Life in 24 Frames A Second (Saw Tiong Guan) Malaysia |

Life in 24 Frames A Second
Saw Tiong Guan
Malaysia. 2021. 63 min

Life in 24 Frames a Second is a film about insurmountable hardship and tragedy, perseverance and triumph; told intimately by John Woo, Anurag Kashyap, Rithy Panh and Lav Diaz who before becoming revered masters of world cinema, survived the crucibles of extreme poverty, illness, sexual abuse, genocide and civil war. Through it all was their abiding love for cinema.
The film explores what they suffered through their childhood, how they endured, what inspired them and the meaning of cinema in their lives.

SAW TIONG GUAN

Saw Tiong Guan is a Malaysian-based lawyer-academic-filmmaker-activist. His filmography is singular in exploring the artistic pursuits and visions of world renowned filmmakers – in Past Present (2013), he sits down with Taiwanese Second New Wave’s Tsai Ming-liang and his early days in Malaysia; in Wind (2016), Saw delves into the biographical traces of Australian-born, Hong Kong-based cinematographer and Wong Kar Wai collaborator Christopher Doyle, who voyaged through the world.

In his latest documentary, Life in 24 Frames a Second, filmed on locations in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Phnom Penh and Manila, Saw continues his constant thesis of tracking the origin stories, the formative years, the trials and tribulations of iconic auteurs. It is a film about insurmountable hardship and tragedy, perseverance and triumph; told intimately by John Woo (The Killer, Hard Boiled), Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Sacred Games), Rithy Panh (Rice People, The Missing Picture) and Lav Diaz (Batang Westside, Norte, the End of History), who before becoming revered masters of world cinema, survived the crucibles of extreme poverty, illness, sexual abuse, genocide and civil war. Through it all was their abiding love for cinema. The film explores what they suffered through their childhood, how they endured, what inspired them and the meaning of cinema in their lives.

Saw Tiong Guan was born in 1980 in Malaysia. A lawyer by training, he made his first short film G16 G17 in 2007. In 2011 he obtained a PhD degree from the University of Melbourne with a thesis examining the effects of censorship laws on the film industries in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia. In 2013, he made Past Present with Tsai Ming-liang. Three years later, he collaborated with Christopher Doyle to make Wind for charity. He currently teaches law at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, while pursuing filmmaking.

FILMOGRAPHY

2007 – G16 G17 (short)
2013 – Past Present
2016 – Wind (short)
2021 – Life in 24 Frames a Second

DIRECTOR,S NOTE

There are two reasons behind the making of this film. First, to raise funds for charity where all the money generated by Life in 24 Frames a Second will be donated to help provide medicine and food to children from families living in destitute. Second, it is hoped that the experiences and courage of Mr Woo, Mr Kashyap, Mr Panh and Mr Diaz will inspire and give hope to the many children around the world who is going through hardships in their lives.