Acid Green
A person brushes the teeth of a dog and turns into a bus.
Interview with Director EXYL
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
That’s a hard question. I make things in general because it’s the only way I’ve found to be able to talk to myself. I feel satisfied when a film feels right to me.
I also made this film because I wanted to make something with a tropical jungle backdrop. I was thinking about how the indigenous landscape of Singapore looks like one big undulating green mass. I currently live in New England where there’s lots of kudzu, which also covers everything in a suffocating foliage of green.
I was also going through a horrendous breakup, so maybe that’s why too.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I like to think of my films as gateway drugs to experimental animation. I want people to be able to watch it and get something from it even if they’re not inclined towards experimental or animation. Hopefully, you feel something, even if you’re confused or lost or don’t know how to describe it in words.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I made this film while going through a really horrendous breakup. But no one I’ve spoken to has told me it reminds them of a relationship. One person told me that my film reminds them of one time when a really aggressive dog had a ball lodged in his throat. The person was trying to get the ball out of the dog's throat, but the dog was thrashing in pain, so their arm was getting scratched by the dog’s teeth as they struggled to help it. The dog also couldn’t breathe, so they were smashing the dog’s ribs with their other arm. And amidst this frantic pulling and pushing and thrashing, the dog suddenly went still, and he finally got the ball out. But of course, the dog went still because it had… died. I was really horror-stricken when I heard this story.
Anyway, my film is not at all about dogs. It’s about my ex. But more largely it’s about love and how over-loving something can be bad for it.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I started with the image of the jungle and an incident where I was brushing my dog’s teeth and he was struggling away from me but licking the toothbrush at the same time because he loved the meat flavour of the toothpaste. The rest of it came from identifying specific moments in life that corresponded with the feeling I was trying to express (waiting for a bus that never comes/ running along an expressway) and the film came together like that.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
People have told me lots of stories about dogs, which is not what I was thinking about when I made the film, but I quite like it.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Yes, I think I didn’t expect anyone to really “get it” exactly even if they liked it, but every story I heard corresponded with my own experience in a really moving way.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Hopefully, people will watch it! And give me money to make more films…
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Journalists! And anyone who wants to help me share this work. It’s very cheap for me to make a film. I’ve never made a film more expensive than 2000 USD, but it’s still not nothing, and any reception or support helps!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope you’ll want to watch it again.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How do we live with the guilt of doing something we didn’t mean to?
Would you like to add anything else?
Nope!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m in the stages of making sound for my next film. It’s about license plates and having to struggle through the DMV.
Interview: January 2024
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Acid Green
A person brushes the teeth of a dog and turns into a bus.
Length: 8:25
Director: EXYL
Producer: EXYL
Writer: EXYL
About the writer, director and producer:
EXYL is a filmmaker and animator born and raised in Singapore. They were trained in painting and drawing, but moved slowly but surely into time-based mediums. Their films have been shown in internationally acclaimed festivals like Slamdance, Ann Arbor, Singapore International Film Festival, Encounters, San Diego Underground, Linoleum and more. They were awarded the Terri Schwartz Asian Film Award at Ann Arbor and Best Animation at the National Youth Film Awards Singapore. They will be attending residencies at Ox-Bow School of Art, Dirt Palace Providence, and I-Park Connecticut in the next year.
Key cast: EXYL (Director, Animator, Sound Editor etc. etc.), Asher White (Original Music)
Looking for: sales agents, journalists, film festival, directors, producers
Instagram: @exu.de
Website: https://exyl.space/