# Sande Harsa
> My journal on becoming a pro artist
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).
## Pages
### readme
URL: https://edn.as/readme/
Last updated: 2026-08-04T13:07:16.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/L1003101.jpeg)

Melbourne-based photographer working at the intersection of street photography, urban observation, and everyday life. I look for quiet gestures, uncanny juxtapositions, and the subtle tension between people who share space without quite connecting.  
  
Much of my work has been shaped by my own experience of moving to Melbourne from Indonesia at seventeen, that particular state of being surrounded by life but watching it through glass. My series alone/together grew from this without a plan: images where a recurring feeling kept surfacing. One person small against a big city. Groups of people, close but not touching. You're always around people, but not really with them. I've come to realise that when I'm out with a camera, I'm living inside that feeling too, part of the crowd but separate from it. The act of photographing is itself a way of being close to people while remaining at a distance.  
  
I'm an engineer at Milanote, a creative tool used by artists and designers worldwide, and share my photographic process on YouTube through projects like One Week, One Street, One Video.  
  
My work has been exhibited at Kindred Cameras (Lost & Found, July 2025; Afterglow, July 2026), the Museum of Australian Photography (LOOK!, October 2025), and the Victorian Archives Centre as part of Rehearsing the City during Melbourne Design Week (May 2026).
### jpeg
URL: https://edn.as/jpeg/
Last updated: 2026-08-04T14:11:01.000Z
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### (Untitled)
URL: https://edn.as/home-jpeg/
Last updated: 2026-08-04T13:53:06.000Z
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## Posts
### MIFF 2026: The Friend’s House is Here
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-the-friends-house-is-here/
Last updated: 2026-08-26T12:58:12.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my thirteenth and last session.

This post my short review of “The Friend’s House is Here”

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

This is the last movie for me this year! That flew past so fast. I actually found it more manageable than last years somehow, maybe because I knew what to expect. I love rushing to write this review before the next one, just so that I have the freshest perspective. I hope that someday some people that are looking to watch these movies might find this. Well who am I kidding, at the very least, I get to go back and read this, not sure if anyone else would! Anyways, let's get to the review ;)

## Why did I choose to watch this?

The synopsis reeled me in. The story of two artists in Iran that just wants to express themselves through their art but unable to do so properly due to their acts being illegal. It has all the good stuff, the fight against oppression, the spirit of humanity, and the unquenchable thirst of the arts - like you don't have a choice. Just from reading the synopsis, I knew that I'd be inspired. I knew that I'd be grateful to be able to freely do art, and inspired to step outside of my comfort zone more because I truly have less to lose than them. How did the movie actually go? Let's get into it. 

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-friends-039307_18264.jpg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

Artists, creators, humanists, feminists. People who appreciate the feeling of making something and even making something because that's the only choice that you have - you just gotta create. People who like to see people banding together and express themselves. Plus, fans of Abbas Kiarostami, the co-directors mention that they take inspiration from his filmmaking.

*Spoilers ahead*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-friends-039307_18260.jpg)

## Structure

The film starts off with a lot of happy feelings. People are celebrating, spending time together. The main characters were introduced, Pari, an underground playwright and Hanna, a dancer. It felt like an ending of a feel good movie. But of course this is just the prologue before challenges happen. Then a conflict happened in the middle, the characters start to try to get out of it. A compromise was made to get out of the issue. Life happens, it feels like "it is what it is", then you realise that the start of the movie is just how life is like for them. There are always ups and downs, things probably didn't go their way before the events in the movies and perhaps after. With all that, I'm trying to say that it's kinda structured in a way that shows a glimpse of these artists' life in Iran, which is exactly what it says in the synopsis and it's told in a beautiful way.

The structure bit that I liked the most was the way they introduce a possible twist in the story by mixing reality and fiction. At the start of the movie, we see Pari in a state of panic, but the we realise that she was acting in a play. Then there's a second time we see Pari in that state, only this time it's ambiguous. "Is it not a play? Is this time real? Why does it seem like something is actually happening?" a really clever way to build up suspense. The mix between fiction and reality reminds me of the film ['Parallel Tales'](https://edn.as/miff-2026-parallel-tales/) that I also watched this MIFF - if you like this fiction-reality mix, the whole film is just that!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-friends-039307_18261.jpg)

## Narrative

Throughout the montage at the start, the Pari and Hanna were being told off by people around them for not being "decent", in this case for not covering their hair. But they brush it off, living their life like they want to live. They don't always get along, but they always have each other. The way the shots are setup (more in the next section) means that you get to immerse yourself in the story with each scene. I love the subtle things that is brought up between Pari and Hanna; for example Hanna asking Pari "why don't you ask me to stay?" and Pari answered "I'm supporting whatever you decide to do", but then later in the story Pari actually said "I want you to stay" - a simple and nice callback.

I mentioned that I decided to watch this to get inspired by the story. And yes, very much so. I love to see people trying their best and hardest for a goal that is almost can be boiled down to "just because", they are not forced to go for this but this is what they want to do. That's why I like to read sports mangas. I find the story of grit and passion very moving and inspiring. This film is set in a context that has way more at stake than shonen sports mangas, and that makes it heavier and more meaningful.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-friends-039307_18263-1.jpg)

## Cinematography

This is the cinematography style that I like the most, and I just realised this during this year's MIFF - as I've written in my review for ['A Girl Unknown'](https://edn.as/miff-2026-a-girl-unknown/), let me pull what I wrote:

> To describe it, they use stationary camera angles to take a shot of a scene where the actors move in and out of that frame. Relying on good audio design for the audience to get what’s happening off screen. I find that it reels you in, in a natural way. It’s like when you sit down at your sofa and watch TV, maybe there’s a family member in the kitchen rustling about making food then eventually show up into your field of vision carrying a sandwich. When you heard the sounds, your subconscious mind (or maybe conscious mind) start to imagine what they are doing, then when they show up, you piece it together and your brain is satisfied with the resolution of the tiny mystery.

In this film, that style was used again and again, in a pleasing way. In particular, there was a scene when Hanna came home and the camera stayed on one angle for the full duration of the scene, maybe 3-4 minutes. Hanna came in and out the field of view, then eventually sat down in front of a mirror, and only her reflection is in view but not her real body. That was a pretty cool shot.

The film was full of them! At the directors Q&A, they revealed that they were inspired by Abbas Kiarostami, a legendary Iranian filmmaker, who is known for this style. I didn't know about him before, sounds like I need to put his films on my list. One of the film is actually "Where is the Friend's House?", which this film's title is referencing. Neat huh.

## Outro

"The Friend's House is Here" is a terrific film about passion, grit, and friendships. As I predicted, it has all the good stuff, the fight against oppression, the spirit of humanity, and the unquenchable thirst of the arts. I find it moving and inspiring, and if you are a fellow artist, creator, or maybe just a curious human, I think you would too.
### MIFF 2026: The Incomer
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-the-incomer/
Last updated: 2026-08-23T01:52:13.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my twelfth session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘The Incomer’

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

## Why did I choose to watch this?

I wasn’t sure about this one at first. But when I was looking through the movies over and over, I finally caved in for this one. The premise seems funny in an absurd way, a remote island being visited by ‘outsiders’ and what happens after that. I also haven’t watched many comedies at MIFF, ‘The Sun Never Sets’ being the first one just a day ago. And this one is just straight up comedy instead of a rom com. The weird premise reminds me of ‘Yesterday’, a comedy film that I recently watched and loved. Moreover, I recognise Domnhall Gleeson from the series ‘The Paper’ and I like his performance there, so keen to see more of him!

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

## Who would I recommend this to?

Fans of the absurd comedy. A bit slapstick-ish, but also has a level of depth. Those who like their comedy to have a some meaning too. After I watched it, I do think it reminds of ‘Yesterday’, so if you are a fan of the humour in that, you’d might like this too.

*Light spoilers ahead.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7189-1.jpeg)

## Structure

The intro goes strong by immediately starting with a narration, like a children’s book “once upon a time…”, and we get to see the silliness of the two main characters right away. A montage of their life on the island sets the tone of film.

Then, as the synopsis says, an “Incomer” arrived at the island. The brother and sister confronts him, but then got curious. Then it gradually build up to the climax of more people coming, more things happening. And the ending ties it all together nicely - instead of keeping it open ended - as you would expect from a light hearted movie.

I like that it’s easy to follow! Even with some flashbacks and jumps between locations, I don’t think you’d be lost in it. Feels like a silly cartoon but live action and for adults. There are even some animated parts of the story. The cursing and some themes might not be suited for kids, but perhaps suited for young adults. Very fun!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7190.jpeg)

## Narrative

*More story spoilers here.*

The way that a dorky council worker try to navigate the absurd situation is really funny. I think the setup itself is already gold. I love the creativity of the weird things that the islanders do. And the council workers really match that weirdness, so who’s to say the “mainlanders” aren’t as odd.

The bond that built up between the brother sister and the council worker is very sweet. The montage of them doing things together matches the intro montage, except the brother and sister seem happier! Only having each other is clearly hard for both of them.

I like the subtle jokes that are just seamlessly in the dialogue, I guess like any other sitcom. If I were to categorise it, it’s not quite as in-your-face as American humour, but not the dry (sometimes overly dry) British humour. Kinda in the middle, which reminds me of ‘The Office’, my number one favourite comfort show.

## Cinematography

The scenes at the island are gorgeous! I kept imagining going there and making landscape photos. The comedy is integrated into the use of the camera angles, pans, and shots - I guess goes without saying. Some setups were funny just because of the camera angle, for example when the group was walking back to the house, the brother was like “I’m going to run to the house! Try and catch me!”, the zoomed off screen, then after a few seconds he zoomed the other way, blurred and really close to the camera. Not sure if that’s a good description, but I found it so funny, and it utilised the camera position well.

## Outro

‘The Incomer’ is a fun and funny sitcom film that would get you laughing hard. I especially liked watching it in a cinema and laugh together in the audience, makes it extra funny I think. Love the combination of cinematography, story, and acting all coming together to make me laugh.
### MIFF 2026: The Sun Never Sets
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-the-sun-never-sets-sets/
Last updated: 2026-08-21T14:59:09.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my eleventh session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘**The Sun Never Sets**’

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

## Why did I choose to watch this?

This film is one of the more light hearted choices for me this year. It’s a romantic comedy and the synopsis reminds me of the recent A24 film ‘Eternity’, where a person needs to choose between two people. I like that this film’s characters are in the 30s-40s, in my age range basically. I think this would make the story somewhat more relatable. Similarly, I found that the manga ‘Hirayasumi’, about a 30 year old ex-actor living a quiet life, was quite relatable.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7180-1.jpeg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

Those who like rom-coms! This one is quite funny, I loved the jokes in it. I feel like it’s not overly silly like some others. And it has a plus of being shot in Alaska, cool to see if you’re not familiar with the place. The film is also mostly improved, isn’t that cool? Joe Swanberg, the director, is well known for it. In the Q&A after the movie, he revealed that he had a 55-page document of the movie outline, with bits of sample dialogue - but not a line by line script. Intriguing!

*Light spoilers ahead.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7183.jpeg)

## Structure

The film starts of strong, after quick intros of the characters, they go into what it says on the synopsis: Wendy’s boyfriend, Jake, suggested that she takes the summer to date around and see what’s out there. Then the story picked up from there.

They used sequences with music and footage to show advancement of time, like mini time skips. If I remember correctly, there were 3 of them. I feel like it was a good way to keep the audience engaged but still showing some of the mundane things that are useful to be shown but just compactly.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7181.jpeg)

## Narrative

For the story, after Jake explains her suggestion to Wendy, the audience follows along her struggles and her confusion on her feelings. The up and down is quite funny, the turning point for Jake after realising that Wendy actually met an ex that was compatible with her was hilarious.

Then perhaps you can imagine ways for the story to develop, and I think the way it went is not super crazy. The reason it’s interesting is the dialogue, acting, and the little details - instead of the overarching story. I think that’s wonderful! Suits the genre really well. At the end of it, I felt satisfied and glad that I went to watch it.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7182.jpeg)

## Cinematography

They shot the film with 35mm film, so the visuals are great. The colour and grain has the nostalgic quality that I love. Honestly, the cinematography just feels natural. There’s nothing that I picked up that was like “ohh that’s amazing”. Perhaps due to the story being so compelling and funny, the shots just feel one with the story. It must to do with the acting being great as well, it’s just immersive. The fast pace added to that too, no single shot is up for long enough for me to notice anything in particular. Or perhaps I’m just bad at noticing haha, keen to see how my eyes are different next MIFF!

Oh, and the title ‘The Sun Never Sets’ is a reference to Alaska having the sun up 22 hours in a day. So when they shot scenes at night time at a bar, when the characters go out, it’d be bright and sunny, ha!

As mentioned before the film was made off an outline document and not really a set script. The director, Joe, said that it made the filmmaking dynamic. They would go to shoot a scene, and perhaps it didn’t feel quite right, and for the next take they would do it just completely differently. Actors would give suggestions and ideas, or just anyone in the team really, and they would try it out. Sounds really cool, kinda like a ‘agile’ software development team haha (my day job is software engineering).

## Outro

‘The Sun Never Sets’ is a hilarious rom com set in present time Alaska. I feel like it doesn’t have silly cliche that makes some rom coms annoying, the storyline is well done, the acting is superb, the funny parts are reaaally funny. Recommended for a fun easy watch!
### MIFF 2026: Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-yesterday-the-eye-didnt-sleep/
Last updated: 2026-08-21T14:08:50.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my tenth session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep**’**

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

## Why did I choose to watch this?

This line in the movie description sold me to it:

“Shot without a script and performed by a non-professional cast”

That sounds so cool! Plus the locations: “Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Palestine, Qatar” - the location variation and the way it was shot while being a film festival movie, how cool is that!? I wonder how much of the limitations are due to logistical constraints versus artistic decision. My guess is that it’s both! Limitations produces creativity after all. Of course the synopsis of the story also sounds interesting, one about customs, culture, politics, and the want to break out of that.

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7165.jpeg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

People that like movies that comments on society. The film surfaces cultural norms that you are familiar with or perhaps you are familiar with it but seeing it portrayed might give you some thoughts. Those who likes movies slower paced well-shot films. And finally those that who’s interested in a film that was made under different process than big Hollywood blockbusters - non-professional actors and unscripted! How cool is that.

*Light spoilers ahead*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7166.jpeg)

## Structure

The film starts off with a hook: a burning car in the darkness of night, shown slowly zoomed in - the first usage of the zooming that is used throughout the movie, more about this in the cinematography section. Then without any explanation, we are jumped to a slow introduction of the protagonists which are a family in Lebanon.

After the slow paced intro, we hear mentions of a woman who’s missing, then scenes of someone trying to find her. Then an incident happened that is unrelated to the search, and the incident marks the next part of the movie which kinda picks up. 

i find that the structure feels like a short film but elongated. Instead of more narrative packed into the longer run time, it’s filled with long cinematic shots. This is the main contributor to the slow pace feeling. Yet, some of the situation in the film feels so urgent. That juxtaposition mimics the mannerism and societal expectations that the characters (especially the woman) experienced even faced with absurdly unfair situations.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7167.jpeg)

## Narrative

Speaking of the absurdly unfair situations, that‘s the centre of the story. At least for me. Things that are happening feel so unfair towards almost all the parties, all the characters, but particularly the main protagonists - the sisters in the family. This is highlighted even more with the side story which is told about the missing woman that I mentioned earlier. Interestingly, the burning-car hook is actually related to the side-story, not the main one. So the first part of the movie, you are subverted into thinking the story is about resolving that mystery.

In the Q&A with the director, he said that when he made the movie, he tried to not make judgement on anyone or try to put across any particular message. He wants to tell a story of something that can happen in his home country, Lebanon, that might not be a common occurrence outside the region. After hearing that, I can see that. But before that Q&A, I didn’t think that was the why the film is made that way.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7168.jpeg)

## Cinematography

The shots in this film are all superb, very cinematic! Lots of frames that can be amazing still photos. The way they use motion, in particular the slow zoom, is satisfying. They used the zoom to emphasis a condition, to intensify a normal scene - for example people working at a field. the director mentioned that the film was shot in digital but utilising vintage lenses. So the result has some vintage vibes on it, takes off the digital sharpness edge.

The film used many wide far away shots as the main (and only) shot for some scenes. For example, a far birds eye view of someone going up to a house, knocking the door, the having a quick conversation, then driving off. That whole sequence was on a birds eye view shot. At the Q&A, the director mention that it’s meant to represent a mythical being looking down to the scene from above - as in a god figure. Pretty cool!

I really like the sequence on the celebration at a wedding. The music and the people dancing was captured in a fever dream sort of way. That was quite neat.

## Outro

‘Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep’ is a film with a good story, great storytelling, and very interesting cinematography. I felt like it was built like a short film - especially since short films are fresh in my mind after watching the short films at MIFF. And that’s in a good way and bad way. The bad part is that the essence of it could perhaps be told in a quicker manner, which might mean that it has a bit of fluff. On the other hand, contradicting that, The good part of it is the convinced compressed storytelling and they used the “extra runtime” really well by making each shot meaningfully more cinematic.
### MIFF 2026: A Girl Unknown
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-a-girl-unknown/
Last updated: 2026-08-19T00:47:30.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my ninth session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘A Girl Unknown’

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!  

## **Why did I choose to watch this?**

I like movies that borrows real historical phenomena and make a fictional story out of it. I could imagine a similar story happening in the world, or even was used as a basis for the story. This film in particular centres the one-child policy in China and a patriarchal society. Moreover, I like watching non-English films, and I haven’t watched many Mandarin ones in particular so this is a good chance for me to do so. Would I watch more? Well, let’s go into what I think about this one!

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7156.jpeg)

## **Who would I recommend this to?**

People who like deep stories being told in a cinematic package. Those who like films set in a the 80s-90s, perhaps you grew up during that period and find them nostalgic. The feeling of the film reminds me of ‘Past Lives’, maybe even some of the cinematography. The stories are very different, but it has a similar “quality”.

