Below is an article i found from Newpaper, it just reminded me what happens when people follow their dream. Hopefully, my brother Kris will read this and be inspired to put his film up for competition.
Its really great to see people willing to pursue their dreams to what they believe they were destined for. What is your dream ? What is your life goal ? Keep focus and plough along until it finally comes to past.
ONE DAY & ONE DOLLAR
HIS FATHER wanted him to be a lawyer.
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| Mr Saleem says his team used their digital cameras to shoot the short film. -- |
But Mr Mohamed Saleem Abdul Hadi, who is passionate about design, film-making and theatre, decided to follow his heart.
This May, the SIM communication design degree student, 26, two of his friends and his younger brother, produced a five-minute documentary about people's views on death called Take.
They took only a day to film, using their own digital cameras, and spent only $1 - on some flowers which they used as props.
But it went on to become one of three films to be given the distinguished community documentary award in the Reel Ideas Studio short film competition held in conjunction with the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
There were 36 entries for that category in all. The other two top community documentaries came from Brazil and the United States.
UNBELIEVABLE
One of the judges include two-time Academy winner Rob Epstein, a renowned documentary film-maker.
Mr Saleem said: 'When we checked the website, we couldn't believe that we won. So we e-mailed the studio for a confirmation.
'It took us one week to confirm our win. It's unbelievable.'
Mr Saleem recalled how they had to approach strangers for their film.
He said: 'The sun was out and people were playing on the beach that Saturday morning.
'We then asked them what's their take on death and what would they do if they were given half an hour to live.
'Some were quite shocked by that question. We were scolded, shoo-ed off and ignored.'
After editing the raw copy down to about five minutes, the team - which comprised Mr Nallu Dhinakharan, Mr Saravanan Siva and Mr Saleem's younger brother, Mr Mohamed Kamarudeen - submitted it a week later.
About a month later, in June, they found out they had won.
It was obviously well-worth their effort, as each of them won an Adobe professional production software suite worth about US$1,500 ($2,000).
Mr Saleem, who also has a polytechnic diploma in information technology, said that IT was not his cup of tea.
But he got interested in filming in his early '20s. And he likes design and playing with colours.
When he was considering furthering his studies after a diploma in communication design in early last year, he said: 'I just wanted to go some place that would allow me to be creative.'
It then happened that he saw SIM's brochure for the SIM-RMIT Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) programme.
The slogan 'Think for yourself' jumped at him and so, he signed up for the programme.
Apart from 'un-learning' the bad habits that he had picked up when he was freelancing as a video and film maker, he said: 'It's through the course that I realised my strength is in film.'
Mr Saleem's team is not the only one making creative waves internationally.
The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts' (Nafa) Symphony Orchestra is also taking to the international stage.
The 40-member orchestra was the first non-European group to play at the Gut Botersheim Festival 2008 in Hamburg, Germany, on 21 Jun.
They were invited to play there by the musical director of the Hamburg Arts Festival, Professor Prosper-Christian Otto.
Prof Otto had visited Nafa last year to conduct a master class for its students. He was so impressed by their talent that he asked them to play at the Hamburg festival.
The performance was part of a two-week Europe tour that the orchestra embarked on for the first time in its six-year history, said a Nafa spokesman.
INSPIRED
The week before the tour saw 'arduous preparations' for the concert programme, recalled concert master Ng Wei Ping.
Mr Richard Adams, head of Nafa's music department, said: 'The purpose of the visit was to give the students a first-hand experience of the country whose music and culture they have been studying about.
'The trip is also one of the first steps we're taking to establish the reputation of our orchestra beyond the shores of Singapore.
'The students were thrilled at the opportunity to perform six concerts in some of Germany's most prestigious and beautiful venues.
'They've returned from the trip enriched from the exposure and exchanges, and recharged with new-found inspiration.'
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