Latest news with #RatchapoomBoonbunchachoke
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Killer kombucha and possessed vacuums: The weirdest films at MIFF this year
The Melbourne International Film Festival is known for showcasing the best of cinema, from lauded arthouse darlings to buzzy prestige pictures. But its most offbeat gems are usually hidden in the nooks and crannies of the program. Running between August 7 and 24, the festival is packed with cinematic oddities that aim to bewilder, provoke and surprise in a way conventional film often can't. From features about zombie kombucha to bizarre post-apocalyptic musicals, here are some of MIFF's weirdest offerings this year. A Useful Ghost In Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's kooky supernatural film, a woman who has died of dust poisoning returns as a vacuum cleaner from her mother-in-law's factory in the hope of breathing new life (pun intended) into her marriage. However, her husband's family doesn't take kindly to relationships with household appliances, so she attempts to gain their approval by cleaning up the ghosts of former workers residing in the factory's other appliances. This horror-sex-comedy, which won the Critics' Week Grand Prix at Cannes, will pull you in with its silliness and keep you there with its genuinely thoughtful questions around class and social justice. By Design Another woman transforms into an inanimate object in Amanda Kramer's By Design. Camille (Juliette Lewis) is so enamoured with a designer chair that she swaps bodies with it, leaving her human frame stiff and motionless. While her rigid human body proves popular with friends and family, her four-legged self ends up with a heartbroken man who might be more in love with the chair's design than the woman trapped inside. The film joins a long list of body-swap films exploring female objectification and self-image. It's narrated by Melanie Griffith (Working Girl) and includes effervescent interpretative dance scenes that somehow manage to steal attention from the body-swapping hoopla. Beast of War You'd think a shark would be the least of the dangers facing soldiers during World War II, but Leo and Will have to fend off a great white predator after a Japanese warplane sinks their ship. Inspired by the true story of the sinking of HMAS Armidale in 1942, and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner of Wyrmwood fame, Beast of War combines an emotional war story with a thrilling (and ridiculous) creature feature. Think Jaws meets Dunkirk. Dead Lover Loading From Pet Sematary to Lisa Frankenstein, the resurrection of the dead is hardly new in cinema. But Canadian filmmaker Grace Glowicki's take stands out for its unapologetic bizarreness. A lonely gravedigger is desperate for love, but her smell of decay makes courtship difficult. When she finally finds a man who gets off on her odour, he dies at sea. Only his finger returns, which she uses to revive him. It's peculiar, a little scary, and somehow relatively heartfelt – even if some of the hearts in the film have stopped beating. One More Shot Imagine Groundhog Day, but replace the time-loop alarm clock with tequila. In Australian director Nick Clifford's debut feature, Minnie (Emily Browning) slips back in time every time she takes a shot to escape an awkward moment at a Y2K New Year's Eve party attended by the ex-boyfriend she still fancies. Aside from the stunning mid-century setting, the top-notch local cast includes Sean Keenan (Nitram), Aisha Dee (Sissy), Pallavi Sharda (Lion) and Ashley Zukerman (Succession). Sanatorium under the Sign of the Hourglass Those familiar with the Quay brothers' work, such as Street of Crocodiles, may be confounded by this surreal stop-motion animation. Those who aren't will probably feel as if they've entered another pair are known for dreamlike, disorienting films that haunt you for days – and their first feature in nearly 20 years is true to form. Based on the work of Polish Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, Sanatorium follows a man visiting his father at an Eastern European sanatorium. The institution, run by a shady six-armed doctor, has entered a time warp, and depending on which dimension the man is in, his father is either dead or alive. Such ambiguity has earned the Quays praise from titans such as Christopher Nolan. The End The world has ended, so let's burst into song. This somehow seems logical in The End, a bonkers post-apocalyptic musical by Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing). Twenty-five years after environmental disaster, a former petroleum magnate is living a life of luxury in an opulent doomsday bunker with his friends and family. But the outside world caves in on them when a woman from 'the surface' finds her way inside. The absurdity of Michael Shannon and Tilda Swinton singing Broadway ballads against a backdrop of death and dystopia meets serious commentary on elitism and climate responsibility in this mind-boggling film. The Great History of Western Philosophy Forget narrative and logic. Mexican filmmaker Aria Covamonas' animation is made entirely of collages of cut-out public-domain images, and its dialogue is intentionally mistranslated Chinese. Everything is out of place, yet somehow exactly where it needs to be. The Central Committee of the People's Republic hires a cosmic animator to create a philosophical