*Spoilers ahead*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7157.jpeg)

## **Structure**

The film follows the life of a girl, from a kid to adolescence. It has time skips and sort of chapters, though the chapters are not the same length. The pacing feels so well done, not too fast and not too slow. No part of the story over welcomed their stay, even with the deliberate cinematic style. The transitions between one ‘chapter’ to another are abrupt, almost as if depicting the protagonist’s abrupt life changes.

One of the most enjoyable pacing and structure this MIFF. Actually reminds me of ‘Sorry, Baby’ from last year, which I also really like.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7158.jpeg)

## **Narrative**

The story follows a girl moving from one family to another, from one parent figure to another. Mostly not feeling like she belongs. The background context is the one child policy in China. As the synopsis said, her dad passed away, then the mom found a new partner and got pregnant. Since the mom can only have one child, the protagonist was let go. She then goes through periods of grief, as a child not understanding why things are happening. Piecing together information about her adoptive family.

The story has ebb and flows where the protagonist shows glimpses of belonging and joy before it being taken away by the adults around her. She tries to muster the little self-agency that she has but keeps getting broken down, directly and indirectly.

The title ‘A Girl Unknown’ refers to needing to have her name changed when going from family to family. I wrote “have her name changed” instead of “changing her name” because she ever took parts in the decision, or even made to understand.

All together, the narrative is powerful. It’s one that I would watch again like I would re-read a good book. It’s touching, griping, and even has you at the edge of your sit without being overly dramatic - so just by telling the story ‘the way it is’

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/IMG_7159.jpeg)

## **Cinematography**

The film has the kind of cinematography that I enjoy the most, I just realised this. To describe it, they use stationary camera angles to take a shot of a scene where the actors move in and out of that frame. Relying on good audio design for the audience to get what’s happening off screen. I find that it reels you in, in a natural way. It’s like when you sit down at your sofa and watch TV, maybe there’s a family member in the kitchen rustling about making food then eventually show up into your field of vision carrying a sandwich. When you heard the sounds, your subconscious mind (or maybe conscious mind) start to imagine what they are doing, then when they show up, you piece it together and your brain is satisfied with the resolution of the tiny mystery.

That sort of shots was the main style of the film. Even the moving shots would have pan in one direction, for example, a side view of a character riding their bike with the camera moving the same speed as the bike. And another example of the characters walking on the beach, the camera is set up to shoot the coastline and move the same speed as their walking speed. I feel these shots gave a relaxed feeling and move forward the story subtly.

There are of course shots that break that pattern. A Birds Eye view of a car going through the hills. Close up shots that accentuates the actor’s facial expressions. Amazing underwater shots that look like a dream.

As I said, I came to realise that this is the cinematography style that I like the most. Perhaps part of it is that I can see frames that are just well composed photos (and I’d classify myself as photographer first rather than videographer). I find it satisfying to be able to point to a style of film and say “I like it because X”, I guess that’s the point of me writing all these reviews!

## **Outro**

‘A Girl Unknown’ is a film about belonging in a world that doesn’t want you to belong. A feeling that can be extrapolated to something relevant to many people in the continually more globalised world today. Of course, specifically, it’s a glimpse into the effect of China’s one child policy - if you grew in that policy or simply curious about it then I believe this movie is a great insight to one of the stories.
### MIFF 2026: Hair, Paper, Water…
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-hair-paper-water/
Last updated: 2026-08-19T00:47:39.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my eighth session (of 13!)

This post my short review of 'Hair, Paper, Water..." or in the Vietnamese title: 'Tóc, Giấy và Nước…'

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

## Why did I choose to watch this?

It's going to sound a bit of a shallow reason, but the main draw is because it's about Vietnam and my wife is Vietnamese. During MIFF, I want to watch some of the films with my wife. She's interested in films as well, but just don't want to watch as many as movie. This one reeled her in! That being said, I was also intrigued by the synopsis. Languages that are slowly dying down due to globalisation (and well, colonisation) exist in my home country, Indonesia, too. Moreover, this film is categorised as a "doc vision" which is described as:

> Between documentary and fiction lie captivating works that merge observation and imagination in daring, surprising ways, redefining how film can show us the world.

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? It's my first doc vision viewing at MIFF, and maybe ever. I feel like it's the kind of video work that I might attempt to do for YouTube.

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/hair-paper-w-037623_16481-1.jpg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

People who like to dive into cultural history. Those who like serene movies that calms you down more than action packed ones. Also for Vietnamese people, or if you have a Vietnamese family member or friend or just visited and loved the place. 

*Spoilers ahead, though I personally it's not the type of movie that you need to worry about spoilers.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/hair-paper-w-037623_16480.jpg)

## Structure

The film is classified as a doc visionary, meaning a documentary with some fictional elements. It's not very clear which parts are fictional, just from watching it I feel like all the people and the story is real but some of the scenes or settings might be made more poetic and enhanced. Though I'd say that's still within the constraint of a documentary.

As per the synopsis, the film follows a woman from the Rục ethnic group in Vietnam. For context, there are 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam with a Kinh being the majority with 85% of the population. The reset of the groups are very low percentages. Rục is one of 5 tribes within the of the Chứt group which has the population of 0.01%.

The film follows the woman to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to care for a family-friend that just gave birth. Then the story unfolded to her relationship with her grandson, the one to whom she is passing on her language.

The way the language teaching is conveyed in the movie is by her reading out a word and for the grandson to repeat it. But it's just conveyed through audio, the scene would depict scenery of her doing something else, or the grandson, or just sceneries of her hometown or where the grandson lives.

One feedback that I have for the structure is pacing in some parts. The camera seems to linger just a bit too long when shooting some picture-esque scenes like the river, the forests, and so on. I understand that it's meant to be slow paced film, and perhaps the point is to be slow. But I do think it's a little bit too lengthy at some points.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/hair-paper-w-037623_16482.jpg)

## Narrative

I mentioned bits of the narrative in the structure. The one that I haven't mentioned that is in the synopsis is that the grandson is studying English at school. That's the contrast that the film is trying to show. The grandson is studying these two languages that have totally different purposes and meaning to him. The grandmother's language representing the conservation of his culture and roots. The English language representing breaking out of that, surviving in a globalised world, and establishing himself in a world that is not run by his own people.

There's a part where the grandson was interviewed about his life now and he wants to do in the future. He disclosed that his father is abusive towards him and his mom. Then said that his plan is to move away, get married one day, build a house for himself - "not here" he said - but still come back to visit his mom. I feel like it represents the feelings of migrants, not even to another country but to another city. It's a struggle between wanting to make things better for themselves but wanting to conserve who you are.

That phrase "make things better" struck the most with my wife. The film shows various scenes of the woman using traditional medicines, living in simple houses, doing laundry, going to the woods to harvest yams, and so on. Simple living that through the medium of the 16mm film tape can look grungy. It has the feeling that it might have struck a chord along the lines of "oh, poor them" among the audience members. However, that's how the woman lives and she prefers it - established really early on with scenes of her visiting Saigon and saying "this place is crazy!"

To finish off this section, I want to mention that in the film there was a billboard that said "Getting out of poverty is in the hands of every individual". What an apt find by the filmmaking team. 

## Cinematography

The film was shot on 16mm film. The quality of it makes it really nostalgic yet real. However, in my opinion, the subject matter itself is already plays into that. I feel like the film choice or perhaps the grading (not sure how much grading can you do with the medium) is too dark and gloomy. I don't think it needs to be bright and contrasty, but perhaps just slightly tweaked to be towards the modern scale.

As mentioned before, some of the shots are held on for a long time. The same scene shot from different perspective, some times with fast panning. In some scenes, the ones with people in it, it works well. In the scenes of showing the forest, the river, basically the scenery without the people in it, it feels a bit excessive. This is accented by having no clear sense of where they are and where they are going, which by itself I like because it adds a sense of mystery and serenity, however when it lingers too long it's just alienating. That said, maybe that's what they were going for!

I love the shots of the people the most. From the woman, to the grandson, to the newly born baby. Scenes when they were doing everyday chores or just walking down the street. Feels like scenes that I would see on vlogs on YouTube but done better - though I think I'm too much of a novice to point out in what aspects is it better.

## Outro

'Hair, Paper, Water…' is a lovely documentary on passing on a language that not many people speak anymore. It's about conserving culture in the face of globalisation. It's a story about one woman's effort in doing so, and her hope for the future of her grandson.
### MIFF 2026: International Shorts 2
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-international-shorts-2/
Last updated: 2026-08-19T00:47:48.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my seventh session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘International Shorts 2’, a collection of short films picked for the film festival

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

## **Why did I choose to watch this?**

*Same answer as the one in my 'International Shorts 1' review:*

My interest in film festivals started with a shorts compilation at the [Pigdon Street Film Festival](https://www.pigdonfilmfest.com/?ref=edn.as). I went there in 2025 and got hooked. As you might have guessed, I watched the shorts compilation. When MIFF came around, I was pumped to watch as many movie as I can without feeling burnt out. The short films to me feel so fresh. Even as a child, I loved reading short stories more than full length books. Not just because “short attention span” or something, I would actually read a book that is a collection of short stories, so the total length is the same. I feel like I just find them neat: packing a narrative in such a compact space whilst still be interesting. The short films are even more interesting by the way they need to be efficient in introducing characters, establishing the context, and wrap up the conclusion. At the same time keep the pacing just right. The YouTube videos that I made is no where near the caliber of these short films, but certainly feels closer to them compared to a full-length blockbuster. So in that sense, I find them inspiring too. Okay, let’s get into my short reviews of each of the short films!

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/in-her-arms-038223_18416.jpg)

## **1\. In Her Arms**

The cinematography here is like I’ve never seen before. You can’t see the actors face, and in most scenes not even their head. The shits are mostly of the torsos. It’s about the Ukrainian’s experience when coming back from home after the Russia invasion. So I think the faces aren’t shown to indicate they the crux of the film was widely experienced by many people. In fact, it was explicitly spelled out in the first scene when a minesweeper officer said to the protagonists: “we can’t 100% check everything, you’re not the only ones.”

Not showing the actors face is obviously a big disadvantage. The expressions and emotions need to be conveyed via body language, composition, colour grading, light, sound design, and dialogue. I think they nailed that. Not seeing the face is kinda like closing your eyes and having all your other senses heightened. So you would pay attention on all the other aspects. Lovely!

The story is a heart wrenching one. The build up is great. I don’t want to spoil it more than that! Have a watch if you can. 9/10

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/for-the-oppo-042222_18666.jpg)

## **2\. For the Opponents**

This one has also has a standout cinematography for me. The camera mostly follows Damian, the protagonist, almost from start to end. The camera tracks his movement while he’s in a boxing match. It’s seemingly shot using a long telephoto lens - I gathered that from the compressed look of the out of focus element. It feels claustrophobic, which is a great analogy to how the protagonist feels while wearing the boxing headgear. After the match ended, when he went out to play with his friend, the shot goes wide and it almost feels like a relief. Great movie about perseverance. Perhaps also about childhood and growing up, like a come of an age story.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/coyotes-038431_18621.jpg)

## **3\. Coyotes**

The film is set at night time, the whole movie is at night. In fact, the passage of time seems to be quite close to real life but obviously with bits of jumps. The narrative is tight and resolved neatly at the end. It’s about psychological drama, which is a genre that I love. Definitely the type of story that can actually be expanded more. It’s set in Palestine and showcases the struggle there in a different way to what you might expect. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/a-soil-a-cul-038938_18631.jpg)

## **4\. A Soil A Culture A River A People**

This one I really didn’t get to be honest. On the way out, I overheard people saying the same thing. It’s enigmatic and a bit out there - well, maybe a lot out there. I didn’t quite get the narrative. The cinematography is cool though! The colour grading, the acting, and the compositions are all well done. The aspects of the film seem to be done well, except that I didn’t quite get the story. Maybe it’s something that I need to look up and read about before getting it. Or watching it again.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/mardochi-038560_17472.jpg)

## **5\. Mardochi**

The use of voice notes to move the story along while a different thing happening on screen is nice, efficient for a short film. While watching, I thought it’s amazing that they can fit all this in a short film, turns out it has the longest run time. Still impressive though!

The story is subtle, at least for me. I didn’t know where it was going. I actually forgot the title of the film while watching and only looked it up at the end. It’s satisfying and neat. The kind of narrative that I think might be simple in the conception and the initial writing, making the execution from the casting, acting, and everything else.

## Outro

As usual, these shorts were a hoot to watch! If you are new to film festivals, I definitely recommend watching the shorts firsts. Not only you get the best bang for your buck - in terms of films watched - but you also get to see an interesting format that you don't usually get to see. They are not full movies, they are not YouTube videos, they are short films!
### MIFF 2026: International Shorts 1
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-international-shorts-1/
Last updated: 2026-08-19T00:47:57.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my sixth session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘International Shorts 1’, a collection of short films selected for the film festival.

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

## **Why did I choose to watch this?**

My interest in film festivals started with a shorts compilation at the [Pigdon Street Film Festival](https://www.pigdonfilmfest.com/?ref=edn.as). I went there in 2025 and got hooked. As you might have guessed, I watched the shorts compilation. When MIFF came around, I was pumped to watch as many movie as I can without feeling burnt out. The short films to me feel so fresh. Even as a child, I loved reading short stories more than full length books. Not just because “short attention span” or something, I would actually read a book that is a collection of short stories, so the total length is the same. I feel like I just find them neat: packing a narrative in such a compact space whilst still be interesting. The short films are even more interesting by the way they need to be efficient in introducing characters, establishing the context, and wrap up the conclusion. At the same time keep the pacing just right. The YouTube videos that I made is no where near the caliber of these short films, but certainly feels closer to them compared to a full-length blockbuster. So in that sense, I find them inspiring too. Okay, let’s get into my short reviews of each of the short films!

*Spoilers ahead*

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/what-do-the-042278_18440.jpg)

## 1\. 'What do the Maknines Dream Of'

The soundtrack for this is superb. I love the singing style and the song. It has a analogy of them being singers to the birds that they are selling - probably not something I need to even point out as it’s so obvious. The styling of the main characters is great, with the facial hair and the way they dressed, they seem want to pull themselves up to be adults but if you look closely, they seem quite young. I like scenes of going to one place to another selling the birds, fast paced but not overly chaotic. The acting at the end was a bit lacklustre and feels like you need to infer that things happened off screen. 7.5/10 film with a 10/10 soundtrack - so good!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/obi-is-a-boy-041680_18531.jpg)

## 2\. 'Obi is a Boy'

Cinematography is a banger in this film. There are many scenes that were shot with a stationary camera, and linger just a bit longer than usual. That made it possible for me to appreciate the beauty in the composition and the details. I’ve drawn some below!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Obi-is-a-Boy---page-1.png)

The shot of him in front of the casket and then people going around him was fantastic. Letting us see that he’s subtly wearing something different to other men.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Obi-is-a-Boy---page-2.png)

The scene with the dad at the dining table where everything was yellow hue but he’s wearing blue - different to others. The use of colour is awesome!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Obi-is-a-Boy---page-3.png)

When Obi wearing a dress down the stairs, the stairs were slanted in a way that I think conveys the perspective of the dad feeling off balance psychologically. Perhaps.

Last point: lots of parts are off screen like the fight scene with the bully, but gets the message across. Seems like with short movies they find ways to make character intros so efficient, you get a sense of the character with every dialogue or scene. ‘Obi is a Boy’ in particular does this very well. 9/10 film, nice ending too!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/free-eliza-n-042248_19110.jpg)

## 3\. 'Free Eliza'

The most absurd one, in a great way. Reminds me of ‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’ from last year, a movie where no one can spit. And actually the shark costume reminds of ‘Inflatable Bear, Hourly’ from last year too, and also the colour grading. I like that I can reference other movies now haha, a step closer to being a film connoisseur 🤣

The scenes using the mirrors are beautiful. The colour grading has a nostalgic feel to it. The concept is easy to grasp but the depth that they get into is deep. It’s absurd in a best way possible where you can’t really foresee what’s going to happen next. Things just happen and you are on for a ride.

The humour is so funny, the whole cinema had a lot of laughs in this one. I think it’s the most entertaining one! 8/10

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-wind-in-037609_18386.jpg)

## 4\. 'The Wind In Ash'

The photos in the middle of the movie is so cool. Like my YouTube videos but in movie format. The storytelling through photos made me inspired to create a fictional story with this format, not just my usual real life photo walks. So 10/10 for the structure, for me personally.

The narrative is very touching too, I love it. Best one of the pack, again for me personally. It makes me think about telling the story of me leaving home and getting my own identity in Australia. The cinematography is matched with actual still photos as I mentioned, and that feels integral to the story. There are photos from the protagonist’s childhood intermingled with the photos that they just took in the moment.

Best one out of the pack for me, 9.5/10

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/reckless-039211_18409.jpg)

## Film 5 Reckless

Some parts are hard to watch. Some of them are insaaane. It’s centred around a drinking game at a ‘boys trip’ that goes way too far. The opening scene is cool and the throwback at the end tidy up the story nicely.

The swing of moods between going crazy and “oh shit did that just happen” is magnificent. Crazy how they packed that in a short movie. I think it’ll be one that I remember the most just because of the roller coaster ride. The acting is so good, the transitions between one ‘game punishment’ to another is great, and the conclusion is satisfying. 8.5/10

## Extra notes:

I recently watched the blockbuster movie ‘The Odyssey’, and these movies have better pacing than Odyssey despite being so short . The establishing scenes that have no dialogue are beautiful. Maybe because of constraints in how these movies are made, but it’s kinda the way I prefer. I think I notice the cinematography in these more because the shots are held for way longer than others.

