Apart from attending the opening ceremony and post-screening talks, Director Lawrence Kan and Amos WHY visited two colleges, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TARUMT) and Oneworld Hanxin College, to share with the local students. In collaboration with two local colleges, “Film Forum: Director From Zero” was held in Malaysia for the very first time. Two directors share their experiences as directors and the production process of the Hong Kong film industry with the students.

Director Amos WHY, a former athlete who once worked in fields of journalism and advertising and holds dual master’s degrees, has always been fond of creating and is very interested in news media. He does not only pay attention to current affairs, but also concerns information related to television production. He admitted being a curious person who always questions on different matters. For him, to create means to have something to express, which is also the reason to work in the media field. He also wants to tell different stories through mass media, no matter it is a magazine, web content or a film.

The two directors also gave advice on scriptwriting and character development. Director Kan shared that he gets inspiration from small details in daily life. Whatever happens that touches him, he will try to narrate the event from different perspectives. He said, “For example, the social issues revealed in ‘In Broad Daylight’ touched me so much that I kept thinking about it even in my dreams. I didn’t want to extract from the news content and report this incident, but to find a suitable angle to turn it into a film instead. So I chatted with the journalists who reported the incident back then to understand their struggles and thoughts. At last, I decided to take the journalists’ perspective to tell the whole story. That’s how I started the script”.

During the Q&A session, the students participated actively and asked many interesting questions. When asked to evaluate their own creative styles, both of the directors thought the evaluation should be made by the audience. They did not want to be restricted by rigid forms and thought that styles should not be deliberately created. Kan said, “Sincerity is essential to making films and that we should tell stories honestly through films. You can deceive the audience, but can’t fool yourself. So you don’t have to build a film style intentionally. You will develop your own style through the number and variety of films you make.”