gone viral.

But what of the climate of artistic expression in Singapore now? Does Boo think that it has become more open, or is it still largely conservative?

“I think the space is there, and I think we are seeing film makers, or artists, who continue to push boundaries, continue to create and reflect society, even if sometimes society may not be ready to look at itself in the mirror.

I’m not saying all artists should take that role, but sometimes art has a role to play in society in making sure that that soul of society is…being represented.”

Apprentice will be released in Singapore on 30 June.