## Outro

As usual, these shorts were a hoot to watch! If you are new to film festivals, I definitely recommend watching the shorts firsts. Not only you get the best bang for your buck - in terms of films watched - but you also get to see an interesting format that you don't usually get to see. They are not full movies, they are not YouTube videos, they are short films!
### MIFF 2026: Parallel Tales
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-parallel-tales/
Last updated: 2026-08-20T13:14:36.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my fifth session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘Parallel Tales’

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

## **Why did I choose to watch this movie?**

The genre, psychological drama, is one of my favourites. I really like a thrilling storyline with a lot of suspense that doesn’t involve horror elements. It’s why I like Severance, Presumed Innocent, Black Mirror (well some episodes), and mangas/animes like Death Note or Psycho Pass. I find them interesting because of it's about the human mind. The way the mind breaks down or built up, the way logical and rational thinking is challenged by the irrational feelings - or vice versa. It's all fascinating to me. From the synopsis, this one fits the genre. So I went for it!

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/parallel-tal-039041_17799-1.jpg)

## **Who would I recommend this to?**

Aside from lovers of psychological drama that I mentioned above, lovers of movies with layered stories would like this too. Bits of ‘Inception' or even the more light hearted 'Love Actually.' The title is pretty verbose, kindly describing that there will two tales going at once. But the way it's told is not verbose at all, the intermingling between "fiction" and "reality" (in the movie‘s universe) is done in a satisfying way. More discussion on this below!

*Spoilers ahead*.

---

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/parallel-tal-039041_17796.jpg)

## **Structure**

As mentioned, the weaving in and out of "fiction" and "reality" was done really well. The story follows a novel writer spying on her neighbour across the street and imagining a story between the people that she sees. The story that she writes is a mix between reality and fiction - making it mostly fiction. The reality part is basically the fact that these people physically exist but everything from their name, relationships, their personality, are all made up by the writer. As the audience of the movie, there is little delineation between the fictional writing playing out versus the "reality" being shown (as in what the fictional movie deems as reality.) This reminds me of a book that I recently read, 'Taiwan Travelogue', where the book is pretending to translate a Japanese fictional book into Mandarin, the Mandarin fictional translation is in fact the original book. Layers.

Speaking of layers, there's another layer on top of that. The storyline of each character that at first seemingly does not connect but then gradually became interconnected. This reminds of the movie ‘Love Actually’, though the connection between the storylines happen much earlier in the movie. As the audience, you start to piece the relation between each character pretty early - but remember that there's also the intermingling of fiction and reality in between.

All that said, I feel like it's not as complex as I'm explaining it to be. It's not too difficult to follow, like ‘Tenet’ for example - I still need to watch that movie again to understand it. If you're reading this after watching, I think you'd agree!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/parallel-tal-039041_17798.jpg)

## **Narrative**

With that structure in mind, the overall narrative becomes a game of catch-up. The writer's story becomes a sort of prediction that you see first and then you would wonder if that matches with what actually happens with them. Moreover, you wonder what would happens if/when the characters-from-the-writer side interact with the written-subjects side. The narrative uses that natural intrigue very well, or rather, that intrigue is built into the narrative.

> As an aside, it's cool to see the way sound is added other movies! This is shown through the job of a set of characters, their job is to add sound to movies. I think it's called sound design?

The humour in it is clever as well. By clever, I mean the kind of jokes where the audience would feel "ha! That's funny, very clever." This is done in the shape of callbacks, things that happened in the story happening in a similar way in "reality". Of course there is more straightforward humorous dialogue too.

The style of humour makes the story feel more light hearted to me. The genre psychological drama certainly fits the story, but I also think it's on the lighter side. There are suspenseful moments, but they don't feel high consequence, which lowers the intensity of the suspense. So, yes, there are tricks and twists of the mind and there's "drama" between character - however the risk-reward of character actions seem mild.

The twist and turns are made ambiguous because it was established early on that some parts of the film is from the fictional writing, but not all of it was. So when something odd happens - together with the visual of someone writing - you would wonder, "wait is that real or is that the fictional writing."

The conclusion of the movie didn't feel like the conclusion of the story. It's left open ended abruptly. Perhaps a show of irony that "reality" does not usually have a neat ending like in fictional stories.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/parallel-tal-039041_17800.jpg)

## **Cinematography**

The transitions between the story and the real life was very seamless, lots of cool visual transitions. In particular the first part of the movie when the writer was reading her story out loud and the scene unfolds in front of us. Then the movie moved back and forth between the writer's "reality" and the story that she's telling.

However, honestly, the narrative and structure were so compelling that it’s hard to pay attention to the cinematography. Actually, perhaps it's intentional that the scenes are not shot in a complicated or stand out way because the main vehicle for the narrative is the structure. That said, maybe I'm just missing things to point out because I'm a newbie - skill issue 😬

## Outro

'Parallel Tales' is a movie with a satisfying weaving between fiction and in-universe reality. The psychological drama narrative is compelling, but not very heavy and kind of light hearted.
### MIFF 2026: Super Nature
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-super-nature/
Last updated: 2026-08-19T00:48:17.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my fourth session (of 13!)

This post is my short review of 'Super Nature'

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

As per its title, this movie uses Super 8 footage, which is a film video format that was meant for amateur home movies. The format is what intrigued me, having used many rolls of 35mm for photos. I actually didn't initially book this movie as part of my 14, but since one of the movies that I went to watch had an issue with the subtitle, they refunded me with credit to pick another one. And I'm glad that I chose 'Super Nature'! This was super inspiring and a great watch. Plus, they were two of the film makers attending the session and they had a Q&A session at the end, so cool. This is also my first time watching a documentary movie at MIFF, I think I should watch more next year.

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/super-nature-037192_16465-1.jpg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

Lover of celluloid, a.k.a film. The texture grain on the movie makes it feel nostalgic, and in some way more real that a perfectly captured wildlife movie. If you like wildlife documentaries, then this would provide a different perspective with its format, which is super (haha) charming. I think if you have any interest in analog things, you would like this movie.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/super-nature-037192_16466.jpg)

## Structure

The movie consists of many splices of Super 8 footage from all over the world. The director, Ed Sayers, collected these from people that each have a unique story to tell about nature around them. I keep mentioning the format, Super 8, because it's a big proponent of the movie. Each filmmaker was seen using a Super 8 camera, captured with Super 8 by their partner. It creates this sense of "we all in this together" just by them using a similar looking camera - though they aren't all the same.

The movie didn't just go through each footage and call it a day, there's an overarching message that it wants to tell. So using that narrative as a glue, it goes around while bit by bit unraveling the message - not in a spooky mysterious way, just in a normal storytelling way, like in a book.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/super-nature-037192_16464.jpg)

## Narrative

The narrative revolves around nature, as per the title. Specifically, how humans connect with nature. The fact that nature is always there and when we are 'called by nature', we're just returning to it - we're always part of it. It's about nature conservation as well, as seen from footage of rhinos, bisons, and the ocean cleaning team. There are some funny ones in the middle too that releases the tension a bit. And some footage that are just beautiful and awe inspiring.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/super-nature-037192_16467.jpg)

## Cinematography

Although the footage came from many different creators, the visual language feels cohesive. I feel like that's a lot to do with the editing work by the director. It's no easy task to combine different styles of footage into one movie. I feel like the pacing was good, the transitions between them, and his own footage too matches well with the rest. There's no particular scene or shot that is out there enough to talk about, but I think that's the point. The movie supposed to feel nostalgic and natural, almost like a memory. At the Q&A, one person said "All the tech to make wildlife footage as perfect is possible is great, but that's not how our memory works. A format like Super 8 is nostalgic because memory is imperfect, a bit blurry, and fuzzy"

## Aside: Straight 8

I'm so pumped about this format now. The two filmmakers at the Q&A mentioned that they both were in the [straight 8](https://www.straight8.net/?ref=edn.as) competition (that was created by the director btw), and that looks so cool. You're supposed to just shoot a cartridge of Super 8 and just send it off - submit it without even looking at it yourself. You just need to trust your judgement on it. That's crazy.

## Outro

Super Nature is a superbly well done movie using a format that was invented and use 50+ years ago about things in nature today - from the mysterious world of insects, the somber story about the endangered rhinos, tribes in Indonesia living one with water, the Australia kangaroos, and many more. And if you are a filmmaker too, you might just get inspired to use Super 8 too...
### MIFF 2026: Minotaur
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-minotaur/
Last updated: 2026-08-19T00:48:28.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my third session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘Minotaur’. Part of this review includes spoilers, it’s clearly marked below.

> For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

I chose to watch this movie from the synopsis. It looks like the kind of drama/thriller that I like. To describe my taste, I quite enjoy 'Black Mirror' although I’d be okay if some episodes are less gory. I don’t like thrillers that use jump scares to be entertaining. I like it when the setting of the movie is the main source of thrill and tension, ‘Severance’ for example. For 'Minotaur', it’s the country being in war sets an underlying high-tension setting. At least that’s what I was hoping, so how was the actual movie?

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/minotaur-041627_17861-1.jpg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

I can confirm that it does have the heavy underlying tones like in 'Severance' and other similar movies. So I'd recommend it to people who find that enjoyable. Also anyone who enjoys beautiful cinematography which ties to the storytelling. This surprised me because I didn't expect it, I really liked the way this movie was shot. It reminds me of the series 'Adolescence' - more below in the cinematography section.

## Structure

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/minotaur-041627_17862.jpg)

The movie's pace is really slow, for best and for worst. It takes its time to introduce the characters. There's a lot of subtext. I think it's more enjoyable if you know the synopsis beforehand. If you go in blind, it might be a bit too much 'catching up to the story' at the start - although maybe that's just me.

The storytelling style doesn't pose clear indications when the story has moved forward. It feels like it moves like a feather falling down, just gently nudges the story forward. It has a lot to do with the cinematography which I'll take about later. In short, the camera movement dictated the pace of the movie. 

The sound design is awesome. There's hardly any music in it, in fact none in almost the whole show except a couple 5ish minutes section (I believe) and even then it didn't seem out of place. The sound design bit that stood out to me was the way elements at the edge of the screen were sounding, especially at a start of the scene. They really sell the ambiance with it, making the movie extra immersive.

## Narrative

The context of "it's Russia during the war" is an important one to know when going in. I suppose the movie does explicitly call that out too, but I feel like it's a bit late in the story when that happens - but maybe I'm wrong, not quite sure on my opinion here. The way they use that context is clever, subtle but foundational. I wonder if the narrative was imagined from the context or the story outline was made and then they try to find the context where it fits. Regardless, it matches well!

The overall story is a cool one. The way power imbalances manifesting in a very real way for a country that is in war. It's about privilege and exploitation, though hidden behind the story of love and betrayal. It's a cool combo that I haven't seen before. And, once again, the cinematography tied it altogether. 

*Past this point, the review contains *heavy* spoilers.*

---

## Cinematography

The camera movement really sets the pace of the movie. The shots are often a still shot where the characters move around the scene. There were instances that the camera followed a certain character, but I think they were the odd spots that were mixed in, maybe 20% of the shots in the movie. The rest has the camera staying still at one place or with slow pans around the scene.

The camera pans matches the intensity of the scenes to some degree. I said to some degree because it still panned slowly when the pivotal climax scene happened. The audience is left in disbelief of what happened. The character in the movie is panicking but still level headed. The camera pans supports this notion that the character is calm because he knows he can go away with it. The fact that the pace stayed slow even after that showed that in Gleb’s world, the crime is of little consequence.

Oh, by the way, the fact that that climax section had no dialogue for 10+ minutes was bonkers. So cool. I feel like the whole cinema was holding their breath. The tension was high!

One of the most interesting ways of using cinematography for the storytelling. It has the vibe of the show ‘Adolescence’ which had every episode done in one single camera take. It’s not the exact same approach, but the results feel similar to me. The camera movement is more than just a means to get the story on camera, the movement (or stillness) is part of the storytelling.

## Outro

'Minotaur' is a hauntingly beautiful movie about love, betrayal, privilege, and exploitation. The pace is tightly coupled with the cinematography, especially the way the camera moves (or doesn't move).
### MIFF 2026: The Man I Love
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-the-man-i-love/
Last updated: 2026-08-19T00:48:41.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my first session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘The Man I Love’. The first sections are spoiler free, then it'll be spoiler heavy as I discuss detailed points in the movie. Marked below.

> For context: I am a photographer that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

The first thing that drew me into 'The Man I Love' is Rami Malek. I'm a fan of his acting in 'Mr Robot' and in 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The synopsis was intriguing as well, set in New York in the 1980s about a theatre artist HIV-positive man. I recently watched 'The Andy Warhol Diaries' series on Netflix, and the art world at that time in New York sounds so compelling. That was enough interest from me to book it, and now let's talk about what I thought after watching it! 

*All screen caps courtesy of the movie. All drawings are by me*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-man-i-lo-041977_18648-1.jpg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

Lovers of melancholy drama movies. People that like art history, to a degree. People who like Rami Malek's acting won't be disappointed with his performance here. And lastly people who are looking to watch a movie to feel something as cathartic experience . The movie reminded me of one from last year's MIFF, ['Sorry, Baby'](https://edn.as/miff-2055-sorry-baby/). 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-man-i-lo-041977_18647.jpg)

## Structure

The structure feels a bit floaty. The narrative is not explicitly told. The audience need to piece together the story from knowing the synopsis and looking for hints throughout. Purposely, the story is not overly deep (I'll discuss it more below), and so the storytelling can be a bit more abstract. There are peak of emotional moments with scenes that I like, but they weren't turning points or climaxes - or at least didn't feel like it in a traditional sense. When the movie ended, it felt like I watched a fever dream - in a good way - it felt a bit abrupt like I just woke up but also felt like that was a beautiful dream to watch unfold.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-man-i-lo-041977_18646.jpg)

## Narrative

There's no great twists and turns, it's telling a story as it was written in the synopsis but the *way* it was told is the main point. I feel like because of that, the casting needs to be on point, and it was. Rami Malek was superb in playing Jimmy. The struggles that he had can really be seen and felt. Likewise with the other cast members, the storytelling felt great because of them. I think if the performances were off, the movie would fall apart because it'd be too 'boring' for lack of a better word.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/the-man-i-lo-041977_18645.jpg)

*Past this point, the review contains spoilers.*

---

## Cinematography

The cinematography feels so built-in to the story. The shots weren't particularly spectacular in a sense that they stand out, but it's meant to be that way. The way parties are pictured, the way characters move in the space, it feels so natural - and again, like watching a dream unfolding. That being said, there were two particularly interesting moments:

When Jimmy was helping Vincent move the mattress, the shot was from the side and straight on, and they move from left to right with walls sometimes covering them. It felt almost like a euphemism of the mattress penetrating through the space. Exacerbated by the way Vincent was out of breath at the end. Maybe I'm just over-interpreting it though.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/The-Man-I-Love---page-1-1.png)

The second one was when Dennis was confronting the doctors/nurses about taking Jimmy home and was blocked off from the elevator. It was a powerful moment. He's left behind by himself, feeling helpless about the situation and was not accepted in the world. The shot stayed there for a quite a while without dialogue, of Dennis feeling the anger and frustration about society.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/The-Man-I-Love---page-2-1.png)

## Outro

To sum up, 'The Man I Love' has simple story with a complex background narrative and complex storytelling. The pieces are not shown in an explicit obvious manner. If you pay attention, and you will because of the engaging acting and cinematography, you'd *feel* something at the very least - like a fever dream.
### MIFF 2026: Sheep in the Box
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2026-sheep-in-the-box/
Last updated: 2026-08-22T02:53:00.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 is ongoing and I went to watch my first session (of 13!)

This post my short review of ‘Sheep in the Box’. The first sections are spoiler free, then it'll be spoiler heavy as I discuss detailed points in the movie. Marked below.

> For context: I am a photographer that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 13 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

I started going to MIFF last year, watching movies and reviewing them here in my blog. This is my first session for 2026! Well, it’s supposed to be my second. But the first viewing had an issue with the subtitle so they cancelled that… thankfully the subtitle worked for this one!

## Why did I choose to watch this?

I chose to watch ‘Sheep in a Box’ because of the intriguing synopsis in the age of AI. A humanoid robot ran by gen AI that supposed to replace your loved ones. It reminds me of the Black Mirror episode 'Be Right Back', in fact the premise is almost exactly the same. However, the overarching story and the storytelling itself is quite different. Another similar fiction work is 'Klara and the Sun', novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. The theme is also around artificial life. The difference for this one is that it's written from the perspective of the humanoid. Whereas 'Sheep in the Box' is leaning towards telling the story of the family.

Alright, let’s talk about it!

*All screen caps courtesy of the movie. All drawings are by me*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/sheep-in-the-039039_17793-1.jpg)

## Who would I recommend this to?

A fan of the lighter hearted episodes of Black Mirror. Sci-fi movie lovers where the sci-fi elements are not overtly obvious. In another way, the sci-fi element is not the main point of the story. Fans of Kazuo Ishiguro's work, I think it has similar ideas on the human soul.

## Structure

The structure of the story is clean cut. It's not explicitly separated as chapters, but it's pretty telling that there is a delineation of emotion. Since the story revolves around grief, I think it's portraying the different stages of grief. It's even explicitly mentioned as such. In a way, it makes the movie easy to follow and enjoyable. That said, there are still hidden twists and turns woven into the main storyline. Though the twists are not huge and mind bending, they provide a sense of mystery.

All in all, the structure is quite opaque. And the opaqueness also extends to the narrative.

## Narrative

The main story is linear, with branches in the middle that feel unresolved. Or at the very least, they need more thinking and imagination of what happens off-screen. The on-screen story is straightforward and easy to follow – which matches the structure of the movie. I enjoyed the narrative. It leans towards the simpler side, perhaps a nice movie to watch with a younger audience.

The jokes in it are so funny. I audibly laughed in many bits, along with the whole cinema. The dialogue does a good job on balancing serious and humorous, and the actors delivered. At first the dad seemed like a nonchalant person, then seemed like the comic-relief, then went into a serious-drama person. I guess what I'm saying is that the characters are written in a multi-dimensional way. They are not put into a box (ha!) of a character trope.