film for Mao Zedong. But after infuriating the Chairman, he's sentenced to death. Then the Monkey King gets involved, and all hell breaks loose. Drawing on surrealism, Lacanian theory and Monty Python, Covamonas creates a mystifying visual world in which plot and resolution need not attend. The Python Hunt Florida's Everglades has a python problem. To try to deal with the invasive species, the state launched an annual 10-day competition in which participants wade through croc-infested swamps to catch the most (and largest) pythons and win $10,000. Xander Robin's The Python Hunt introduces all kinds of oddball hunters, including 82-year-old widow Anne, who is obsessed with 'pithing' snakes. The documentary reminds us that reality is usually wackier than the made-up stories we see on-screen. Zombucha! There has always been something alien about kombucha, which is made using a scoby, a rubbery living culture that looks as if it will slither away at any moment, intent on finding an unwilling host. This fear is brought to life in Zombucha!, an outrageous sci-fi comedy directed by Claudia Dzienny. After losing their jobs on the same day, partners Maddie and Leo decide to steal the scoby of a wealthy kombucha artisan. However, the culture gains deadly sentience after they add some of their neighbour's mysterious garden herbs, beginning what could become an all-out 'zombucha' apocalypse. Starring Emma Leonard – who also wrote the screenplay – it pokes fun at hipster-wannabes and the corruption of the wellness industry ( surely the best things to make fun of). Loading
The Age
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Killer kombucha and possessed vacuums: The weirdest films at MIFF this year
The Melbourne International Film Festival is known for showcasing the best of cinema, from lauded arthouse darlings to buzzy prestige pictures. But its most offbeat gems are usually hidden in the nooks and crannies of the program. Running between August 7 and 24, the festival is packed with cinematic oddities that aim to bewilder, provoke and surprise in a way conventional film often can't. From features about zombie kombucha to bizarre post-apocalyptic musicals, here are some of MIFF's weirdest offerings this year. A Useful Ghost In Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's kooky supernatural film, a woman who has died of dust poisoning returns as a vacuum cleaner from her mother-in-law's factory in the hope of breathing new life (pun intended) into her marriage. However, her husband's family doesn't take kindly to relationships with household appliances, so she attempts to gain their approval by cleaning up the ghosts of former workers residing in the factory's other appliances. This horror-sex-comedy, which won the Critics' Week Grand Prix at Cannes, will pull you in with its silliness and keep you there with its genuinely thoughtful questions around class and social justice. By Design Another woman transforms into an inanimate object in Amanda Kramer's By Design. Camille (Juliette Lewis) is so enamoured with a designer chair that she swaps bodies with it, leaving her human frame stiff and motionless. While her rigid human body proves popular with friends and family, her four-legged self ends up with a heartbroken man who might be more in love with the chair's design than the woman trapped inside. The film joins a long list of body-swap films exploring female objectification and self-image. It's narrated by Melanie Griffith (Working Girl) and includes effervescent interpretative dance scenes that somehow manage to steal attention from the body-swapping hoopla. Beast of War You'd think a shark would be the least of the dangers facing soldiers during World War II, but Leo and Will have to fend off a great white predator after a Japanese warplane sinks their ship. Inspired by the true story of the sinking of HMAS Armidale in 1942, and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner of Wyrmwood fame, Beast of War combines an emotional war story with a thrilling (and ridiculous) creature feature. Think Jaws meets Dunkirk. Dead Lover Loading From Pet Sematary to Lisa Frankenstein, the resurrection of the dead is hardly new in cinema. But Canadian filmmaker Grace Glowicki's take stands out for its unapologetic bizarreness. A lonely gravedigger is desperate for love, but her smell of decay makes courtship difficult. When she finally finds a man who gets off on her odour, he dies at sea. Only his finger returns, which she uses to revive him. It's peculiar, a little scary, and somehow relatively heartfelt – even if some of the hearts in the film have stopped beating. One More Shot Imagine Groundhog Day, but replace the time-loop alarm clock with tequila. In Australian director Nick Clifford's debut feature, Minnie (Emily Browning) slips back in time every time she takes a shot to escape an awkward moment at a Y2K New Year's Eve party attended by the ex-boyfriend she still fancies. Aside from the stunning mid-century setting, the top-notch local cast includes Sean Keenan (Nitram), Aisha Dee (Sissy), Pallavi Sharda (Lion) and Ashley Zukerman (Succession). Sanatorium under the Sign of the Hourglass Those familiar with the Quay brothers' work, such as Street of Crocodiles, may be confounded by this surreal stop-motion animation. Those who aren't will probably feel as if they've entered another pair are known for dreamlike, disorienting