#LookAtMe, the second film from director Ken Kwek after 2014’s Unlucky Plaza, debuted at the New York Asian Film Festival last month.
The movie, which has received positive reviews as an “empathetic drama discussing the issue of human rights” on highonfilms.com and as “a dynamic, genre-bending story” on cinemaescapist.com, has yet to be shown locally.
It tackles a number of themes many may not be comfortable with, including LGBTQ issues, free expression, and human rights. It also features a homophobic Christian pastor.
However, Ken Kwek has said that the “most radical” statement in the film is that one character’s coming out is completely accepted.
“In Singapore, you almost never have queer characters in mainstream TV and film. And on the rare occasion when they are depicted, they are always portrayed as a little abnormal in some way, shape, or form. They’re diseased. They are weird, they are strange, they are morally compromised, or whatever.
But I wanted to show the family in which we see queer normalcy. For all its depictions of extremes in the film, the most radical statement that I make, and which I’m proud of, is the simplest thing, which is [that] this is a family where they all love each other, and the gay character has not had to go through any shame or struggle in coming out,” Mr Kwek has been quoted as saying.
#LookAtMeMovie is proud to announce its world premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival on 23rd July 2022. We are honoured to be in competition for it’s 20th Anniversary edition! #NYAFF2022 #filmatlincolncenter #freedomtolove #gaytwinstraighttwin #kenkwek #sgfilm pic.twitter.com/hwXkeR8EJE
— Look At Me | a Ken Kwek Film (@lookatmemoviesg) July 9, 2022
At the heart of #LookAtMe is the story of twin brothers and their mother. The twins—Sean and Ricky—are both played by actor Thomas Pang, who now goes simply by “Yao.”
Mr Kwei’s wife, Pamela Oei, who also co-produced the film, plays their mother, Nancy.
One day, Sean, a wannabe YouTube star, and Ricky are invited to church by Sean’s girlfriend Mia, where they hear a homophobic rant by a pastor, played by Adrian Pang.
Sean’s reaction video goes viral and gets him in trouble with the law, and he ends up in jail.
His twin and their mother fight for his freedom, but the family end up paying a high price.
Incidentally, Sean’s character was inspired, at least in part, by the controversial Amos Yee, but Mr. Ken Kwek appeared to want him to be the anti-Amos.
“I thought—what if you had a guy who’s as rude as Amos Yee, but isn’t spewing vitriol or rubbish, and instead has a really good thing to say?” he said.
However, Ken Kwek has gone on record as saying that his goal in making the film is not to call for a repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalizes gay sex.
“I’m not a politician. I’m not an activist. I’m not on a soapbox calling for change. I am a filmmaker, and my job is to make a really entertaining popular film. And if it happens within a political reality that you find interesting or can’t avoid, then it’s there. But certainly you don’t start from a point of pushing a particular agenda.” /TISG