The soundtrack was lovely too. There are some parts that I thought would have a totally different feeling if the soundtrack was scarier. They kept it light hearted throughout the movie, which made the mysteries felt whimsical rather than horrifying. Closer to 'Klara and the Sun' rather than 'Black Mirror.'

Lastly, the colour grading packages the movie in a consistent manner too. The colours are soft or even muted. It lends well to the narrative, it complements it and doesn't fight it. I guess that's to be expected or even the bare minimum, but I thought I'd mention it anyway!

*Past this point, the review contains *heavy* spoilers.*

---

## Cinematography

This is the strongest point of the movie, in my opinion. There's a lot of conveying meaning via the cinematography. The 'box' in the title is heavily used throughout the movie. I sketched some of my favourites:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Notebook-3---page-1.png)

This one was early on in the movie. The mom was in a box within a box, making the revelation at the end of the movie, "turns out I was the one in a box" more satisfying.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Notebook-3---page-2.png)

This next one is shortly after that first one, still in the 'containment' theme.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Notebook-3---page-3.png)

This is when Kakeru started to feel strange and alien to her. The separation between them is shown in both the store and then at the sky deck.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Notebook-3---page-4.png)

The separation at the sky deck

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Notebook-3---page-5.png)

When the couple fought, they were boxed in two separate areas.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/Notebook-3---page-6.png)

And when they reconciled, they went into the same box. Moreover, the husband was called to come over to the box that the wife was in - symbolising him coming to terms and agreeing with her point of view, even though in the beginning he was more reluctant.

I hope my drawings can give some idea. But the movie itself is very nicely shot. I think the stills from some scenes would be great photos, I guess that's what makes great cinematography work? Overall, I really enjoyed the video work in the movie, really beautiful!

## **'Aha!' moments**

*Bits of the movies that was like, "ah, that was clever". Full of spoilers, read this after you watch it!*

- The cat Othello missing at the beginning of the movie analogs with Kakeru breaking out of the confinement.
- The aquarium scene was full of jokes from dad wanting to eat the sea creatures. He wants to take them out, but to eat them and not to free them. It’s a theme with the cat, Othello, too. Humans look at the other living beings as things to use. This is exacerbated by the carpenter that talked about being connected to the wood as living beings, even with that noble mindset, humans still use up things around them. Maybe it's okay with plants, and somewhat okay with animals (activists groups might disagree), but how about artificially intelligent humanoids?
- The mom's mom mentioning stages of grief - linking the movies directly to it.
- At the end, the mom explicitly said "ah, turns out I was the one in the box after all". I think it can be argued that she didn't need to say this out loud and let the audience connect the dots to figure it out ourselves.
- Although I called the story being opaque and linear, there's a background off-screen story on the kidnapping. Plus the company's technician not alerting the family that the GPS was removed. So there are still story points for the audience to imagine or infer themselves. They are just not story points that are particularly important to the overall story, in my opinion.

## Outro

‘Sheep in the box’ is a sci-fi movie that tugs on your heart strings. The scenes are well done. It poses questions that are becoming more and more relevant in this age of AI. The mystery and intrigue are presented in a pleasant way - à la Kazuo Ishiguro’s work, particularly reminds me of ‘Klara and the Sun’. If you are fan of sci-fi but also a fan of more slow paced non-action movies, give this a watch!
### Back at it again
URL: https://edn.as/back-at-it-again/
Last updated: 2026-08-08T13:34:47.000Z
Every few years, I get the motivation to write again. Every time I do it I swear I'll be consistent. Maybe this is the one. I have had many attempts at maintaining a blog, all the way back to elementary school when I first got my blogspot site. I've always liked writing, but perhaps not enough to be persistent at it without any external motivation - for example... any indication of people reading, so please subscribe to my [newsletter](https://edn.as/#/portal/signup) ;)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/L1004169-1.jpeg)

## Why I'm writing

I started doing photography seriously in 2024\. At the same time, I also started a YouTube channel. The purpose of the channel was to document my journey of mastering photography. And I also wanted to build myself an audience. However, I the weekly video making turned into the main thing that I'm focusing on. I realised that I rather focus on the photography side of things. 

I started focusing on submitting to photography open calls. I learned how to shoot film, develop it, and also scan the film myself. I read about photography, watch more videos, documentaries, and movies. I even went to a 'A History of Photography' short course by the National Gallery of Victoria. It was just a three 3 hour session course, but it was really interesting!

Ok, so what now? Well, after stepping aside from documenting my journey for a while, I do miss it. I can feel the benefit of externally talking about what I'm learning. Forcing myself to do it weekly also helped. There was no "choice", I just do it. So now, I'm going to write every week about it instead. It's not nearly as intense as video making. It's probably less discoverable as well. But, much more easier to produce. Moreover, I find it more retrospective, because it's purely words that I type without thinking too much about the presentation. The same can't be said about the way I made my videos.

## What I'm writing

You can expect candid writing about the photography related 'stuff'' that I did for the week. It can be photo walks that I did, meet ups that I went to, books that I read, videos that I found interesting, or just a thought and idea that came out of (over)thinking about photography. All of that in my pursuit of being a pro artist - meaning someone who can make a living out of their art. In my case, the art forms that I imagine selling are photo books and prints. There's probably more out there!

I think I'd find a newsletter like that interesting! So I'm writing one for budding artists out there. Or maybe someone that already made it and just wants to follow along. Or maybe an artist in a different art form.

Please subscribe! See you in your inbox 👋
### Movie Review: Memento (2000)
URL: https://edn.as/movie-review-memento-2000/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:40:16.000Z
Memento is a movie that was recommended to me by a colleague a long time ago. I finally gave it a watch and I understand why it’s one of his favourite movies. The one aspect I liked the most about it is the storytelling structure, which I’ll discuss in length. But first I’ll talk about small aspects that I don’t like about the movie. And finally I’ll give a recommendation in the style of “if you like X, then you’d like Memento as well!”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/42444bc2263fea3c.jpeg)

The bits that I dislike are not large fundamental things, just small pieces. First, the dialogue can be a bit cheesy or dramatic at times, kind of soap opera like. It fits the mood of the film, but I subjectively don’t gel with it. That being said, it’s not like it stands out like a sore thumb, so it doesn’t ruin the immersion. The other part is the overall plot. We’ll talk about the structure which I love, but I think the plot overall is a bit weak. I think they did a conscious choice sacrificed some character development and story depth for the sake of the more complex (and interesting) structure.

The structure is what makes the movie. The “ending” of the story is revealed at the beginning of the movie and then we get to see what happened 5-10 minutes before that, then before that, and so on. This is because the main character himself has a short-term memory problem, so he only has memory of a short span of time. So we are basically watching the movie from his perspective.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/93dc331d7c4eb5f7.jpeg)

If that sounds interesting already, there’s another part to it. The parts that go “backwards” is intertwined with black & white sequences that went forward in time. So there’s a sequence in colour where you get the story from end to start and a B&W sequence that tells another part of the same story but from start to end. The director explained in a video that the colour sequence is meant to be from the MC’s subjective point of view and the B&W sequence is from an objective point of view of us

This creates an uneasiness feeling while watching it. As the audience you feel like you are always playing catch up — “wait, how did that happen” “ah I get it now… wait but how about that other thing” and so on. That translates to an engaging movie. The chronological ending is shown to you immediately at the start and the movie ending is the middle part chronologically that literally ties things together.

On the other hand, because of the unusual structure of the movie, I found that I needed to watch explanation YouTube videos to get the “full understanding” of it. This might just be a me problem. I personally don’t mind doing this, in fact I find it quite fun. But I can understand if people want the experience to be better self-contained, meaning that just watching the movie once would get them the “full understanding”.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/744a338b8293dd2a.jpeg)

So, who do I recommend this to? People who like unusual or unique story structures. A modern equivalent would be Tenet, which is also by Chirstopher Nolan. If the name sounds familiar, he also makes Inception. I think if you like one of his movies, you’d probably at least enjoy the others. I think that thriller movie fans would like it too, especially ones that don’t like jump scares (me!) but enjoys the psychological tension that characters go through in thriller movies.
### MIFF 2025: Happyend
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-happyend/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:08.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my twelfth session (of 12!)

Phew, that was a lot of movies. I can’t wait to do it again next year. Great title to end it on… Happyend

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

This was the one that I watched with my friends. I kinda convinced my friends to watch one of them with me, haha. To be fair, when I went to Pidgon Street International Film Festival, they said that they would like it. I reckon they would’ve enjoyed some of the short films sessions more… Initially we wanted to watch Exit 8, but that sold out really quickly — I still want to watch it one day! Anyways, here’s my review of Happyend.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/d2993d29d27c8e96.jpg)

## **Structure**

I quite like the opening scene! They established really quickly that these group of friends is diverse, ethnically Korean, Taiwanese, and American. From the appearance, it was clear that Tom is mixed, but they then asked Ming to talk a club bouncer in Mandarin. Then when the police caught them, they revealed that Kou is Korean descent. They then slowly reveal that the group is part of the “music research” club at their school, what a cool club by the way. And also that they are trouble makers… well mostly Yuta.

The timeline is pretty linear and compact, I think the story probably happened in a span of a few weeks? Maybe couple of months. It almost like it ended abruptly with many questions still in my head (and my friends’ too!)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/cf575ce34b4e00a9.jpg)

## **Narrative**

This was more “simplistic” than I thought. I liked the themes of standing up against people in power when they are doing the wrong thing. Of course also the theme of friendship. It reminds me of friendships in middle school and high school, and how people grow apart, kinda bitter sweet. However, the thing is, from the synopsis, I expected a bit more twists and turns:

In a dystopian urban landscape where technology is used to curb civil liberties and student rights, a diverse group of teenagers struggle to maintain their long-held friendships.

Doesn’t that Kinda read like it’ll be a bit more thriller-like? It doesn’t help that I just finished watching the new season of Black Mirror, so the word “dystopian” just reminds me of it. Honestly, if I didn’t come in expecting a certain kind of film, I’d enjoy it more. And my friends agreed as well. <Light Spoiler ahead> Moreover, there were multiple indications that an earthquake might happen, and I thought that would be the big turning point in the film — but turns out not so much.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/1d9c229a6f57a255.jpg)

## **Cinematography**

The shots in Happyend were superb! One shot in particular that I liked was when Kou was waiting outside of the school gate. It was a top down shot on an angle, it started off empty with just Kou but then more students came out of the gate, including the person that he was waiting for, and then they walked of together to another direction than the rest of the students. I loved it. And the film was filled with those sort of shots. Just ones that I looked around the whole frame soaking it in and thinking about how they did that. It’s kinda the way I want to film my YouTube videos, so it’s very inspiring. I hope that I can get a copy of the film someday for reference.
### MIFF 2025: Parasite (Live in Concert)
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-parasite-live-in-concert/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:08.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my eleventh session (of 12!) , almost there.

This was a viewing of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, with live music from the film’s composer Jung Jae-il.

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

This was incredible. Parasite was my favourite film of all time, recently that spot was taken over by [Homebound](https://www.edn.as/txt/miff-2025-homebound?ref=edn.as). Regardless, I was pretty hyped to see it again. I’ve been thinking of rewatching it, but I never did and what a way to finally do it. The soundtrack in Parasite is a banger. In particular, the music for the montage scene with the peaches, the live performance for that was lit.

This review is going to be a different, I’m going into it from the lens of: just watched 10 film festival sessions and now want to compare it with an Oscar winning film. So I’ll be comparing it other films that I watched during the festival. I’m also going to review the experience of the concert itself.

*All images courtesy of the film*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/dd21e918ee91c91c.jpg)

## **The Experience**

The concert was Hamer Hall, part of Arts Centre Melbourne. I never actually been in there, I want to go more! We were actually a bit late and miss a bit at the start, apparently there was a speech. The musicians were amazing. It’s so immersive and immaculate that sometimes I forget that they were playing it live, in a good way. I’d just be watching the film and the music would come on, no biggie, then after a couple of seconds I realised, “oh yeah, it’s live music!” — I don’t know how else to explain it to make it sound better haha, but it was good. It was so cool to see Jung Jae-il playing different kinds of instruments — maybe it’s normal for a composer? haha, certainly looked cool to me.

## **Comparisons with other MIFF films**

As mentioned, this was my favourite movie of all time. I loved the narrative, how it was told, how the compositions bring together the story, how the cinematography is done, how camera angles have implicit meaning. Dang, writing all that makes me think it is still my favourite movie. In comparison, most of MIFF films picked some of these aspects and honed in on those aspects. Of course these are films with different budgets, time, locations, and so on. And I’m not comparing them in the basis that they should be close or equal, more in terms of seeing what I think is the peak to the other really good (much better than I can do) films that is not there yet.

I don’t want to pick and choose specific films to compare, but that’s the general gist!
### MIFF 2025: Accelerator Shorts 1
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-accelerator-shorts-1/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:44:29.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my tenth session (of 12!) , Accelerator Shorts 1

This post my short review of the six short films in the session!

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

These are films from up and coming filmmakers in Australia and New Zealand. But don’t let that fool you to thinking the quality would be lower, I like some of them better than other short films. Additionally, many of them were shot on analog film! Very cool. I’m surprised at how many of films in MIFF were shot on analog. To be honest, I should come in the cinema with a notebook to write down notes of what I think haha, it’s kinda to remember one after another.

## [**Rain Falls Still**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/rain-falls-still?ref=edn.as)

*Mưa Nửa Hạt*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/7dbfbb984bc764a8.jpg)

The colour grading here was my really in my taste, my current taste at least. Succinctly, soft colours with a bit of glow. I believe it was made using film, so that makes a lot of sense. There were a lot of “floaty” feeling scenes that made it feel zen, aligning with the setup of a temple and the main character being a monk. The narrative is being told in a poetic way. Unfortunately it wasn’t super memorable for me, probably needs another watch to appreciate it more!

## [**The Body**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/the-body?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/de48698d2e66334c.jpg)

This was the synopsis that grabbed me and made me decide to watch this session. The story is pretty unique: an actor that works as a corpse on a TV show struggles with what’s real and what’s not. The obvious comment is about method acting where as an actor you immerse yourself in being the character that you are playing. However, it can be extrapolated further. The idea that labels that are put on you can eventually be your identity and take over. This happens regardless if you believe it or not in the first place. Once you are convinced that you are that label, then it’s hard to break out of it — it was literally hard for the actor to break out of character that she was playing. The shots and composition are great too. One thing that I noticed was that they shot the repeated shower scene from only one angle. However, later on when the shower box was empty, they show it from a different angle — but in a way that the audience can still piece together that it’s the same shower box. Probably a basic film making thing haha, just something that I noticed as a noob.

## [**INFINIT3**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/infinit3?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/0b4a29263d0cc396.jpg)

I feel like the film maker wrote this with a dose of self-criticism and self-awareness. There were not much dialogue in the film, and the dialogue that did happen was around how “creatives” are not really necessary for society, or rather, they don’t contribute to society in an essential way. The film itself counteracts that point by having most of the film told in a sequence of scenes and dances. I feel like the main character just can’t help herself to *be* creative and that’s the way that she navigates her life and society. Well, maybe it doesn’t really contradicts the initial point directly. It does portray a real struggle that artists might feel. Art is certainly undervalued in parts of the world.

The music! Oh my, the music was so funky. They played upbeat electronic music that goes with the choreography. It even juxtaposes with the analog film visuals. A modern yet classic feeling, I guess that’s what “contemporary” is?

## [**Faceless**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/faceless?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/9a7a6fa4001fb418.jpg)

This was a clever parallel story of the same actor playing an aboriginal man in different scenarios. One interacting with a homeless man (I think). One interacting with someone in the arts that seemingly is portrayed to acknowledge aboriginal people but only “per formatively”. And lastly a blatant racist in a high-end restaurant. The individual stories are very well done. The actor did very well in all three! The title “Faceless” didn’t click with me until later on… even with the reference in the film itself. In the film, someone asked the main character “oh, were you at the conference today?” to which the MC replied “nah, must be another black brother” — and the title “Faceless” tie in the racist remark that people from one ethnic group look the same to people outside of it. I quite enjoyed the story and then way it was presented.

## [**Interview With A Hero**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/interview-with-a-hero?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/5e2064281e6f567a.jpg)

The theme here was similar to “Mango Seed” from [Australian Shorts](https://www.edn.as/txt/miff-2025-australian-shorts?ref=edn.as). However, it is more of the perspective of the parent rather than the child. A man from Cambodia that migrated to Australia in his 20s and now settled down with a family of his own. He performs plays with shadow puppets. The story revolves around his ties to the art form, his relationship with his family, and his relationship with the past. The cinematography was beautiful. There are multiple scenes by the round restaurant windows that just looked phenomenal. They never even show the whole inside of the restaurant — perhaps it was just a small set. Beautiful film.

## [**Womb**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/womb?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/c90d92227ec78f1f.jpg)

Before writing this review, I read the synopsis again and now I feel like I understood the story more. It made me think about how these short films need every avenue to tell the story that they want, so the synopsis is actually an important part of that. The title even more so. This one specifically talks about how a Maori girl is caught in the middle of a custody battle between the birth mom and the adoptive family. The horse analogy is so interesting, with the white horses and the brown one. The everyday routine that they went through were told in a cool montage, I love a nice montage haha. I think the synopsis sums it up the best (well, duh):

*\[it\] is a tough and tender exploration of family, cultural displacement and the ways in which systemic power continues to impose Western prejudices on First Nations peoples.*
### MIFF 2025: Black Ox
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-black-ox/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:08.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my ninth session (of 12!)

This post my short review of the ‘Black Ox’

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

The director, Tetsuichirô Tsuta, was actually there! So cool. They had a short Q&A at the end. I loved hearing about his process on things. The movie started at 9:30pm and ended at 11:30pm, so some people didn’t stick around for the Q&A, which is understandable, but I of course stayed.

In my review below, I included some tidbits from the Q&A.

