Mak Chun Kit

Mak CK
Born
Singapore
NationalitySingaporean
Other namesMak CK
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2002-present
Known forOne Taxi Ride, Buying Happiness, Little People Big Dreams

Mak Chun Kit, or Mak CK, is a Singaporean filmmaker. He has filmed in 30 countries across 5 continents directing documentaries for international broadcasters including National Geographic, Discovery, History, Lifetime, BIO, Disney, MTV and Channel NewsAsia.[1] He had won multiple times at the New York Festivals Television and Film Awards, inclusive of a Documentary Gold World Medal for This Is What I Hear (2019) and a Best Direction Silver World Medal for China Close-up (2014).[2]

Career

Mak's debut feature-length documentary film, The World's Most Fashionable Prison (2012), about fashion designer Puey Quiñones's rehabilitation programme in the Philippine's largest maximum security prison, was an official selection at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2012.[3] It won the Audience Award for Documentary Film at the Lighthouse International Film Festival 2012,[4] and the Gold Kahuna Award for Documentary Film at the Honolulu Film Awards 2012.[5] Jennie Kermode of Eye For Film wrote, "For a film that contains so much suffering, with so many of its protagonists living grim lives, it's impressively buoyant."[6]

His second film, Little People Big Dreams (2014), about a little people theme park in China,[7] was regional broadcaster Channel NewsAsia's first original feature film production.[8] The documentary was selected for the 2014Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program | CNEX Workshop and Documentary Summit and won the Best Pitch Award at CNEX Chinese Doc Forum 2014.[9] It made its world premiere at the 2014 CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival. The film made the Youth Jury shortlist at the 2015 Sheffield Doc/Fest.[10] It had also won various awards, such as the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at the Lighthouse International Film Festival 2015,[11] Best Social Awareness Programme at the Asian Television Awards 2015,[12] and a Gold World Medal for Documentaries at the New York Festivals Television and Film Awards 2016.[13] Gary Arnold, President of Little People of America, wrote, "The beauty of Little People Big Dreams is that it shines a light on the dwarf theme park in China, and it lets the dwarf performers tell their own story, and it allows viewers to reach their own conclusion about the theme park."

Mak's third film, One Taxi Ride (2019), documents the journey of a male survivor in Mexico City who tries to reclaim his life 10 years after being sexually assaulted. It has screened at over 35 film festivals,[14] received 17 Best Film nominations and won 5 Jury Awards[15] including Premio Maguey Best Film Award[16] at the Guadalajara International Film Festival 2019. The film spearheads a social impact campaign to support male sexual assault survivors. It is used to educate prosecutors working with victims of sexual violence at the General Attorney's Office in Guatemala. An online petition addressed to the Mexican government has garnered over 3000 signatures to date. And the documentary secured distribution targeting universities, high schools, public libraries, community groups and governmental educational institutes across US and Canada. San Francisco Bay Times wrote, "this film is important and necessary"[17] and the Irish Film Critic called it, "an amazing documentary, so honest, real and powerful”[18] and “a deeply intimate documentary” according to GLAAD.[19]

In 2016, Mak started working on his next film, Buying Happiness, documenting his two-decade-long friendships with a few orphans whom he met through a volunteering stint in Tanzania.[20] He also started a crowdfunding campaign in May 2016 to raise money to support the projects of the orphans. Funds raised would go to the projects before covering the film production.[20][21]

Filmography

Year Title Ref
2012 The World's Most Fashionable Prison
2014 Little People Big Dreams
2019 One Taxi Ride
TBC Buying Happiness

References

  1. ^ "Mak CK - Infocomm Media Development Authority". Base. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  2. ^ "New York Festivals Awards - International TV Programs and Films". NewYorkFestivals.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  3. ^ HotDocsFest, Hot Docs Trailers 2012: THE WORLD'S MOST FASHIONABLE PRISON, retrieved 2019-01-31
  4. ^ "LIGHTHOUSE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2012 LINEUP" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Honolulu Film Awards | Screenplay Contest | Script Competitions - 2012 Winners". honolulufilmawards.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  6. ^ "The World's Most Fashionable Prison (2012) Movie Review from Eye for Film". www.eyeforfilm.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  7. ^ "Behind the scenes of 'Little People Big Dreams'". Time Out Singapore. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  8. ^ "Channel NewsAsia launches its first feature film – Little People Big Dreams | AIB". aib.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  9. ^ "CNEX: Takeaways from the Chinese Doc Forum, Taipei (CCDF-5)". DocumentaryBusiness.com. 2014-10-01. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  10. ^ Rosser, Michael (7 May 2015). "Sheffield Doc/Fest unveils 2015 line-up". Screen. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  11. ^ "2015 Lighthouse International Film Festival Winners". New Jersey Stage. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  12. ^ "MediaCorp picks up three awards at first night of Asian Television Awards". TODAYonline. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  13. ^ "Mediacorp wins 21 awards at 2016 New York Festivals". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  14. ^ "One Taxi Ride". www.frameline.org.
  15. ^ "And Then We Danced wins out at the 24th LesGaiCineMad". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema.
  16. ^ de la Fuente, Anna Marie; Lang, Jamie (2019-03-15). "Guadalajara: First Details of Guillermo del Toro's Animation Center, Takeaways". Variety.
  17. ^ "Fifteen Highlights and Lowlights from Frameline43". San Francisco Bay Times. 13 June 2019.
  18. ^ "2019 New York LGBTQ Film Festival Review: "One Taxi Ride" Is A Powerful Story That Brings Much-Needed Awareness To Male Victims Of Sexual Assault". Irish Film Critic. 4 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Highlights from the upcoming Frameline43, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival". GLAAD. 4 June 2019.
  20. ^ a b "Does your donation really help the poor? A new Singaporean documentary looks for answers". TODAYonline. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Singapore film-maker returns to help orphans in Tanzania 11 years later". The Straits Times. 17 November 2016.