Malaysia | Documentary | 2009 | 80 minutes | Mandarin (with English subtitles) | Rating Exempted
Directed by Dick Chua
Premiering 12th Feb 2011
Abandoning the usual, serious documentary style, The Negative Effect is a lighthearted and true to life tale of a group of youngsters obsessed with film photography in today’s digital age world.
In December 2008, a group of forty photography lovers travelled up north from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Penang Island, a city well known for its rich heritage and unique culture, to organize a Lo-Fi camera exhibition called “Gia Gia Kua Kua” (Hokkien for “walk and see“).
In a foreign city with zero funding and zero publicity for the event, will their dream exhibition be a success?
About the Director: DICK CHUA
Dick was born and raised in Kelantan, Malaysia.
Since young, Dick was interested in drawing and photography. After watching Disney’s Pocahontas as a teenager, he decided he wanted to make films that would touch people emotionally. He received a diploma in Digital Animation from The One Academy in Kuala Lumpur.
After working as an animator for a year, Dick realized he needed a deeper knowledge and understanding of film theory and production in order to become a director. He then attended Vancouver Film School in Canada, where he directed his first short film, LIVE LIFE. LIVE LIFE has since been widely acclaimed by audiences, winning nominations in the Calgary Fring Film Festival in Canada and the Akira Kurosawa Memorial Short Film Competition in Japan.
Dick then returned home to Malaysia, and with the help of his best friends, he directed a second short – LOVE.SAY. He has since been involved in many local productions, feature films, TV commercials, documentaries, etc. In 2007 he shot a 12-part series documentary about the Malaysian Chinese culture entitled THE ROOTS, and subsequently fell in love with documentary storytelling.
Dick joined Passion Republic in 2008 and directed his first feature documentary, THE NEGATIVE EFFECT.
“Every man has a dream; my dream is to create a picture that lives forever.”