*All image courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/7e567d44719aee59.jpg)

## **Structure**

It had distinct 10 chapters to it. The film has hard stops in between the chapters with a chapter title card. This was also the case with the other B&W movie that I watched, Samsara. The main difference being, in Samsara, there is 0 spoken words, whereas in Black Ox, the supporting characters do speak, while the main character is mostly silent. That setup allows a level of immersion similar to playing video games like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The main character is just moving around in the world and things happening to him, and he just grunts, nods, shakes his head. Obviously, minus controlling the character itself haha.

Moreover, the setup is the way I like to enjoy fictional narratives, where the story is not in your face. Instead, it is a bit more subdued and implicit. Hmmm, well, I don’t always like that, but I do enjoy it especially in video games — and again, the structure of this reminds me of one.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/a48da92ac575df54.jpg)

## **Narrative**

The story is loosely based on the 10 commandments of Buddhism — that’s why there are 10 chapters! The main character is a “jungle person” in rural Japan, who doesn’t even speak Japanese. There was a scene early on the film where someone was talking to him in a non-Japanese language. Fun fact: During the Q&A, one of the questions was whether the language was real, and nope, it’s a made up language. And this was on purpose: to drive in the point that the origin of this man is a mystery.

The man shrouded in mystery then goes to live in 19th century Japanese society. By today’s standards, the 19th century is obviously not modern at all, but to him, it certainly felt like it. I think because it is set in the 19th instead of 21st century, it tells the story that even the basic structure of society back then seemed different — even unnatural — to a person that used to live in the jungle. The concept of money, tax obligations, and “work” — basically the pillars of capitalism.

All of that deep themes are sent across via a very chill and calming atmosphere. The whole film felt zen, especially with its sound design and cinematography.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/4c38eb6c1f57b131.jpg)

## **Cinematography**

This film was shot on 35mm and 70mm film. As mentioned, it was shot in B&W, which instantly makes it feel nostalgic and fitting for the 19th century. The location, which is the director’s hometown, looks amazing in B&W. It enhances the look of the textures, from inanimate objects like rocks, sand, water, and also the human faces and of course the black ox.

There were a lot of slow spans in the beginning of the film. I feel like it signifies the main character’s relationship with the world. He is attuned to the way the world moves, the way it weaves around him. The more he is integrated to the society, I *think* they added more static shots or faster moving ones. And it slowed down again in a scene where they zoomed in to the main characters face when he was meditating, slowly breathing in and out… it felt like the film inviting us to meditate with him. The way they did that shot is pretty cool. It was done throughout the film as well. There were a few shots that lingered more than it felt comfortable. So there’s this uneasiness at first, but then it becomes the new normal for the audience. That all added to the feeling of “chill vibes”.

## **Who would I recommend this to?**

People who want to ground themselves. People who want to be reminded of the simpler times, simpler joys, simpler angst, simpler living. People who want to enjoy landscape shots of beautiful rural Japan. People who want to see how analog film looks like in the digital age. Lastly, I couldn’t believe I didn’t mention the ox up to this point, people who likes animals, especially pets. The ox reminded me of my cat somehow!
### MIFF 2025: International Shorts 2
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-international-shorts-2/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:09.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my eight session (of 12!) , International Shorts 2.

This post my short review of the seven short films in the session!

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

In general, I liked these less than the short films in [International Shorts 1](https://www.edn.as/txt/miff-2025-international-shorts-1?ref=edn.as). One factor could be my overexposure to watching films for the past few weeks. Or perhaps it’s because my barometer for “good films” is changed now. Maybe both of those things are related. That being said, looking at my notes on International Shorts 1, I think I did “objectively” like those films more. I put “objectively” in quotes because in the end it’s still my subjective opinion, but I’m saying that I feel like I judged them consistently.

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

## [**I’m Glad You’re Dead Now**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/im-glad-youre-dead-now?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/8d7546c383f7015e.jpg)

After watching quite a few of short films, I noticed that there are some that have a compact/short shot list, this is one of them. That’s to say that there aren’t a lot of different shots in the film, most of the story is being told in 2-3 locations. It means that the creators can convey their story and their message in that space. It also means that to be engaging they use different angles — and of course an interesting script. “I’m Glad You’re Dead Now” ticks all of that.

The story follow brothers that are seemingly glad that someone is dead… the title is pretty descriptive haha. Although, you might only infer that when you see the title, which is to say that it is shown to be more of a complex feeling than just “glad”. The thing with these short stories is that I sometimes feel like I want to rewatch it and write a detail analysis essay for them! Because the time is short, and so to tell a story with depth, it relies a lot on the audiences interpretation and imagination.

## [**Leaving Ikorodu in 1999**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/leaving-ikorodu-in-1999?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/6ba92d713525a642.jpg)

This was a my favourite out of the bunch! The narrative follow the a women playing an old tape which then travels the film back in time to when those tapes were being recorded: when the women was going to the airport to move from Nigeria to the UK. Being a migrant myself, I like these sort of themes. It tells the story of the hesitation, the hope, and the decision. The life that could’ve been if she never left. And the feelings that it evokes. It didn’t even show the way she was living in the UK. So it’s open for interpretation on whether she just grieving about the life back in Nigeria or that the life in the UK sucks, or probably both.

This was film on analog film which certainly adds to the charm, especially with a story that travels back in time where tape handycams were a thing. The grain all over the film was very distinct. The interwoven shots from the handycam matches so well with the rest of the film.

## [**My Mother Is a Cow**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/my-mother-is-a-cow?ref=edn.as)

*Minha Mãe é uma Vaca*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/20cd0824ba45b704.jpg)

As far as metaphorical film goes, this one was out there. It reminds me of “Panadrilo” from International Shorts 1 (see my review [here](https://sande.squarespace.com/blog/miff-2025-international-shorts-1?ref=edn.as)). The story follow a girl that is away from her mom. She lives with relatives that don’t seem to be wanting to keep here around. They lived in a farm with lots of cows around and she grows more fond of them everyday. I think it’s also implied that the relatives don’t want her to talk to her mom, and it seems like her mom was the “cash cow” of the family where she works in a big city. I’m not sure, again, this was very poetic and metaphorical. I want to see it again!

## [**A Brighter Summer Day for the Lady Avengers**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/a-brighter-summer-day-for-the-lady-avengers?ref=edn.as)

*風流少女殺人事件*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/1a3a42475380994c.jpg)

This is also one of those metaphorical ones, but in totally different way. It has lots of explicit sensual scenes that is related to… watermelons. The shots taken here were those surreal ones where it feels like “everything is happening at once” — flashes of images, jumping from one scenario to another. I really liked the different angles and composition of the early scenes. And I also like the funkiness of the middle part, which I think the crux of the story is being told. I feel like studying this film would be great for editing nuances and decisions.

##   
[**Inflatable Bear, Hourly**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/inflatable-bear-hourly?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/325708850b6c8c19.jpg)

Hah, look at the bear costume. This one was a bit more direct in telling the message. The story was nicely compact and I *think* I got the essence. There are some cool shots in it, I liked the montage of the main character going to her job, commuting and walking to the spot where she then put on the bear costume. This was also filmed on analog film! That made Germany looked a bit like Russia somehow. It might be more on the colour grading…? The low saturated colours gave this monotone third worldly vibe. I also liked the opening audition scene. There were many close ups on just her face and just her talking. Reminiscent of the audition scene from La La Land — I wonder if there’s a name for that kind of shot.

##   
[**Vox Humana**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/vox-humana?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/c5b52a8d05943b24.jpg)

The supernatural aspect of “Vox Humana” really creeps up on you, especially if you don’t remember the synopsis \*ehm. It slowly starts with scenes that seem to be set in the normal world. But then slowly reveals unsettling setups. The sound design in this was phenomenal and it was actually integral to the story. I appreciate the theme of listening to mother earth more, nudging the audience to think more more about the environment. The animal-like human character is depicted as the source of the natural disasters, where in fact it’s just delivering the message. The more I write about it, the more I like the story. Storytelling-wise, the shot of the sound engineer pointing her mic at different spots to just listen…. felt really powerful.

## [**Bleat!**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/bleat?ref=edn.as)

*Kattu! கத்து!*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/609855be5ce4ada0.jpg)

This again was a surreal one, but with more humour this time haha. The movie is in B&W, and I think it suits it well. It made it seem like an old folklore, together with the opening scene of the main characters going through the woods while the man sung a folk song. The narrative is pretty absurd, a male goat is pregnant. The story follows the humans trying to figure out what to do with the goat, especially because the goat is being raised to be a sacrifice in a ritual. This one didn’t really gripe me from the shots or compositions, at least not in the first viewing. That’s another that I realised while watching all these films, some of them probably needs multiple viewings for me to properly review and learn from them.
### MIFF 2025: Homebound
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-homebound/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:09.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my seventh session (of 12!)

This post my short review of ‘Homebound’

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

This was my favourite movie that I’ve watched in the reason years. Maybe my favourite movie ever! It was really, really good. I laughed, I cried, and seemingly the whole cinema did the same. I loved the themes and social issues that it conveys. What a movie. Props to everyone involved In making it!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/aa8052b93be35316.jpg)

## **Structure**

The opening scene was of the two friends walking to take the police exam test. One of them saw a huge crowd and wanted to give up, but the other encouraged him and remind him of their goal of becoming someone respected — regardless of their religion or background. It was then slowly revealed that one of them is a muslim and one of them is from a low caste in India. Both groups that experience discrimination. (Light spoiler alert) Then it was revealed that the large crowd was actually the crowd to take the train to the test, not the test itself. It was a first mini-twist of many — some funny, some sad, some terrible.

The story had some short time-skips in the middle, which make the audience feel that “need to catch up” feeling by trying to figure out what happened in between. With two main characters that has many similarities but still different, the audience gets to follow along two journeys and sort of compare them. One main theme stuck out: discrimination sucks for everyone, no matter what you are discriminated for. With that central theme, the structure play out losses and wins for each character at different times, testing the strength of their friendship. Can you be happy for someone else when you yourself failed? Can you understand the different path that someone took when it’s not the one that you would choose?

The structure had many up and downs. When a climax is seemingly met, a new part of the story enters. 

## **Narrative**

‘Homebound’ tells a story of a beautiful friendship. I found it incredibly touching because I have two sisters (and no brothers) and I feel like I have troubles being close with a guy friend. The adversity that they need to face, in their own country where they were born, is insane. I moved to Australia from Indonesia and I do experience racism, however, I acknowledge that I’m in a much more privileged position for many different reasons, including the fact that I moved here on my own accord — I wasn’t forced to do it and I can go back if it became too difficult. But in ‘Homebound'‘, these two guys lived there their whole lives, yet they receive such horrible treatment. I can imagine many people can relate to that as well.

Another point of the story is sh\*t happens in life. When the guys are seemingly in a good spot, something would happen. Challenges always come their way. Some bits were really painful to watch. Because of that, when they have wins, no matter how small, I feel like I want to cheer for them. Throughout the film, I became invested in their story and wish them the best happy ending.

## **Cinematography**

Honestly, I was so engrossed in the narrative that I didn’t pay attention to the cinematography. Or rather, it was secondary to how I remember the film — maybe that’s not how this works, perhaps everything just serves the narrative and cinematography is just embedded in that… Well, that being said, there was still some particular shots that I remember.

The shot when they were in the crowded train was cool. I wonder how many extras that they needed to have for some of these scenes, like holy crap. There were some drone-like top-down shots that looked eerie and unsettling. Lastly, my favourite ones were the “mundanes” ones of the characters near the water, whether it’s the sea or a lake or a river, the way the film uses locations next to water is very neat! It made me want to sit there as well.

## **Who would I recommend this to?**

Every. Human. Being. On. Earth. Hahaha. More seriously, anyone who experience discrimination of any level. Anyone who likes a story of a strong friendship — a great “love” story alternative to romantic stories. Finally, anyone that just wants to feel something, have a good laugh, have a good cry, and leave the cinema wanting to tell everyone that they know to watch it as well.

As I mentioned, this could maybe be my favourite movie ever.
### MIFF 2025: Once Upon a Time in Gaza
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-once-upon-a-time-in-gaza/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:10.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my sixth session (of 12!)

This post my short review of “Once Upon a Time in Gaza”

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

This glimpse of how Gaza was in 2007-2010s was really interesting — well not sure if it’s accurate to real life. It was amazing to see the film being sold-out and that is with two separate cinemas in HOYTS Melbourne Central (one of the main cinemas) running the film at the same time.

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/2202b13d077d0bec.jpg)

## **Structure**

The opening credits were shown together with Trump’s voice (urgh) in the background, commenting on making the Gaza Strip the Riviera of the Middle East (my goodness). Then, the opening scenes had a dead person being carried through the streets, with the Palestinian flag waved around. We are then introduce to the main character, Osama, with a bit of a “thrown into the story and we need to catchup on what’s going on”, it was quickly revealed that he deals drugs. Then they introduced the second main character, Yahya, in a similar way where things just happens and you as the audience just put things together. That structure was kind of preserved throughout the film in a bite-size chunks.

There were few conflict sequences that came out of nowhere. They didn’t appear in a jump-scare way, but just in a pure unexpected way with zero telegraphing to the audience. It reminded me of the anime “Attack on Titan” when they revealed one key information to the story very casually without any telegraphing that it was going to happen. It makes for a “wait what” double-take sort of feeling. I feel like that abrupt interruption is part of telling the story in Gaza, where attacks and horrible things can happen at any moment. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/24dada95aebb5e34.jpg)

## **Narrative**

The narrative was full of surprises, not your run of a mill story that can be predicted. Well, there was the classic clash between rebels and the police, kind of in ‘“Les Miserable”, except in this film the cop is corrupt. The other details of the film were quite unique! The fact that they were making a movie inside of the movie was so funny. The scenes of them acting in the middle of a busy district was awesome, you should look out for that.

The characters development felt like it was the most that they can do in the length of the movie, however, there’s a degree of suspending-belief or assumptions to be make to understand the motive of character’s actions. Like, okay, the cop is corrupted, but why? Is it just the classic “I am drunk with power” or is there more to it? When one character was avenging the other, it seemed a bit out of character but also maybe inline with the rest of the story (and the story of the film inside the film!). But anywho, this is kind of nitpicking on it. Overall, I quite enjoyed the story and liked the surprises.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/e8d9cf2cb0b9f931.jpg)

## **Cinematography**

I didn’t quite remember anything too extraordinary here. There was a talking scene between Osama and Yahya that was cool, it was a classic “talking head of person A over the shoulder of person b” where they had the camera angled in a satisfying way where the bokeh on the other characters face was very pleasing. Another shot that I liked was when one person lied down and they had a shot of their perspective and it was a sideways-portrait-orientation, as in just like how you would see the world when lying down on your side. Pretty nifty.

Other than that, it felt quite integrated to the story — which is a good thing! Nothing seemed out of place, like “hey why is this shot that way” sort of thing. There is a (big) chance that I’m misremembering due to the narrative having lots of surprises that I couldn’t focus on the cinematography.

## **Who do I recommend this to?**

People who like twists and turns but don’t enjoy horror/thrillers with jump scares. If that makes sense at all. I mean more like people that like stories that are not predictable or just linear. And also of course, anyone who supports Palestinians in Gaza (which should just be everyone!)
### MIFF 2025: Australian Shorts
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-australian-shorts/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:10.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my fourth session (of 12!) , Australian Shorts.

This post my short review of the six short films in the session!

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

These were all made by local Australian artists; and they were all there! The session opened with them on stage and giving a short spiel about their films. It was so cool to see them in person. Afterwards, my wife even approached one of the directors and just had small chit-chat. Congratulations to everyone for a the amazing movies, really inspiring.

*All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

## [**I’m the Most Racist Person I Know**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/im-the-most-racist-person-i-know?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/995b86852b0f9c88.jpg)

This and “Mango Seed” were the synopsis that made me want to watch these shorts. Well, I really like watching these shorts in a film festival setup, so I was already interested. All that said, I really glad that I did! This was hilarious and the theme hits home. it talks about internalised racism and just sense of belonging in Australia when your a minority from a different ethnic group than “white”.

The way the narrative is told is great. The way characters pop-in the background when being talked about is so funny. For example, they were talking about one of their sisters, and the sister just pop up in the background as if she was there. I find it hard to explain, but if you’ll get it if you watch it haha.

## [**Howl**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/howl?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/91830f96cd42139b.jpg)

In this sessions, I wonder about the sequencing of these films as well. “Howl” almost felt like a glimpse into life as an Australian young adult that I didn’t really experience. It was quite a contrast compared to “I’m the Most Racist Person I know”.

I noticed that lots of the shots are very closed up, seemingly filmed on a long lens (as in large focal length, i.e. 50-75mm?). And that was most of the shots up to the end where it was widen a bit, but still not too wide. Perhaps it was a story telling tool to show that these young adults don’t yet have a wide perspective of life and they are a bit tunnel visioned. Or maybe they just chose to shoot it that way haha, not sure if I’m overanalysing it. Regardless of the intent, the tight shots made did make me feel uneasy and want to back up a bit, and as the story unfolded when it got to the uncomfortable parts narratively, it made it even worse. As mentioned, the only “break” that the audience get is towards the end of the film. Almost like a breather before the conclusion.

All in all, I’m not so fond of the narrative, but the cinematography was really interesting.

## [**Stranger, Brother**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/stranger-brother?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/f8f07f6347524232.jpg)

My wife and I noticed some of the places in here! It’s fun to see familiar places in a film. “Stranger, Brother” is a story of two brothers that has the same dad but different moms. The dynamic between them is actually quite nice to see. The older brother, Adam, seemed very caring towards the younger one, Mose. It has this very tight sense of “family is family, regardless of what happened or will happen” — which fits the “stranger” in the title.

I quite like the shots in the beginning where they Adam and his friends were high on… something. The fast pans with long exposures had cool trippy effects. The rest of the movie was well done too, but hard for me to remember exact scenes that are particularly cool. I like the movie overall!

## [**Family Man**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/family-man?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/f9d795f37184f1d9.jpg)

This was a weird one haha. The location was BEAUTIFUL! It’s in a village in the Himalayas, Nepal. The producer/director/writer shared that they got the entire village to act in the opening scene, I found that really cool. The scenery and shots were amazing, I think the cinematography brought out the best of the location.

