Mickey Lai Loke Yee (left) directing one of the actors on scene.
Mickey Lai Loke Yee checking on the monitor during filming.
The widely acclaimed ‘The Cloud is Still There’ short film by Mickey Lai Loke Yee.
TAR UC’s emphasis on academic excellence goes beyond academic achievements where students are encouraged to broaden their knowledge and skills including participating in competitions. This time, it is a TAR UC alumna of the Bachelor’s Degree in Communication (Broadcasting), Mickey Lai Loke Yee, who directed a short film which won Best Performance Award in the SeaShorts Film 2020 Festival, an annual celebration of Southeast Asian Short Film held from 12 – 20 September 2020 online. Apart from this award, Loke Yee’s film has also been officially selected to compete in the 25th Busan International Film Festival, one of the most significant film festivals in Asia, Norwich Film Festival, UK and National Film Festival for Talented Youth, US.
Mickey Lai Loke Yee’s story entitled, The Cloud Is Still There is a semi-autobiographical short film that is based on her real-life experience. It is also the thesis film that she had made when she was studying MA in Film and TV Production in London, UK. The film is written in UK, and then shot in Malaysia. The film revolved around the relationship between the Christian daughter and her Taoist mother. “In this film, one would see how both the mother and daughter make their own plea to their God in order to save the terminally ill grandfather, who is lying on his deathbed. The reason why I wanted to make this film is because, I would like to explore the clashes between the religious and cultural beliefs in the heart of a Malaysian Chinese family. As this is my debut short film, I wanted to make something that really matters and that is close to my heart,” said Loke Yee.
When asked how she came to participate in the competition, Loke Yee said: “As this is my first short film, I wanted to challenge myself and see how far I could go as a filmmaker and storyteller. Therefore, after completing the film, I submitted the entry to film festivals from different parts of the world,” she said.
“Making this film reminded me of who I am and what my responsibility is as a filmmaker. I would like to share an underrepresented topic or issue that is often avoided to the audience through the film and make it as authentic as possible,” she added.
Loke Yee explained the whole concept of The Cloud Is Still There is to explore the theme of whether two belief systems could exist in a family without conflict. “In this film, we can see that what lies beneath this conflict is actually the love for family. The argument between the Christian daughter and Taoist mother happens because both of them love the grandfather, thus they are using the “best way”, that they know to try to save him. This conflict has forced them to express their feelings towards each other, which is rare in the Chinese culture, where we tend to keep to ourselves and not talk openly with our family members. I think this is quite a common situation in Chinese families,” she added.
Finally, Loke Yee mentioned that studying the Diploma and Degree in Broadcasting at TAR UC had provided her with a strong foundation and sparked her interest in pursuing her dream of becoming a filmmaker. The practical teaching style has equipped her to always be prepared, from pre-production to post-production stages.