films that haunt you for days – and their first feature in nearly 20 years is true to form. Based on the work of Polish Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, Sanatorium follows a man visiting his father at an Eastern European sanatorium. The institution, run by a shady six-armed doctor, has entered a time warp, and depending on which dimension the man is in, his father is either dead or alive. Such ambiguity has earned the Quays praise from titans such as Christopher Nolan. The End The world has ended, so let's burst into song. This somehow seems logical in The End, a bonkers post-apocalyptic musical by Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing). Twenty-five years after environmental disaster, a former petroleum magnate is living a life of luxury in an opulent doomsday bunker with his friends and family. But the outside world caves in on them when a woman from 'the surface' finds her way inside. The absurdity of Michael Shannon and Tilda Swinton singing Broadway ballads against a backdrop of death and dystopia meets serious commentary on elitism and climate responsibility in this mind-boggling film. The Great History of Western Philosophy Forget narrative and logic. Mexican filmmaker Aria Covamonas' animation is made entirely of collages of cut-out public-domain images, and its dialogue is intentionally mistranslated Chinese. Everything is out of place, yet somehow exactly where it needs to be. The Central Committee of the People's Republic hires a cosmic animator to create a philosophical film for Mao Zedong. But after infuriating the Chairman, he's sentenced to death. Then the Monkey King gets involved, and all hell breaks loose. Drawing on surrealism, Lacanian theory and Monty Python, Covamonas creates a mystifying visual world in which plot and resolution need not attend. The Python Hunt Florida's Everglades has a python problem. To try to deal with the invasive species, the state launched an annual 10-day competition in which participants wade through croc-infested swamps to catch the most (and largest) pythons and win $10,000. Xander Robin's The Python Hunt introduces all kinds of oddball hunters, including 82-year-old widow Anne, who is obsessed with 'pithing' snakes. The documentary reminds us that reality is usually wackier than the made-up stories we see on-screen. Zombucha! There has always been something alien about kombucha, which is made using a scoby, a rubbery living culture that looks as if it will slither away at any moment, intent on finding an unwilling host. This fear is brought to life in Zombucha!, an outrageous sci-fi comedy directed by Claudia Dzienny. After losing their jobs on the same day, partners Maddie and Leo decide to steal the scoby of a wealthy kombucha artisan. However, the culture gains deadly sentience after they add some of their neighbour's mysterious garden herbs, beginning what could become an all-out 'zombucha' apocalypse. Starring Emma Leonard – who also wrote the screenplay – it pokes fun at hipster-wannabes and the corruption of the wellness industry ( surely the best things to make fun of). Loading
ABC News
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Thailand punches above its weight in film creativity and cross-border appeal. Here's why
A Useful Ghost, an internationally acclaimed new film from Thailand, features a woman who dies from dust pollution and returns to posses her husband's vacuum cleaner to protect him from suffering the same fate. It's a sly commentary about power inequality, queer love, and pollution. Written and directed by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, the indy film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and was the first Thai film to win a Critics' Week grand prize, or Grand Prix. The award recognises early filmmakers. A Useful Ghost was Boonbunchachoke's debut feature and the first "proper film shoot" he had been on. Judges described the film as bold, free and unclassifiable, "a first feature that plays with genres, bends the rules, and offers a vision that is both intimate and universal." It's just the latest in a slew of Thai drams turning heads abroad as the industry builds on its reputation for distinctiveness and creativity. Last year, humorous tear-jerker How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies set a new Thai record for international box office takings. Mad Unicorn — a series about a start-up courier service — reached fourth on Netflix's weekly top 10 for non-English series last month. Other successful productions included Master of the House and Ready, Set, Love, and Hunger, both on Netflix. According to audience analytics firm Media Asia Partners (MPA), Thai content among South-East Asian nations had the most cross-border appeal in Asia. The "travelability" of Thai content (how much of it was consumed overseas vs domestically) was even catching up to Japan, the agency found. So, what is it about Thai cinema that's pulling audiences from around the globe? Thai people loved a good drama, A Useful Ghost writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke told the ABC. He said they measured a film's success by how emotive it was, driving creators to make dramatic and emotionally rich films. "Thai film is like Thai food — the flavour needs to be strong," he said. "Culturally authentic" hyperlocal elements in film also resonated with audiences, said