Now the story. I honestly couldn’t follow it that much… lol. Maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to understand it. However, since this is my biased subjective review, I gotta say that I don’t like it because I couldn’t follow it. The story seems intricate and poetic in a way that perhaps need a second watch, which I’m actually keen on, to see the beautiful shots again.

## [**Mango Seed**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/mango-seed?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/45701af6fda2a308.jpg)

“Mango Seed” was my favourite of the set. Spoiler alert: I cried. It follow the journey of a Chinese migrant family in Australia. The dad is actually played by the real-life dad of the producer! So cool. His acting was so good. I was kinda wondering if he’s just like in the movie and so it was easy for him to act that way haha, but obviously I don’t know.

In the opening scene, the daughter got a job in film making in Sydney — I think they were in Adelaide. And the story unveiled how her parents, mostly the dad, react to this news. There are lots of scenes that hit home for me. My parents are not stern as this dad, but I can certainly relate to the more “invisible” way that Asian parents support or show love to their kids. Of course they are visible ways too, but the invisible ones really made me feel something when seeing it as a 3rd person. It made me tear up.

The cinematography reminded of the movie “Perfect Days” in some ways. Just everyday moments that adds up into something meaningful. The scene when the dad was cutting up the mango and eating the mango seed was great, and of course ties in the title nicely.

## [**The Eviction**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/the-eviction?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/6deb771d9f2975eb.jpg)

This had an unusual concept that I feel like only works for a short movie — so in a way it utilised the time in the best way. Some short movies that I saw felt like shorter versions of a longer movie. As in a longer movie made more concise. On the other hand, “The Eviction” was MADE for this. There were two shooting locations, both in a university dorm. One is a top down view of the stairs (that I assume lead to the dorm rooms), the other one is in the auditorium (or gym?) of the dorm. They did only one angle at the stairs and many different angles in the auditorium for the “debate”.

The story is structure is linear and compact. The whole film is a group of students in a committee deciding whether to evict a student from the dorm. The way they bring up their points reminded of how my group of friends argue… haha. There are some ridiculous arguments, some that are agreeable. I think the point of the film was kind of to evoke a feeling towards certain arguments. I can imagine people in the cinema can be grouped based on which person they agree with the most. However, it’s also hard to say because we don’t know them and we only know the to-be-evicted student based on the information presented. Plus, while we certainly get a sense of character from everyone, the characters are not well developed at all — on purpose, or rather a subsequent of how the story is told.

I feel like the story and the way it was presented was the main charm of the film. The cinematography is not as important — although the top down stair shots are cool as. All in all, I kinda want to show this to my friend group and see who they agree with… maybe it’d turn to a real-life version of the movie. Huh, could it be the goal of the writer all along…?
### MIFF 2055: Sorry, Baby
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2055-sorry-baby/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:11.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my third session (of 12!) 

This post my short review of the (amazing) film: “Sorry, Baby”

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

*This review will include very light spoilers. All images courtesy of miff.com.au*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/6187c8955980e90f.jpg)

## **Structure**

The movie had a time-jump structure where the audience is given a block of story in non-chronological way. When movies do this, I feel like there’s a risk of it being too hard to follow. That only happens when it’s NOT done well. Thankfully, in my opinion, “Sorry, Baby” did it very well. The opening story block establishes the relationship between Agnes and Liddy. It also reveals a story point that relates to the film title (hint: it involves a baby). It sets a strong sense of “wanting to know”, what happens next? what happened in the past? how is a baby involved in all this?

As the story progressed, you can just feel that the structure is integral to how it’s delivered. I wonder if they came up with the loose structure together with the story or they thought of the general story first and then decided that the time-jump structure works well with it. Regardless of how they did it, it felt like that this THE way to tell the (amazing) story.

Sense of time was also sometimes made a bit wonky in the middle of a story block. There was a short montage of a house going from day time to night time, where an important story point happened. So it is technically off-screen, but also kinda on-screen. When you watch it, you’ll recognise it. It stood out to me as a unique way of storytelling.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/b9a82fd71607c4e0.jpg)

## **Narrative**

The narrative was superb. I just love the characters! Agnes is awkward, candid, straightforward, but at the same time complex. The relationship between her and Liddy was told really well, the care that they have for each other is so great. Due to the character’s personality, the humour in the film comes naturally. There weren’t really a character that is the designated comic-relief — well you can argue that the neighbour Gavin is kind of a comic-relief, but I don’t think so. The humour in the story is used kind of in a “dark humour” way, but again, it felt a bit different to that. It’s funny in a way that “yeah! Agnes’ candidness is so justified here, this is a very weird and absurd situation”

The ending tied the whole film neatly in a bow. I didn’t actually realise that the ending scene was the ending, but once I realised, it all makes sense. So it wasn’t like “booo, that’s it!?” it was more like “oh dang, that was it? That’s the ending? Ahh, I get it”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/704a3592cf7a0c5d.jpg)

## **Cinematography**

I already mentioned this, but the short montage of a front of a house going from day to night was very cool. The elements in the shot were made to signify passage of time but also signified that it wasn’t too much time.

I quite liked the different ways they shot Agnes and Liddy talking. There was one at a field of grass where they did the classic 3-angle shot — one from the front, one from the perspective of person A, one from the perspective of person B. But then there was another shot (at a different part of the story) where they were near the beach and it was one take — only shot from the front. Perhaps that is not that unusual, however I only recently try to imagine the way scenes were shot. Makes it more fun to watch films! Although maybe I should let go of that a little bit to focus on just watching haha.

## **Who would I recommend it to?**

People that like movies with a great message in the end. It’s depressing and uplifting at the same time. I’m certain that you’d feel some emotions one way or another, and even carry the feeling afterwards. The humour is so funny, up my wheelhouse, it’s kind of like The Office humour where ordinary people are put into absurd situations (recently saw The Office being described that way, it made lots of sense!). I’m a huge “The Office” fan, and so are many people, and I believe those people would like “Sorry, Baby” as well.

10/10, would watch again!
### MIFF 2025: Samsara
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-samsara/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:11.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my second session (*of 12!*), “Samsara”

This post my short review of the six short films in the session!

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

Alright, let’s talk about Samsara. Screen captures courtesy of miff.com.au

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/91ab2cc01626025e.jpg)

## **Unusual format (for me)**

Samsara is a black and white movie. I don’t watch lots of that. And, it’s also a movie with no dialog, only music. Okay that’s also very different for me. So how does that translate to the watching experience?

The black and white scheme felt so at home with the narrative and setting. It felt like it was meant to be B&W, if it was colour it would’ve been unnatural. Lighting and composition is extra important, along with special effects, make up, costumes and so on. They couldn’t rely on colour! Or rather, colour is not part of the creative axis. Honestly, this motivated me to do more B&W photography and learn the in-and-outs of it.

The “no dialog and only music'“ was even more unusual for me. I never watched anything like that before. I’m happy to report that I enjoyed it! Again, the limitation accentuates all the other ways to communicate the narrative. The choice of shots, sequencing, facial expressions, camera angles, how long each perspective is held, and I’d imagine so many more that I can’t tell. It is the embodiment of the saying “limitation breeds creativity”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/64cb6efad8532b1d.jpg)

## **Narative**

The way the narrative is told wouldn’t mean much if the narrative itself is not interesting. Well, that’s not true, there is inherent value in using a niche format — to breakout of the norm. I’d say the narrative is a classic folklore tale where you can sort of imagine things going in certain ways. Basically: main character use evil magic to get love, happy for a bit, then terrible things happens, then the resolution. It’s certainly still engaging and not boring, especially the way it’s being told. 

The simple narrative might even be a necessity. Because if it’s too complex, then conveying it through B&W with no dialogue could prove to be too challenging, in a bad way.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/01892b5999893541.jpg)

## **Music**

I’m not expert in music; well not really an expert in any of these, but at least I do photography. I do play musical instruments and enjoy listening to music, but not making music per se. The extent of my experience would be choosing music for my YouTube videos, which can be intricate sometimes. From that amateur-ish point of view, the music was phenomenal. I love that it is the combination of traditional Indonesian instruments (e.g. gamelan) and modern electronic EDM-like sounds. Somehow, the modern music didn’t feel out of place at all, it all worked harmoniously. And again, it was extra important to get it right, because there was no dialog! You might be able to tell that I’m in awe about this no dialog thing, sorry if you already got the point from when I mentioned it first.

## **Who I recommend this to?**

Fans of folklore or classic Disney movies (e.g. Cinderella, Snow White, etc)

People who wants to feel how limitation can make things interesting

People who think “movies are all the same these days” — this will prove you wrong so hard

Fans of the Indonesian culture!
### MIFF 2025: International Shorts 1
URL: https://edn.as/miff-2025-international-shorts-1/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:12.000Z
Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 is ongoing and I went to watch my first session (*of 12!*) , International Shorts 1.

This post my short review of the six short films in the session!

For context: I am a photographer/youtuber that wants to up my cinematography and storytelling, that’s why I’m watching 12 sessions at the film festival PLUS reviewing them here on my blog!

As an aside, since these are “International Shorts”, they are delivered in many different languages, a lot of them I don’t speak (I speak English and Indonesian). As a person who doesn’t understand these languages, somehow the language also bears weight in how I interpret or see the film. Maybe that’s silly, or maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. Anyway, here’s the review

## [Two People Exchanging Saliva](https://miff.com.au/program/film/two-people-exchanging-saliva?ref=edn.as)

*Language: French*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/09e89c4b7640a221.jpg)

A very strong opener to the session. It’s a black and white movie with striking cinematography. Well, all of these films have beautiful cinematography but a B&W movie needs to work even harder because there are no colours to rely on. That also made the story more inviting, at least to me, who don’t usually watch B&W movies.

Speaking of the story, I recognised the structure, but the content itself has many layers of abstraction.

The structure has that classic hook: something incredibly odd happened (a person being trapped alive in a casket), then flashback to start the story. So we, the audience, knows what’s going to happen, we just don’t know how it got there. Plus, we don’t know why we should care about that person/character. The mystery continued with the breath test, the main character’s job, the supporting characters, and the relationship development between them. By the end of it, I left knowing how the opening sequence happened, and really felt for the characters.

As for the content, I think diving too deep into it will spoil it too much, so I’ll give a generic overview of the themes: humanity, lust, taboos, love, societal expectations, and… capitalism?

## [**Nervous Energy**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/nervous-energy?ref=edn.as)

*Language: Mandarin, English*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/8e51c388250196f2.jpg)

Two women wanting to be an artist. Or are already artist but want to be “successful” ones. The story in this one was the easiest to follow! The story is told in a more literal way, of course still with room for interpretation. The scenes are beautifully captured, especially the opening scene when there was a split screen where they were both running towards their boyfriends (spoiler alert: to break up with them)

The vibrant colours contrasted with the previous B&W movie. And as I mentioned, the story is more straightforward and literal, also contrasted with the previous movie. And! This one is set in a “normal” world, again, not like the previous one. Great sequencing of movies so far by the team!

One personal note: the idea of “I want to be an artist!” is such a familiar one for me.

## [**Common Pear**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/common-pear?ref=edn.as)

*Language: English, French, Italian, Slovenian*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/5b03844c734c8808.jpg)

If “Nervous Energy” was vibrant and straightforward, “Common Pear” is dull and abstract, way more abstract than I can personally digest in one pass. I think I need to see it again to understand more of it. Reading the description of the film on the website definitely helped. The colour scheme lulled me a bit, I was dozing off… just a little bit. If it’s not clear already, this review is very much biased and subjective to me, who is not a movie expert in the first place.

What I do remember and appreciate from “Common Pear” is the theme of the importance of the environment. I think it’s a hard theme to explore without exaggerating (e.g. fantasy world) or literally be a documentary. So conveying it as movie in the middle of that is very neat!

## [**Panadrilo**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/panadrilo?ref=edn.as)

*Language: Spanish*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/afbd48af0e4c48b0.jpg)

The story structure of “Panadrilo” is similar to “Two People Exchanging Saliva“. The difference being: the insane-situation-reveal in this one is not the ending of the movie, it’s just something that happened. That thing being: the main character’s husband was absorbed into a crocodile and now can talk through the crocodile…. yep, you read that right, very creative! I’m sure that there’s a comment on society, politics, or the state of the world, but it went over my head (for now). I still enjoyed it though! The surreal unexplained situation just made me go “huhhh”, but not enough to turn me off.

## [**400 Cassettes**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/400-cassettes?ref=edn.as)

*Language: Greek*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/727183aa165d37f1.jpg)

I love, love, love that the start of the film is a classroom scene where one of them was drawing on the arm of the other one. This was such a high school thing! And it neatly conveys a level of closeness that feels appropriate. To me, it tells me a lot about the kind of relationship that existed between them.

From the visuals, it looks like it was filmed on analog. I truly hope that’s true because the throwback to analog mediums was so nostalgic. Well, the title has “cassettes” after all, so it makes sense. It reminds me of simpler times. I recently got into film photography as well, so I’m so fond of analog mediums.

The colour scheme on this really brought home the analog-nostalgic vibe. I think you can see that just from the screenshot above.

## [**Ali**](https://miff.com.au/program/film/ali?ref=edn.as)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/bbe1fd86b2cc7a33.jpg)

“Ali” was the best ending to this. The story structure is one that doesn’t reveal much and keeps you guessing. It’s the kind that I can’t really talk about because that would spoil it. Just know that the climax is beautiful. It’s one of those surrealist films where everything seemed “normal” until it wasn’t. Okay, maybe even that was a bit of a spoiler.

I felt like the acting stood out to me in this one. The characters didn’t have much development, since it’s a short film after all, but I feel like their essence was conveyed quite well by the actors. The cinematography was spell-binding, some scenes are so stunning.

I didn’t realise this was the last film in the list, and this one left me wanting more! I heard people praising it as we were walking out the cinema. Really one of a kind. If you were to watch only one movie out of this list, I would recommend “Ali”.
### Play to Learn: Chess
URL: https://edn.as/play-to-learn-chess/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:12.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/b66c28919fefd3bc.jpg)

Hi, welcome to the “Play to Learn” blog series! This is a series where I go through games that I have played and explore life lessons that can be taken from them. The previous post was on card games, check it out [here](https://www.edn.as/txt/play-to-learn-card-games?ref=edn.as).

## **Intro**

Chess is a game with a long history… which I’m not going to get into, haha. Instead, I’ll get into my own history with chess. Once upon-a-time, when I was in elementary school, my dad taught me how to play chess. We had this wooden chess board that you can fold like a hollow book to store the chess pieces inside. I was intrigued by the game for about few days, then after that I didn’t really paid attention to it. I knew how the pieces move, what is a check, and what is a checkmate, and that was about it.

Fast forward to my high school years, I started playing chess again on my phone. In between breaks in cram school, I would play with a friend on one phone, passing the phone between us. I don’t remember how well we played, how many times we beat each other, or anything like that. It was really just to pass some time.

Fast forward again to my current job, I started playing chess again because our CEO was really into chess. We would have chess games during lunch time, which can actually be quite competitive at times. We used a proper chess clock and we also analysed the games afterwards. I learned a lot about chess by playing, spectating, and analysing the games. I even learned one opening, the London System. As a beginner at chess, it was a big step forward.

Around the same time, chess grew huge on the internet. Hikaru Nakamura, a grandmaster from the US, streamed online chess games on Twitch. Not only that he is extremely good at chess, he is also great at articulating his fast and accurate calculations, which produced many viral clips. Other Twitch streamers started playing chess, even beginners, and it started the rise of chess in the online video game community.

On top of that, around the same time, Netflix released a series called The Queen’s Gambit, which tells a story of an amazing chess player that ends up in the highest level of chess. I don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t seen it, but it was a really engaging show! It continued the momentum of chess’ popularity.

From there, other than playing some games at the office, I also started playing online games on lichess.com. I quite enjoy playing the faster time controls, like 2 minutes with 1 second increments (written as 2+1). The increment here means that each player gets 1 extra second every turn. It’s a very speedy type of chess. As I am a low level beginner, the games would go very chaotic with many mistakes from both me and my opponent. I must say that while I enjoy it, perhaps it’s not the best way to learn chess. However, it actually helped me learn the time management aspect of chess. More on that later.

Being a game that requires deep thinking and has lots of small nuances, I believe there are many life lessons that we can take from playing chess. In this post, I want to share a few that I’ve noticed and experienced. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a list of the ones that I found interesting. Disclaimer, since I’m a beginner, it is probably skewed to the way beginners look at the game. With that in mind, let’s dive into it!

## **Chess takes a lot of stamina**

As I played more chess games, I realised how it can be quite intense. Racking my brain to try to find the best moves takes a lot of stamina. It is not only mentally taxing, I physically sweat as well. I said this while ever played chess in the classical time format where games can lasto I can only imagine the tenacity needed to stay vigilant in those games.

During multi-day tournaments, grandmasters can burn around 6000 calories per day, just by playing chess without any other physical activity. The brain heavily depend on glucose to think, which causes the calorie burn. The grandmasters reportedly would experience significant weight loss after the tournaments. Stamina is so important in chess to point that before tournaments, players need to physically train and prepare their bodies.¹

This is really interesting to me. When I thought about high energy activities, I wouldn’t think about “thinking”. The fact that it can induce weight loss is baffling. Of course, I’m not suggesting swapping going to the gym with chess sessions. However, I would certainly keep this in mind when managing my energy when scheduling activities for myself. Moreover, I would take this into account when interacting with people that just finished a mentally taxing task.

## **Good moves are good enough**

When I first played chess at the office, I took a long time to think in between moves at every stage of the game. I didn’t know the basic principles or know any openings, so I just spent a lot of time thinking from the start. The main contributor is that I wanted to make every move perfect. With my limited chess knowledge, I tried to compare all the different options to come up with the best one. In a timed chess game, running out of time means losing the game. I ended up losing a lot by using up my time, not that I would win if there was unlimited time, but I couldn’t possibly win if I didn’t improve my time management.

