Sarawak’s homegrown production house FilmCo recently won “Best Short Film: Audience Award” at the Berlin Short Film Festival Award 2023 for its short film “The Lost Bornean Rainbow Toad”. FilmCo’s director and founder, Samuel Wong, talks about his passion for videography with writer Priscilla Tawie and his journey leading up to the recent win.
A decade of creativity, passion
One’s journey into the future is almost always determined by their past experiences. For film director Samuel Wong, he discovered his passion for videography during his medical school days in Moscow more than a decade ago. He conceded that, at the time, he had no clue about his purpose in life — at least not until he saw the impactful stories he had gotten through his camera.
“Back then, I knew that some part of me did not want to become a doctor. I also got to know photography at the time. Coincidentally, it was the beginning of the Facebook era, and I had a lot of time to play with my camera, taking photos and also videos,” the 36-year-old shared.
As a young lad thousands of kilometres away from home, Wong recalled often feeling alone. However, YouTube and having friends around kept him motivated to continue his studies in 2010.
“Stories have become an important part of my life. They kept me company and made me feel less alone. I’d watch some short films on YouTube and feel connected to them — that I’m not alone in this journey of life.”
From his habit, Wong wanted to share his perspective on life with his audiences through his lens somewhere along the way.
It started as just a pastime of recording videos and then piecing them together, but over time, Wong became an emotionally driven storyteller, and this can be strongly felt, even to this day, as a director and founder of his production house, FilmCo.
A decade’s journey
Wong returned home in 2011 with a fresh goal in life: to create a production house that emanated positive emotions and strong, heartfelt messages.
A decade down the road, the production house, FilmCo, has evolved into a team of five primary support staff. Under Wong’s guidance, the team won numerous accolades and did wonders for the film industry in Kuching. Among the team’s latest productions are “Kuching — City of Gastronomy” and “The Lost Bornean Rainbow Toad.”
Reminiscing, Wong revealed that the journey for FilmCo wasn’t easy as the market for creative industries in Sarawak was very scarce at the time. “There is not much demand here, unlike in big cities like Kuala Lumpur and all, where more major production is happening. It’s not easy to grow FilmCo, but we managed to find a handful of trusted clients that we journey with as they grow as well.”
Nonetheless, Wong commended the growth of Kuching’s film scene. With more production houses sprouting and the establishment of Sarawak’s very own television network, TVS, more talents in the film industry are being recognised.
“It is great compared to 10 years ago, as the establishment of TVS becomes a new input and project source for a lot of people. The channel has a diaspora of programmes that offer young people a chance in the industry. Back then, there weren’t many opportunities like this,” he shared.
The Last Bornean Rainbow Toad
FilmCo’s latest film is the heartwarming story of UNIMAS Professor of Herpetology, Indraneil Das, who was born and raised in India but is Sarawakian at heart. Sharing his love for Sarawak’s rainforest, Indraneil became the re-discoverer of the rainbow toad, one of the top 10 lost frogs of the world, which was discovered in 1924 before it disappeared.
Having filmed the story last year, Wong revealed feeling touched and enlightened by Indraneil’s view of Sarawak. “This is the part that I enjoyed most as a storyteller. You get to meet different types of people, listen to their stories, get to know their passions, and be able to tell their story to other people out there.”
Sharing on the filming process, Wong recalled entering the jungle of the Borneo Highlands together with his crew, Indraneil’s research assistant, and a nature photographer. “We had to look for the frog, then capture it while handling it with care. We couldn’t stress it out, otherwise the colours on the rainbow frog would become dark and dull.”
“Interestingly, when I entered the jungle with only a head torch, I was initially afraid as it was pitch black. But while searching for the frog, Professor Indraneil told me all about his life journey and passion as a herpetologist. The feeling quickly went away. Unfortunately, our first night of searching was to no avail, as we couldn’t find the toad,” he said.
According to Wong, it was only the following night that the team managed to find the frog, sitting on a leaf that was attached to a tree branch. “It was very surreal to see this frog because it had disappeared for many decades and many had thought it was extinct. It was only in 2011 that Professor Indraneil found the frog and got the title of ‘re-discoverer’.”
Wong disclosed that each cinematic production is a journey in itself. Like most adventures, challenges often await. Wong described those challenges as inevitable: “Most of the time, we just let it unfold, and we deal with it step by step.”
For the filming of “The Lost Bornean Rainbow Toad”, Wong recalled feeling anxious when they saw that the frog had changed its colour. “It was hard to film the frog in captivity. Furthermore, we wanted to film it as naturally as possible.” Other challenges also included unpredictable weather, as there were moments when it rained heavily during filming and hindered their shots.
A million thanks
Most recently, FilmCo won the “Best Short Film: Audience Award” at the Berlin Short Film Festival 2023 for the production of “The Last Bornean Rainbow Toad.” Previously, the film had won the Hollywood Gold Awards 2022 and the Milan Gold Awards 2022 too.
Wong took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the non-profit organisation Business Events Sarawak (BeSarawak) as they assisted in submitting FilmCo’s production to numerous festivals around the world.
“I also want to thank Karen Shepherd, who was part of our crucial moment in 2021. She does a lot of copywriting work for FilmCo. She was also the one who introduced Professor Indraneil as a subject.”
Wong is also grateful for his team of five, which comprises “gifted and talented people” in terms of producing, photography and others, that manifested the film that it is today. “And also to other collaborators that we had engaged throughout the production of ‘The Last Bornean Rainbow Toad’.”
The short film is available to watch on BeSarawak’s YouTube channel, under the heading “The Lost Bornean Rainbow Toad.” For more feel-good films, do refer to FilmCo’s Instagram page at @filmmakersco.