Mary Ainslie, an associate professor in film and media studies at the University of Nottingham. Besides seeing representations of local identity, these depictions appealed to foreign audiences because that knowledge made them "cultural insiders", she said. "That's about constructing yourself as a very cosmopolitan person, and that's very attractive." Being over-the-top is not limited to drama series or movies. Advertising is often where film directors cut their teeth before producing feature films and Thai commercials have a reputation for being "consistently" creative and unconventional, said Paul Nagy, the chief creative officer at VML Asia Pacific. Mr Nagy judged the film adverts at the 2024 Cannes Lions awards when Thailand won nine awards from 210 entries — the second highest win-to-entry ratio in the Asia-Pacific. "One of the major takeaways for me last year was just how incredibly creative and joyful the work coming out of Thailand was," he said. He said the Western world often followed formulaic narratives in storytelling, whereas Thai creators threw out the rule book and leaned into what felt most interesting. "They don't feel the same kind of constraints as the rest of the world in the same way to tone things down," Mr Nagy said. This made it fertile ground for creative story telling as nothing was too over-the-top he said. He cited as an example a government road-safety advertisement where a motorcyclist's brain came out the back of his head the faster he went, a metaphor for him losing control. "If you're learning your film trade in the advertising industry in Thailand you're unconstrained. "That's why they do such exciting film work when they leave the advertising industry." He said with how sophisticated AI has become at creating traditional advertisements, the rest of the world needed to quickly learn from what Thailand was doing to remain competitive. "We are moving into an era where average is going to be invisible and that's one thing the Thais never are … and that's their starting point." Much of the latest wave in Thai cinemas was the result of a rapid modernisation and an increasingly affluent middle class, said Dr Ainslie. Thailand has the eighth-fastest broadband internet in the world and 91 per cent of its population is connected to the internet, according to the Digital 2025 report by Meltwater and We Are Social. The global average is 68 per cent. Dr Ainslie said modernity was no longer limited to large cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai because the provincial rural population was now affluent, middle-class who were "globally savvy", well-connected, and had travelled overseas. Thai directors were also being trained abroad and returning home and studios had started conglomerating into oligopolies creating an ecosystem of cinema and production companies, she said. Thailand is recognised by international film producers as an attractive filming destination because of its scenery, affordability, and labour force with mature production and English-language skills, aspects the Thai government is capitalising on. This has created even more opportunities for Thai crew to work alongside international productions to hone their craft to an even higher standard, Booncunchachoke said. Last year, 491 foreign films like Jurassic World and shows like White Lotus were shot in Thailand which generated THB 6.58 billion ($309.8 million) for the economy. Along with Pad Thai, mango and sticky rice and Muay Thai, the Thailand's government has identified film as another cultural export instrumental to its influence by persuasion, or soft power. In November 2024, the prime minister met with executives from Netflix, HBO, Disney, and the Motion Picture Association, The government also announced increases in cash rebates of up to 30 per cent for eligible foreign productions if they employed Thai cast and crew, used designated tourist areas as film locations, and portrayed Thailand or its culture in a positive light. The Thai Film Office is part of the government's tourism department and has been integral in growing the industry, but Dr Ainslie warned the incentives biased certain productions which could also lead to a typecasting of Thailand. This could be frustrating for filmmakers wanting to make other kinds of films, she said. The lack of diverse depictions could also result in the curating a history to fit a certain state agenda. "If you construct an image, the image ultimately becomes truth, becomes a representation," Dr Ainslie said. One example was the "salacious and hedonistic" depictions of Thailand associated with sex tourism, lawlessness, and drugs seen in The Hangover Part II and The Beach. After the pandemic, young Thai people participated in widescale anti-government protests. Boonbunchachoke hoped media and cinema would follow suit in challenging the establishment, but felt that traction for freer expression had waned. Nonetheless, he noticed some commercial film studios beginning to take risks beyond their "comfort zone" of crowd-pleasers and join independent films in taking on darker and grittier topics. He has also noticed independent film houses starting to censor themselves less and becoming more creative in how they criticised the status quo. "I think nowadays [these film makers] kind of know and [are finding] new ways to speak and talk about the issue without compromising too much," he said.