After spectating more matches, listening to post-game analysis, and learning more fundamentals, I realised that chess is not a game where I needed to make perfect moves all the time, it’s a game where I needed to be okay with playing “just” good moves. This is especially true in the short time formats that we play at the office which is the 15+2 time format (15 minutes with 2 seconds increments). When I play online, I like to play an even shorter time format at 2+1\. Apparently, it is not recommended to learn chess in a fast format, but I think it helped me loosen up and not be fixated with playing perfect moves. The fast time format short circuited my thought process, forcing me to make moves quickly. after playing lots of 2+1, 15+2 felt like a breeze time-wise.

Moreover, aiming to play perfect moves caused me to not really like any of the moves that I ended up playing. I would have doubts if the move was indeed the best option. I would be trying too hard to compensate for the things that I do not know about (which is a lot since I’m a beginner) by overthinking about one move. On the other hand, playing good enough moves means that I purposely focus the information and knowledge that I do have while disregarding (and not worry about) the things that I do not know about.

After this, my games were definitely higher quality, both according to computer analysis and the way it feels when I make the moves.

## **Learning openings allowed me to focus on the mid-game**

Even when only focusing on “just” good moves, the start of a chess game can still be really daunting. The possible moves are really hard to compare to each other, since it’s not obvious which ones are better, especially to a beginner like me. When I started playing chess, I knew the rules (how the pieces move and how a player wins), however I didn’t realise there are so many nuances involving “improving a position”. There are concepts such as “developing pieces”, meaning moving your powerful pieces (generally non-pawns) to a square where the piece is “active”, meaning it’s attacking or defending more squares than it did not before. At the beginning of a chess game, the general goal is to develop the pieces to get ready for the mid-game.

A chess game generally has 3 phases, the early game, the mid game, and the end game. In the early game, as explained before, the goal is to develop pieces. In the mid game, the goal is to get an advantage over your opponent, typically there will be trades and captures in this phase. The end game is where there are typically less pieces on the board and the players are attempting to checkmate each other.

There are known pattern of moves in chess that are effective in achieving the goal of each game phase, especially the early game. Due to the sheer amount of games, the popularity of chess, and the advancement of the computer chess engine, these patterns can be analysed with great detail. Learning openings take advantage of all that. That being said, new players should keep it mind that it’s easy to fall into the trap of just memorising the moves without knowing why there are good, which can lead to getting countered and not knowing how to fight back.

Overall, learning an opening allowed me to execute the early moves quickly, moving the game along to the mid-game phase where I can then use more time to think about the moves.

## **Life lessons**

Alright, those are the lessons that I observed while playing chess. Now, let’s see how we can translate that to more general life lessons!

Mental exertions uses a lot more energy than I thought! It means that when I’m considering how I’m physically feeling, I should take into account mentally taxing activities. Of course I already do feel tired after a long day at work, but I didn’t realise just how much energy “thinking” uses. This also is good reminder that I can’t expect myself to continually do highly mentally challenging activities, even if what I’ve been doing is just “sitting and thinking”.

Doing good enough is enough, perfect is not only unnecessary but can even be detrimental. Good enough actions are enough to achieve goals. In fact, it might be the only way to achieve it, because otherwise I would be paralysed trying to do the perfect thing before I even start. Or, like in a game of chess, attempting to be perfect might just cost a lot of time that could cause me to miss opportunities.

Learning to streamline some of my common activities can let me focus on the more difficult or important ones. I can combine activities like a string (akin to chess openings), making some useful activities feel almost automatic, resulting in more mental room for the ones that need more conscious effort.

## **Outro**

Chess is a classic game with a lot of history that recently gained popularity. It has a deep gameplay with relatively simple rules. Playing it has taught me lessons in the obvious aspects like strategy and tactics, but it has taught me more general life lessons as well. I haven’t been playing much in awhile and writing this blog post has reignited my interest in it! As I said, I play online on lichess.com, so if you happen to play there as well, we might just bump into each other. Check, mate!
### Small, Medium, Large Talks
URL: https://edn.as/small-medium-large-talks/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:13.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/b3b4868462b47026.jpg)

## **Intro**

“Speech is silver, but silence is golden”

As a self acclaimed introvert, I absolutely lived by that quote. In a lot of situations, I thought that it was wise to stay silent. Or perhaps I was just using it as an excuse. “It’s not that I don’t have anything to say, I chose not to say anything!” Of course, I would also have long conversations where I do talk, usually in something that I would call deep talks. I saw it as the only form of talks that are worth having. In deep talks, I learn about something new, or I deepen my relationships with someone, or I am able to share my important thoughts and feelings to other people.

On the other side, I loathed small talk, which I define as talks that have little substance with typically unimportant subjects. Small talk is usually done for the sake of politeness or even to avoid awkwardness. A classic example is talking about the weather. I hated when people talked about the weather. It is obvious that there is nothing else to talk about because weather is a generic topic that everyone experience and therefore guaranteed to be relatable.

However, in the recent years, I realised that small talk can be pleasant. It can even be a necessary step to have the deep talks that I liked. Similar to the idea of using small habits to reach your end result, deep talks can only happen if there are many shallow talks that precede it.

So, with this shift of my view on conversations, I want to explore the evolution of my views, the social skills that I observed and learned, and why small talks are steps to having deeper talks.

## **Hating small talk**

Growing up, I didn’t see the point of small talk. I felt like it’s fairly obvious when someone is making small talk without substance, and I don’t really understand why people need to engage in them. I understand starting a conversation with “how are you” as a starting point to a substantial talk. But I could not understand just talking about the weather with no follow-up conversation.

A large part of why I dislike small talk is because I have self-diagnosed social anxiety. I am filled with anxious thoughts when I talk to somebody without an established social connection, i.e. talking to strangers. For example, asking a worker at a grocery store for the location of milk. I would rather find the milk myself. It would be even more anxiety inducing if on top of that the social context is not the norm. For example, asking a worker at a grocery store to recommend me a recipe for my dinner tonight.

I feel more anxious when I speak one on one compared to speaking in a group. I find that speaking in a group is easier because it’s usually more of a one way communication, like giving a speech. In speeches, I would have everything that I want to say rehearsed and under my control. I don’t need to respond to someone else’s input.

So, for me, speaking to someone can be quite stressful which made small talk seem like a waste of energy. If the social social context allows it, I’m more comfortable with silence rather than unnecessary small talk.

## **Small to Medium talk**

As I learned to handle my social anxiety better, I got better at answering small talk questions. Answering “how was your weekend?” got easier the more I did it. It also helped to actively listen to other people’s answers to get an understanding on suitable answers for common small talk questions. Conveniently, actively listening also allowed me to be more engaged in conversations, since I can ask more follow up questions or chime-in on relatable points. That led to small talks that felt more substantial, perhaps growing to “medium talks”.

For me, medium talks are talks that go beyond talking about a shared state that affects all parties and instead talk about something that only concerns one party but can be indirectly relevant or of interests to the other parties. For example, the weather condition is something that people share, if it’s raining, it rains for everyone. But, perhaps only one person bike to work which is inconvenienced by the rain, while the other person is close by so they just walked with an umbrella. In this scenario, a small talk about the rain can turn into a medium talk about how each person feel about the rain today and how that made their morning commute different. No matter how trivial it may seem, that is the sort of conversation that allows both sides to know more about each other, which can lead to deeper conversations in the future.

## **Deep talks start with shallow ones**

The title of this section has two meanings. First, shallow conversations might lead to deep conversations start at that moment. Second, having multiple shallow conversations over time opens up the possibility of having deeper ones in the future.

The first meaning is on the micro level. We don’t often start a conversation with a deep discussion. There is a little “how do you do” before people can dive into deep talks. This doesn’t only refer to light questions like “how’s work” or “how was your weekend”, it can also might be questions that is not deep yet but might lead there, for example “what have you been seeing in the news lately”.

The second meaning is on the macro level. Making small talks can be a way to improve your relationship with someone up to a point where it is comfortable to have deeper talks. The small talks not only lay foundation of the relationship, but also give each other practice on how the other person likes to speak. I like to draw a parallel with knowing classmates at school. At the beginning, it is often a bit awkward to talk to each other. However, since I would be “stuck” with the same classmates for the school year, I am “forced” to talk to them everyday. Perhaps just about school work or other mundane things at first. But it would get to a point where it’s more comfortable to talk about deeper topics. As adults, it’s harder to build that relationship without being conscious about it. There is no social structure like a school where we are “forcibly” set up to constantly interact with each other. So, we need to make conscious effort to warm up to others via small conversations.

Both meanings show the importance of small talk to achieve deeper connections. Having small talks is the grinding that we need to do to nurture relationships. Some relationships are harder to grind than others, some are more worth it than others. I feel like some people are more natural at the grind, I certainly don’t feel like I am, so I need to put more conscious effort into it. However, like other things, it gets easier and better the more we do it.

## **Outro**

Small talk was something that I despised, thinking that it was a waste of time. That thought was probably why I was terrible at it which fed into the hatred, creating a vicious cycle. As I grow as a person, I realised that small talk is actually a necessary avenue to deepen my relationship with people and have the deep talks that I liked. Just like how conversations has a build-up, relationship has a build-up too.

On that note, if this post was interesting to you, reach out to me on any social media platform and let’s have some small talks!
### Design Thoughts: Packaging
URL: https://edn.as/design-thoughts-packaging/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:13.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/8e49aba04545f227.jpg)

## **Intro**

In this commercialised world, there are millions of consumer products for us to choose from. Nowadays, almost anything that you can think of can be bought, from the right place for the right price. When choosing what to buy, our first look on an item might be from the item on display, from a review video, or from borrowing it from a friend. Then, when we finally purchase the item, most of the time we would get it in some sort of packaging.

Packaging can be used to add to the ownership experience of the product. A common is example is packaging for tech product. Unboxing videos of tech products is a genre in itself, with channels dedicated to it. I enjoy those videos because I can feel the second hand excitement of unboxing the product. However, no matter how good the packaging, we wouldn’t purchase a tech product just for it.

For grocery store items, packaging can be a way to stand out among competitors. Grocery stores usually arrange items based on category. Imagine walking through a cereal isle, where it has all different cereals side by side. Some cereal boxes with bright colours might catch the eye first. A box with a nice concise description can make it the “obvious” choice. And a box with a cartoon character might look the best for a child (or adults too!). For everyday consumables like cereal, the design of the box might be a large factor of our purchase decision.

Packaging can also be focused on utility. Well-designed take away boxes can mean that the food is easier to eat and therefore more enjoyable. On the other hand, horrible packaging can reduce the enjoyment of a meal, no matter how tasty it is. The packaging can be as important as the content.

In this post, I am going to write about three examples of packaging that I thought was quite unique and interesting. For each example, I am going to analyse it and attempt to uncover the design thinking behind it.

## **Nasi Lemak House - Takeaway Boxes**

When I was a university student, I lived near a restaurant called Nasi Lemak House. As the name implied, they sell nasi lemak, the Malaysian rice dish. I remember that it was one of the restaurants that I first visited after I moved to Melbourne. When I first tried it, I didn’t like it that much and I’m not at all a picky eater. There was nothing in particular that was wrong with it, I think it tasted okay, but somehow I never craved more for it.

Few years after that, the restaurant went through renovation. The place was much nicer, with a more modern branding. When it reopened, I was curious to see if it was any different. I went there and saw that the menu was exactly the same, so I thought there wouldn’t too much difference in the food. Regardless, I went to get a takeaway serving of their nasi lemak on rice with traditional sambal, the very same one that I ordered the first time I ate there. When they handed me the takeaway box, I immediately noticed the new packaging.

[From 2022, Nasi Lemak House’s nasi lemak with fried chicken and traditional sambal](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/a23024c854ffbd50.jpg?ref=edn.as)

This new packaging is not anything spectacular or special. It was just a plain utilitarian box, but I think that is why it was great. It was perfect for their dish. It honestly made it much easier and enjoyable to eat. Although the food recipe was probably the same as when the first time I ate it, it tasted better somehow. Because of the packaging design, I became a fan of the place and ate there often during my university days.

## **Singapore Airlines - Food boxes**

Few months ago, I flew back to my home country, Indonesia. Covid-19 were still affecting the flights availability, and so the only one that I could get was Singapore Airlines. It was my first time flying with them, so it was also my first time eating their meals. I was delightfully surprise when I saw that the design of their breakfast box was quite similar to the Nasi Lemak House box, just much smaller.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/568ee8790a2cde3e.jpg)

Again, I’m not claiming or saying that these boxes are revolutionary, but I think they stood out to me as nice packaging. The way they arrange the food was also quite nice. On the top, it had chicken sausage and omelette with herbs. On the bottom, it had beans on one side of the base, and a hash brown on the other side. The content was quite enjoyable, but I wonder how much was I influenced by the packaging and the arrangement, perhaps quite a lot!

## **Fruits with candy packaging**

The last example that I have is one that I haven’t actually purchased or taste. During my usual weekly grocery shopping at Woolworths, I noticed a rack full of fruits with interesting packaging.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/67ee70ad7f5badc1.jpg)

These are fruits disguised as candy! It was also near the “fruits - free for kids” basket. Coincidence? Maybe, but I’d like to think they did it on purpose. These fruits are just normal fruits, but the packaging has various made up names on them. I can imagine that if I was a kid, it would be at the very least more enticing than regular fruits. Or if I didn’t like fruits, it can be the gateway to giving them another try and perhaps liking them.

The packaging has a different purposes to the previous examples. Instead of providing utility, the packaging is used for marketing. I am pretty interested to see the numbers on these products, whether or not they sell well compared to the same fruit without the packaging. Perhaps, it is made by the same people that sell the non-packaged fruits and they are doing research on the impact of the packaging.

## **Outro**

That has been three food packaging design that caught my eyes. I quite enjoy looking at things and thinking about the design thinking behind them. Plain boxes that serve their utility improved the way I perceived the content. And eye catching boxes can provide a little twist to ubiquitous items. Each example might be a bit plain, but hopefully it was still interesting when they are *packaged* together. Thanks for reading!
### Astronauts end up on the moon
URL: https://edn.as/astronauts-end-up-on-the-moon/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:14.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/db0d3b24a1337881.jpg)

## **Intro**

*“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”* \- Les Brown

If you aim high, even if you don’t get there, you can probably get pretty damn close, and that’s good too. When I grew up, adults like to remind me of this quote (or ones with similar meaning), encouraging me to dream big.

The intention was probably to set me up to do well in life. However, aiming high came with high expectations as well, which then turned into pressure. Some pressure can be good to give you a push, but too much pressure would just crush you.

As I grew up, I realised that aiming high generated more pressure than motivation. Life in general is hard. I acknowledge that I have had many privileges that have helped me in life, but I still find managing my life is not easy. It is not straightforward to get a balance between everything that life demands from us. So, adding “shoot for the moon” on top of that, with its self-imposing pressure, adds a lot of stress.

According to a research on the equation of happiness, one key factor for happiness is lower expectations. If you expect less, it’s easier to be content. In addition, it alleviates the pressure on yourself. In theory, with less pressure, you can perform better in whatever you do. So, with the right approach, wanting less might actually give you more. The best approach that I found is to set up good habits, even small ones, that help you to improve one step at a time.

This shift in perspective has been slowly creeping up on me through different mediums: life experiences, reading books, various videos, and also from working at a place where this way of thinking is championed. For this post, I want to go through the evolution of goal setting from my life experiences and also an approach from a recent book that I read, Atomic Habits by James Clear.

## **Shooting for the moon**

When I was young, aiming high was the norm. In kindergarten, my teacher asked every student in the class what they to do when they grow up. Everyone took turns answering the question. I still remember everyone was encourage to say doctor, pilot, or something of that “high calibre”. When it was my turn, I remember that my mind went blank, because I was 5 and did not really know what I wanted to do. I thought flying an airplane must be cool, so I just said pilot.

When I was about to graduate from primary school, I aimed to go to a good middle school, and then to a great high school, and then to the best universities. In hindsight, the main effect on me was the pressure, which was good and bad. It was good because that I felt that I *needed* to study hard and do well. At the same time, It was bad because… well, I felt that I *must* study hard and do well.

When I had my first job out of university, I still had this idea of shooting for the moon. Everything else was a stepping stone until I reach my goal of working at a large tech company. My passion (or maybe mere persistence) for “work” was probably at the highest point. I remember insisting to stay at work to finish fixing a bug while my colleagues were saying that I should just go home.

That attitude might sound like a good thing to have. However, it also caused me to burnout, repeatedly. Trying to do my best with only willpower did not really work. Shooting for the moon was quite discouraging when the moon always seem to be far away. Even after all the effort that I put in, It felt like things weren’t changing fast enough. Although I had bursts of fuel that sped up my progress, I would also slow down during burnouts. I slowly came to a realisation that I should have been approaching it in a different way.

## **“Just try harder”**

When results don’t come quick enough, it’s easy to fall into the thought that we are just not doing enough. Even with my burnouts, I thought that if I just worked harder, everything will work out. So, what was my solution to burning out? Just do more. I started my own projects, do some teaching on the side, and various other things.

The way that I approached my projects was adding extra stress. It was a do-or-die approach where I either fully commit a chunk of my evening or weekend on it, or I don’t do it at all. This created a huge cloud over my head whenever I spend my time doing anything else. I would be thinking, “instead of relaxing, I should really get on to that project.” As you might have experienced, that thought had the opposite effect. It made me not want to do anything at all, not relaxing, not doing my projects, but procrastinate instead.

“Too much concern about how well one is doing in a task sometimes disrupts performance by loading short-term memory with pointless anxious thoughts“

 \- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

It is pretty obvious in hindsight, but combating burnout with doing more things just causes more burnout. Yet again, I needed a different approach.

