Tak Giu, an indie

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 short film about Singaporean football

Football in Singapore

Association football, known more popularly as football in Singapore, is the national sport of the nation. The sport reached its peak in the 1980s and 90s during the Singapore Lions' time in the Malaysia Cup, where they dominated the competition...

, gained a cult-following and gathered 100,000 viewers in 6 months after it was hosted on the internet. Shot with just a camcorder

Camcorder

A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...

, Tak Giu spread like wild-fire and made waves in the Singaporean football and online community. The 15 min film in Singlish

Singlish

Colloquial Singaporean English, also known as Singlish, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore.Singlish is commonly regarded with low prestige in Singapore. The Singaporean government and many Singaporeans alike heavily discourage the use of Singlish in favour of Standard English...

 was produced, written and directed by Jacen Tan

Jacen Tan

Jacen Tan is a Singaporean independent film director, and has been named by The Straits Times Life! as one of Singapore’s "most exciting young talents".-Background:...

, who also starred in the film.

The film talks about the lack of soccer fields in soccer crazy Singapore and difficulties of finding suitable fields in land scarce Singapore. It also laments Singaporeans' lack of support for their national soccer and the futility of Singapore's 2010 World Cup goal.

Aside from being mentioned in prominent blogs and internet portals, Tak Giu was featured on local newspapers like The Straits Times

The Straits Times

The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...

, The New Paper

The New Paper

The New Paper is Singapore's second-highest circulating paid English-language newspaper, first launched on July 26, 1988, by Singapore Press Holdings . According to SPH, its average daily circulation for August 2010 was 101600....

, and Today. Jacen Tan was also invited to appear on TV programs like ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 “Football Crazy”, “LiveWire” on Arts Central, Radio UFM 100.3 on the late Show with DJ Yuling, and News 93.8fm. It was shown in the CINEKATIPUNAN film fest in Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

In November 2005, Jacen Tan’s 2nd short film, Zo Peng, won 2nd place at the Panasonic/MDA Digital Film Fiesta, Short Film Open Category. Jacen Tan has also produced and directed Silverpiece, a music video for popular Singaporean indie band, Lunarin

Lunarin

Lunarin is a band from Singapore who enjoy playing music in the "alternative rock" vein, and are often described as "heavy yet lyrical". Their style of music has earned them much recognition in Singapore's local music scene.-Members:...

.

Jacen also directed the music video "Silverpiece" for the alternative rock band, Lunarin

Lunarin

Lunarin is a band from Singapore who enjoy playing music in the "alternative rock" vein, and are often described as "heavy yet lyrical". Their style of music has earned them much recognition in Singapore's local music scene.-Members:...

. Silverpiece was shown in the Cannes

Cannes

Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....

 Midem '07.

Jacen's new short film, Zo Gang was shown at the 4th Singapore Short Cuts organized by the National Museum of Singapore

National Museum of Singapore

The National Museum of Singapore is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution...

, The Substation

The Substation

The Substation is Singapore's first and only independent contemporary arts centre. It was founded in 1990 by Kuo Pao Kun.The Substation is centrally located in the city's civic district. Venues at The Substation for hire include a black-box theatre, a gallery, a dance studio, the Random Room and...

 and the Singapore Film Commission. It is also showing at the upcoming 3rd International Short Film Festival Detmold.

It was previously shown at the following festivals:

January 7 - Stasis 9 at Arts House

March 7 - Official premiere at Timbre, by Sinema.sg

April 7 - First Take at Substation

May 7 - Urban Nomad Film Festival at Taipei Artist Village, Taiwan

June 7 - Scope art fair in Switzerland

Sources

http://www.hosaywood.com

http://www.myspace.com/hosaywood

http://www.substation.org/magazine/issue04/ft_TakingTheBait.html

http://www.sgfootball.com/new/news.php?aid=70

http://www.thevoiddeck.org/index.php?query=zo+peng&amount=0&blogid=1

http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2005/03/tak_giu.html

http://www.sinema.sg/?p=333