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
A Useful Ghost: Recognised in Cannes, Thai director hopes film stirs political debate at home
When Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke became the first Thai director to win the Critics Week's Grand Prize in May, he paid an unusual tribute. 'I would like to dedicate this award to all the ghosts in Thailand,' he told the audience. Ratchapoom's film, A Useful Ghost, tells the story of a man whose wife dies after falling ill from dust pollution, and whose spirit returns by possessing a vacuum cleaner. It is a quirky story full of symbolism and dark humour that explores power and political oppression in Thailand. 'One of the main intentions for the film would be [to talk about] how we deal with injustice in the past,' says Ratchapoom. 'There's so many people who suffered, who got punished, who disappeared,' he adds, referring to Thailand's turbulent political history, marked by military coups, protests and deadly crackdowns. A Useful Ghost's success comes at a time of increased optimism about Thailand's film industry. Domestic productions are increasingly driving box office sales, claiming a greater share of ticket sales than Hollywood movies, and achieving success abroad. This includes the 2024 release of How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, which broke records for Thai film in neighbouring countries, and became the first Thai film shortlisted for the international feature film at the Oscars. The Thai government, keen to foster the country's film sector, has launched a $6.4 million film fund to support productions. Censorship rules are also being relaxed - though content that may affect the monarchy remains prohibited. The powerful royal family is shielded from criticism by a strict lese majesty law, which carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years. Ratchapoom says he is unsure what kind of reaction his film will generate when it premiers in Thailand. 'I think it will cause some discussion,' he said. The film touches on history some would prefer to forget but which, over recent years, younger people have grown increasingly keen to uncover. 'Trying to unearth what is censored or suppressed is one way to fight the authoritarian,' said Ratchapoom. 'History is one of the battlefields.' Ratchapoom, 38, grew up in a Thai Chinese family in Bangkok, in a household full of film. His father, who had a small business, was obsessed with watching movies, mostly from the US and Hong Kong. Ratchapoom would pour over his dad's film magazines in his spare time, and seek out international releases at pirate DVD shops in Bangkok's Chatuchak market. He went on to study film at Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok, and worked as a TV script writer before gaining international recognition with his short film Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall, about a transgender sex worker who goes undercover as a spy, which won the Junior Jury award at Locarno film festival in 2020. Ratchapoom began writing A Useful Ghost in 2017, three years after the military seized power in a coup, arresting its critics, and pressuring news outlets into self-censorship. The film's obsession with memory and mind control is inspired by a creeping trend that emerged under the junta: the destruction of monuments commemorating the 1932 revolution, when the absolute monarchy was overthrown and democracy introduced to Thailand. One plaque, which had laid on the ground in Bangkok for decades, was replaced in 2017 with a new monument that read: 'To love and respect the Buddhist trinity, one's own state, one's own family, and to have a heart faithful to your monarch, will bring prosperity to the country'. In A Useful Ghost the destruction of monuments creates dust, a reference to Thailand's continued air pollution crisis. But dust is also a symbol for 'powerless people who are voiceless', said Ratchapoom. Thai filmmakers have a long history of using metaphors and symbolism to allude to sensitive political topics. It wasn't until the pandemic that Ratchapoom was able to put together the first draft of the screenplay. By then, youth-led pro-democracy protests had filled the streets, demanding the removal of the former junta leader, and then prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, and breaking a major taboo to make an unprecedented call for reforms of the country's powerful monarchy. Protest leaders proclaimed that the 'ceiling had been lifted'; the unspeakable was now being said. At the time, Ratchapoom wondered if his own film would appear old-fashioned, given how outspoken younger generations had become. Ironically, in the past few years, such expansions of freedom of expression have been reversed, he said, adding: 'Suddenly, it's not so obsolete. The ceiling has been lowered again.' Many protest leaders are in prison, facing charges or in exile. Thailand is no longer ruled by former military generals, following elections in 2023, but Ratchapoom does not feel hopeful about Thailand's politics. Under the junta, there was at least a sense that 'there's every reason to fight, to resist', he said. Such momentum has dissipated. He does, however, feel more hopeful about the state of Thailand's film industry. 'I believe that in the next few years there will be more exciting projects, films or series coming off Thailand,' he said. The film's premier in Thailand and elsewhere is yet to be confirmed. Ratchapoom hopes it will open fresh debate. 'I hope these things that I talk about - the silenced and suppressed past, the injustice in the past – could be brought up or unearthed and people will start like talking about it again.'