## **The race to the moon is a marathon**

After realising burnout is the core issue, I went to the other side of the spectrum. I decided to not doing anything extra at all. I stopped all of my other commitments, and focused solely on my daytime job. On top of that, I tried to take more leave regularly, even when I don’t have any trips planned. I did my best to not think about “goals” when I’m on my off time. I thought that if I just avoid burnout, I can last enough to the point where I can eventually reach the moon.

However, this theory alone wasn’t enough. I do still think about aiming high at work. I still feel overwhelmed and anxious about it. Arguably it was even worse, instead having that feeling spread out through out the day, I concentrated it during work hours. I was on the right path on the ideology, but I didn’t have the right implementation.

## **Start by being an astronaut**

In the book “Atomic Habits”, James Clear described atomic habits as small habits, good or bad, that might feel insignificant, but actually can compound into a great effect. This is the approach that I needed, both practically and mentally.

“Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.”

\- Atomic Habits by James Clear

The book has many interesting insights into building habits. In one chapter, it was explained that an effective way to develop long lasting habits is to start with an identity. Decide on the kind of person that you want to be, then figure out what habits does that sort of person would have. For example, decide that you are a fit person, then when you are a making decision on whether or not to eat that extra piece of cake, think about which one a fit person would choose.

Similarly, this can be applied to shooting for the moon. Instead of having the goal as the anchor, use an identity instead. Make decisions in the ways astronauts would, then we’ll end up on the moon.

Starting with an identity is powerful. We often have goals because we are not satisfied with our current situation and wanted a change. It means that to reach the goal, we need to expend willpower for the change. However, as discussed before, willpower is a finite resource. So, instead, start with an identity by deciding that from this point on, I am an X kind of person. We are not attempting to change something, we are just naturally doing what an X person would be doing. 

One example is this blog! I had a goal to have a blog with lots of great posts. When I finally gathered the willpower to start this blog in January, I overwhelmed myself with providers to choose, the design of it, and everything else… except for writing posts. It took awhile after that to finally sit down and write the first post from start to finish. Then, it was quite hard to find the motivation to do the next ones. This is when I shifted my perspective from wanting to have a blog to: I am a writer. I made a habit to write everyday as part of my night routine, even if it’s only a sentence. And the result is all of the blog posts so far, including this one!

## **Outro**

When I was young, shooting for the moon felt like the only right thing to do. I thought I could not move forward if I don’t aim very far away. However, in recent times, I have learned that it is not the case. The path to the moon is not a race, it is a marathon. Building good habits to move an inch at a time is a great way to sustain yourself for the long run. A good way to build good habits is to shift from having the moon as the goal to starting from an identity, start from being an astronaut.

See you on the moon! (Or on the way there)
### When Life Gives You Lemons
URL: https://edn.as/when-life-gives-you-lemons/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:14.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/6dc92cc9d77de95c.jpg)

## **Intro**

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Sometimes life throws something in your way that you are not ready for, or something that you just do not expect. And as the saying goes, you are supposed to make the best out of it. But, sometimes, it’s not so much that you are surprised by it. Instead, you just think that it should not happen in the first place. It feels like it is not the norm. It’s more akin to life giving you lemons when lemons are not in season.

This is a little life story that had an unexpected event and an unexpected reaction to the unexpected event.

## **The guitar player (What happened)**

One day, Vy (my partner) and I hopped on a tram to go to a shopping centre. The tram was pretty empty, with only around five other people in it. We took out our AirPods and started listening to music. After just a few stops, a guy came in with a guitar.

He sat down a few seats behind us and then started playing his guitar, quite loudly! It’s not any particular song, just seemingly random chords. Vy got kind of annoyed at him, she turned her head at him and try to give him a judgemental look, so that he would stop. But he just carried on. The music volume on our AirPods can’t really compete with the loud guitar.

We looked at each other and just sighed. I was contemplating if I should have asked him to stop. However, a few stops after the man got on, a child and her mother came on the tram. She looked so ecstatic when she heard the music! She grabbed her mom’s hand and dragged her towards the man, while pointing excitedly.

Then, they sat next to the man, watching him play. The girl’s eyes were full of awe. This was not her usual boring tram ride where she just sits there waiting for her stop. It was a musical tram. It was like she couldn’t believe that there was live music inside the tram. She thought It was the best thing ever! When the man got off the tram, she seemed a bit disappointed, but she said to him with her cute little voice, “bye bye!”

## **Contrasting reactions (Why it happened)**

So, in this incident, the adults did not care at all about the guitar player, in fact, some were quite annoyed. On the other hand, the child was very joyous. Let’s explore some probable explanations.

Perhaps it’s because the child likes music more than adults. No, that can’t be the case, most of the adults were wearing headphones in the tram, probably listening to music. Then, maybe, it was because the adults have seen better guitar players before. That’s possible, since an infant would naturally have seen less guitar players in their lifetime. However, I think that a deeper reason might be because the adults think that it is not the social norm for people to be playing guitar on the tram. On the other hand, the child might see it as something novel, and maybe even think that it should happen more often.

A child typically does not have the same constrains as adults when reacting to an unexpected event. They might see something as more neutral, without any experiences to reference, and without the weight of social expectancy. A child would look at situations just as it is, without any prejudice.

## **Being more child-like (What can we learn)**

I can’t help to feel envious of the child when she was staring at a guitar player in awe. It must be nice to have had that naivety. To get some of that back, I can probably start by adjusting my expectation of reality. The social norm that dictates “people on the tram should not play their guitar” had restricted my reaction to the unexpected event.

Looking at it deeper, the general social norm is probably less specific, closer to “people in public spaces should not make loud noises that might bother others”. It seems fair enough to apply to yourself and also expect it from others. However, it is also caused me to have an automatic reflex reaction to a situation that doesn’t fit the norm. My reaction was restricted unconsciously.

With that in mind, the part that I can change is the bit after the unconscious thought. Instead of sticking with my automatic initial reaction, I ought to reflect on it. I should be more mindful of my reactions and understand why I reacted in certain ways. And I think writing is a good way to do that, so here we are!

## **Outro**

This was certainly an interesting experience to have. When it happened, I jotted it down on my list of blog posts ideas. It is not too out of the ordinary, and something similar probably happen all the time. But, hopefully, my interpretation of it can help you to reflect on some similar events in your lives. And, hopefully, the next time I encounter a similar situation, I can have a more positive outlook.

When life gives me out-of-season lemons, I’ll try to make lemonade anyway 🍋
### Play to Learn: Card Games
URL: https://edn.as/play-to-learn-card-games/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:15.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/3eb62291903f7e88.jpg)

Hi, welcome to the “Play to Learn” blog series! This is a series where I go through games that I have played and explore life lessons that can be taken from them.

## **Introduction**

When I was in pre-school age, my parents bought me a set of Pokémon cards. They like to remind me that I wasn’t into it. In my defence, I couldn’t understand the rules because I was 4\. However, I do remember that in elementary school, I just made up my own rules to play by myself, like playing Solitaire, it was kind of fun!

The first card game that I played with its actual rules was “Yu-Gi-Oh!”. I had some physical cards and played at school. But it wasn’t until I got the video game version that I got really into it. The game was mainly single player, with a LAN multiplayer mode. I played until I unlocked all the cards and then created many decks to play against the CPU. At some point, I figured out how to do a LAN connection over the internet with Hamachi, which I used to play with my friends. My journey of digital card games had started.

When I was in university, Blizzard Entertainment released their new card game, Hearthstone. I was really hyped for it. I remember when I started, I could not even beat the Priest class CPU, haha. I played on and off for many years. Hearthstone has a ranking system with Legend being the highest tier, which apparently is the top 0.3-0.5% of players. I never hit that tier, the closest I got was Rank 1 with 5 stars, which is just one win away from hitting Legend! I lost the deciding game and ranked down. I stopped playing Hearthstone some years ago

The latest card game that I went into seriously was Legends of Runeterra (LoR), made by the creators of League of Legends, Riot Games. When they introduced ranked mode, I decided to try to go for the top rank group, the Master rank. I used an integrated statistic tool from Mobalytics to help analyse my games. It tracked how I’m performing with a certain deck, against certain match ups, winrate on going first vs second, and so on. Eventually, I reached Masters!

For me, it wasn’t a small feat to reach Master in LoR, and there were a few lessons along the way. When I ponder about it on deeper level, I think the lessons from playing card games can be applied to life in general. In this post, I want to explore those lessons that I learned from playing. Let’s Play to Learn!

## **Being the underdog was fun, until I kept losing**

In competitive video games, there is a concept called the meta. For card games in particular, the meta would represent the decks (or particular cards) that are deemed to be strong and popular. The popularity here refers to how many people play the deck in ranked matches.

Most of the time, the best players dictate the meta. These players can be the top 100 players, pro players, or popular streamers. These players would create decks and post it online, ready for everyone to copy. Often times, these players would even create a written or video guide on how to optimally play the decks. And so, for many people that want to climb through the ranks, it becomes an obvious choice to use those decks and follow guides.

My favourite way of playing a card game is to play the so-called “off meta” decks, which refers to decks that are not so popular in the ranked ladder, typically have a niche, and have a unique feel to it. The reason I like playing off meta decks is the joy of coming up with something on my own. Instead of copying what other people are doing, I like to come up with a unique deck with my own flair.

However, I discovered that my deck building skill was not good enough. I couldn’t match the top players, or even people that copied top players’ methods. The top players spent many more hours in the game than me, and even many more hours in total playing other card games. Not to mention I lacked some general card game skills as well, so I couldn’t play my already non-optimal decks to their full potential.

So, after I kept losing with my own decks, what did I do? I stopped making my own decks. At least none from scratch.

## **To win more, I needed to be more “meta”**

I started looking at guides of meta decks. Figuring out what is popular in my rank, what are the key cards to look out for, how to play the decks, and also how to beat them.

I enjoyed watching videos from a particular player, Swim. He has a great eye for card games and game design in general. He was able to articulate his deep understanding of the game in a fun and engaging way. I was able to leverage Swim’s knowledge that he spent many hours learning.

With my newly found knowledge, I was able to play more effectively. Furthermore, each time I play, the experience that I had become more significant, because I knew what I should be focusing on. I was able to solidify my understanding of the theories. And I was able to really understand the fundamentals of a card game.

In a way, I sacrificed my old play style of making my own niche decks. I leaned more towards the meta. That being said, by being a better player, it did mean that I can start to appreciate the way some decks are better than the other. And the largest difference is in consistency.

## **Consistency is better than a low chance grand strategy**

The decks that I built myself usually has a very satisfying end game goal, if the games ever get to that point. I often tried to maximise my chances to get to the grand ending, but it usually still fell short. In other words, my decks weren’t consistent. The decks needed too many good things to happen in a row for me to succeed. Or, I needed the opponent to just let me execute the strategy, without countering it in anyway, which is obviously unrealistic.

On the other hand, the meta decks would have multiple winning conditions. There were still key cards that are very strong when good things happen in a row. And there were still combos that required multiple cards. The difference was, each of the combo cards were strong by themselves. In addition, there would be combos that overlap, meaning card A can be used with card B, but also card C and D. The result were much more consistent decks.

I did lose the joy of creating a strategy of my own and see it beautifully execute. But, playing the consistent meta decks turned out to be more fun. I was able to consistently hit the “high” moments, or “pop off”. However, no matter how consistent the deck was, there were still occasions where random events swung the outcome of a match.

## **Sometimes RNG is exciting, sometimes RNG is infuriating**

RNG stand for “random number generator”, which means an object that generates random numbers, typically used in programming. But usually the gaming community doesn’t refer to it for its literal meaning. It typically refers to any randomness that happens in a game.

Card games has an inherit randomness in the form of shuffled cards. Players can choose what cards go into their deck, but they can’t choose what cards they draw in a match. Trading card games like “Yu-Gi-Oh!” have cards with random effects. For example, on playing the card, flip a coin, if it’s heads, destroy an opponent monster, if it’s tails, destroy your own monster. Digital card games take it a step further. In Hearthstone, there was a card that triggered a random spell for every spell that you played in a match, and the spell can be anything, not restricted by your deck or anything else.

With a high degree of randomness, even consistent decks can lose to a weaker ones. The outcome of a match does not only depend on my skills in the game, nor my skills outside the game like deck building, it also depends on plain luck. Good players are able to skew their luck to be “mostly good”, by choosing random card effects that help them on the positive end, but do not hinder them too much when it’s on the negative end.

That being said, even with this skewing, there were matches where “it is what it is”, a player can lose by some unlucky string of events, or can win by some lucky string of events, with little or even no skill expression involved.

## **Life lessons**

So, after looking at my card game experience, I certainly can see lessons that I can extrapolate to be general life lessons. Here they are:

To be a master of something, I need to be willing to do what the other masters have done. Learning my own way can only go so far. That being said, I should be able to put my own twist in it as well.

Leveraging the hours that other people spent on something is a good way to expedite my own learning on that thing. It lets me focus on learning the bits that require direct experience.

Sometimes, what is fun is different to what works best. That being said, the thing that works best can be inherently enjoyable because it’s the most efficient way to get to your goal, and reaching goals is satisfying.

Consistency is the key to keep going towards your goal. Consistently chipping away at something is better than planning a grand strategy that ends up not able to be executed.

There will be random events in my life that are beyond my control. I can skew events to my advantage to a certain degree, but random events are unavoidable, and they can take my life to either direction. It’s important to remember that these events don’t define my journey, see point 4 to know what does define my journey.

## **Outro**

That has been the first instance of Play to Learn! I have been a big card game fan for a long time. Taking a game more seriously is one of the ways that I have fun. And the life lessons along the way feels like a bonus. But really, if we spend so much time on anything, I believe that we would be able to see things that are related to other parts of our lives.
### It’s never too late to be 30
URL: https://edn.as/it-s-never-too-late-to-be-30/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T11:57:15.000Z
![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/4f/164f5675-f8de-440a-ae0a-ebe2c9767c26/content/images/2026/08/eb966b40a79e3f22.jpg)

## **Introduction**

I’m approaching my 30th birthday. Wait what. That was weird to say, especially because the past couple of years has gone by really quickly.

As I’m approaching 30, on the surface level, I often find myself thinking: “I have a stable job that I like, I am able to save a decent amount of money, I"m able buy a property, and I’m getting married, all before I’m 30\. Wow!”

At the same time, I often look at what other people have achieved at such a young age. Especially with social media, it is so easy to know what other people are up to. Other people seemingly are much more successful than me, much further along in life, while also being younger.

But why though? Isn’t there an idiom that goes “it is never too late”? In this post, I’ll explore these two sides, looking into how the two concepts manifested in my life so far.

## **“I did it before I’m 30!”**

Many people, including myself, perceive achievements at a young age as an achievement by itself. There are magazines that celebrate 30 people under 30 years of age, honouring them with an award. Of course, no discredit to people who won those awards, they are truly amazing people! But I want to dive into why young achievers are celebrated.

When I first started working as a software engineer, I was 21 years old. I was proud to be on the younger side of the people that worked there, especially among people that has the same job title as me. In addition, when I was talking to my parent about this job, my dad mentioned that he started working at 24\. That boosted my pride even more.

Naturally, that pride didn’t last long. As I pass my first work anniversary, there were new employees that are younger than me. In an office social gathering, there was a colleague that asked about people’s age, and he proudly said that he was 20\. He said it with a bit of boastfulness in his face, probably experiencing the same pride that I did. As I observed that, I realised that young achievement pride is something quite fragile. Fragile in a sense that it disappears as time goes on, with nothing that I can do about it. I think it’s okay to be proud of any achievement, but I shouldn’t tie my self-worth with achievements, especially fragile ones.

Thinking back to the conversation with my dad, where he mentioned that he started working at 24 (3 years later than me), I thought about the difference in advantages that I had compared to him. 

My dad grew up in a big family that had relatively low income with 6 siblings. I haven’t really talked to him about his childhood, but I have seen glimpsed of it. For example, from seeing his house in his hometown and from old photo albums of his family when he was young.

On the other hand, I grew up with my dad providing a financially better environment I was able to purchase educational needs whenever I need it. Any books, cram schools, or videos. Not to mention general generational advantages, such as having a personal computer with internet access where I could learn anything that I wanted.

I never thought that my dad was not successful just because he didn’t start his career as young as me. In fact, I don’t think of his age at all. He is an alumnus of one of the best universities in Indonesia. He got a scholarship to do his PhD in the US. Then, he succeeded in climbing the corporate ladder. He clawed his way up to provide with his family. I never really thought, “oh wait, but at what age did he accomplished all this?”

## 

## **It’s never too late**

In 2017, I went to Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference). At the beginning of the conference, Apple celebrated the youngest person ever that published an app in the App Store and also the oldest person who did the same.

Publishing an app at a young age is very impressive. It can inspire other young people to start building their own app. It reinforces the idea that you can start creating even at the young age, publishing an app is not just for adults.

At the same time, publishing an app at an old age is also very impressive. The person did not have a software engineering background. They learned how to code as an elderly, going as far as publishing an app. It reinforces the idea that it’s never too late to do anything in life.

The reason the celebration was especially brilliant is the fact that they are done back to back. It is awesome to be a young app maker, but it is also awesome to be an old app maker. They didn’t just say, hey, this young person is awesome. And also didn’t just say, hey, look at this awesome old person. To me, it is a more complete sentiment than just “30 under 30” or “it’s never too late” by themselves.

Looking at a young person’s achievement, someone older can be inspired to “not lose” to the young person. And an even younger person can be inspired to do the achievement even faster.

Looking at an older person’s achievement, someone older can be inspired to start something that they thought they are too old to do. And a younger person can be inspired to take their time, realising that they don’t need to be on the rush all the time, things that they seemingly missed out are still achievable.

## **Outro**

As I said in the previous sections, I sometimes feel like my accomplishments are better when I do it when I was younger. As I’m approaching 30, I have thought about my achievements as “I’ve done this before 30!”, and found myself reflecting on why does age matter. It’s never too late for anything.

I really like the notion of combining the two sides. It’s great to celebrate achievements early and late in life. Both can be used as a source for inspiration.

Run, or walk, on your own phase.

Take your time, or not.

It’s never too late to be 30, again.