Red Dragonflies: A Fiery Passion of Youth
Date: 16 June 2023 (Fri)
Venue: Broadway Cinematheque
@Eye Catcher Global 2023
Post-Screening Talk Guest: LIAO Jiekai
Moderator: Jun LI
During the post-screening talk, we had the Singaporean filmmaker, artist and educator based in Singapore and Tokyo, as well as the director of Red Dragonflies, LIAO Jiekai, together with the director of Drifting, Jun LI as the moderator, discussed the taste of nostalgia and passion of youth in the 3 selected films.
“I wanted to make a film about those memories I had.” After studying filmmaking in Chicago, America, Jiekai came back to Singapore for his artistic career. The abandoned railway tracks the audience saw later in Red Dragonflies, were an impressive occasion Jiekai had when he was on the bus way back home in Singapore.
Red Dragonflies is a personal story to Jiekai. The childhood part belongs to Jiekai’s high school memories in a club, having adventures with schoolmates by hiking that railway track as an outdoor tracking and hunting activity. Furthermore, the adult characters in the film also represent Jiekai in his life. The mixed feelings when coming back to a place one used to be very familiar with, observing the changes over the years, in some way overlaps with the woman’s experience when she rekindles an old friendship with a high school friend.
Red Dragonflies is shown with 2 other short films made by local students which were both awarded in the ifva (Youth Category). Jiekai also mentioned that “films are breaking a record of the time they are in”, especially under such a post-pandemic period. Years later we may look back and recognise it’s such a specific point for the environment, the city the characters (or we) were living in. No matter how long the production process takes, how painful it is in the editing room…… that’s the power of films to keep filmmakers’ and audiences’ passion.
紅蜻蜓的青春火花
日期：2023年6月16日
地點：百老匯電影中心
@Eye Catcher Global 2023
映後談嘉賓：廖捷凱
主持：李駿碩
第二場奪目展映映後談，有新加坡影人、藝術家、教育家，同時亦是選映電影《紅蜻蜓》的導演廖捷凱（Jiekai），聯乘《濁水漂流》及《翠絲》導演李駿碩，一起探討3部選映電影中，各自流露的、屬於青春的火花和黯然神傷。
「我想拍一部關於這段記憶的電影。」在美國芝加哥修讀了電影後，Jiekai回到新加坡開始他作為藝術家的生涯。觀眾在《紅蜻蜓》裏看到的那一條廢棄鐵軌，正是Jiekai在回家路上一幀記憶鮮明的景象。
《紅蜻蜓》對於Jiekai而言，是一個很個人的故事。一方面關於他的青春，關於高中時期參加社團的回憶：那時他和同學們總是沿著路軌，作各種野外定向和探險。另一方面，電影中那些成年人的角色，也代表著Jiekai的一部分人生。在多年以後重遊舊地，看著一處處曾經無比熟悉的地方，心情難免複雜；某程度上也與電影中那名女子與高中朋友重修舊好的經歷相互重疊。
「紅蜻蜓的青春火花」同場亦加映了應屆ifva青少年組兩部得獎學生作品。Jiekai亦談及這兩部選片如同「衝破了他們所在的時域界限」，尤其當我們正處身於後疫症時期。往後的歲月驀然回首，或方才會察覺當時是身於怎樣的一個特定時空、城市和當中的人們。無論製作的過程多長，剪接的過程多麼痛苦⋯⋯電影總有這樣的力量，包裹著創作人與觀眾的熱情。