CNA
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
How a vacuum cleaner designed by a Singaporean found its way to an award-winning Thai film and on the Cannes red carpet
Despite the recent Cannes Film Festival being an assemblage of some of the biggest stars in the world, it was a vacuum cleaner that sucked up the attention at the red carpet – and a major prize to boot. But this is no ordinary household appliance. Designed by award-winning product designer Sim Hao Jie, the red-and-white vacuum cleaner is one of the main stars of the Thai film A Useful Ghost, which won the Grand Prize at the Critics' Week section of this year's Cannes Film Festival. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 185 Films (@185films_official) The debut feature of director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, A Useful Ghost stars Davika Hoorne and Witsarut Himmarat, and tells the story of a widower who discovers that the spirit of his deceased wife has possessed a vacuum cleaner. Sim is one of the Singaporean creatives who worked on the film, which is also co-produced by the Singapore-based media company Momo Film Co. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hao Jie 豪杰 (@simhaojie) A recipient of numerous industry accolades, Sim Hao Jie is a staunch advocate of social design. In 2019, his team won the National Council of Social Services' Design Challenge with their idea of a platform that allowed senior citizens to actively contribute to society. In 2023, he was one of the recipients of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award at his alma mater: The National University of Singapore (NUS). 🏆🎉Congratulations to the winners of the NCSS Sector Design Challenge! Groups comprising individuals, member agencies and... Posted by NCSS Singapore on Thursday, December 5, 2019 So how did someone who, in his own words, uses design 'to address real-world social issues' end up working in a film about a vacuum cleaner that exorcises vengeful spirits? Well, we have Momo Film Co founder Tan Si En to thank for that. 'I knew Si En, and she introduced me to the team. Because of my background in designing consumer appliances, they brought me on board to develop the vacuum cleaner,' said Sim. But don't let the synopsis of A Useful Ghost fool you. According to Sim, it's not 'a typical film'. 'The story itself drew me in,' said Sim of his reason for joining the project. 'The plot was whimsical and layered with meaning. Unlike commercial projects that often focus on function and usability, this one gave me space to explore form as a way to tell a story.' Sim added that after he spoke with the director and producers, he felt that there was 'real room to play and express the character's narrative through design'. 'I had a gut feeling it would be a fun and meaningful project.' Designing the vacuum cleaner took about five months and Sim was given 'full creative freedom' in the initial exploration. 'Director Ratchapoom had a clear vision and shared visual references that helped guide the direction,' shared Sim. 'We refined the design together as a team.' Sim wanted the vacuum cleaner to strike a balance between realism and whimsical. 'I drew inspiration from the evolution of vacuum cleaner design and design movements like the [Italian design collective] Memphis Group and Soft Electronics,' shared Sim. 'One subtle detail is its slightly forward-leaning posture, which reflects the main character's subservient role in the story.' For Sim, the main challenge of his task was landing on a vacuum cleaner design that 'felt believable as an off-the-shelf product' while possessing the 'surreal, character-driven qualities of the story'. Nonetheless, the experience taught him how to design for cinema and making something that has 'visual presence and memorability on screen', to which he also gave props to the movie's prototype-making team. 'Their craftsmanship made the vacuum cleaner feel like a true character on screen.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by 185 Films (@185films_official) Of course, A Useful Ghost's Grand Prize win at Cannes made Sim's experience even more meaningful and fulfilling. He shared that the Cannes Film Festival marked the first time that he met the cast and crew in person. He also got to meet other collaborators like fellow Singaporean Lim Ting Li – the sound designer of A Useful Ghost – and French VFX studio Block D, which gave him a deeper appreciation of the entire filmmaking process. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Momo Film Co (@momofilmco) His vacuum cleaner proved to be a star on the red carpet as well. Dressed in a tuxedo, it drew the attention of many of the festival's attendees, who stopped by to take photos with it. 'It was surreal to see it receive so much attention. People described it as iconic, cute and memorable,' recalled Sim. 'It truly felt like the Useful Ghost vacuum character was with us the whole time.' With the film's win, Sim hopes that it opens the doors for Singapore designers in the film industry. 'There is so much potential for design from Singapore to contribute to storytelling in new ways.'
