Brief Explanation

This is a story about a man who is oddly happy in prison. And even when confronted with awful food, a broken tooth, intimate showers and a seemingly unbearable life in prison, he seems to be over the moon. But things take a turn for the worst when he is released from prison. A happy prisoner no more. Just a sad lonely free-roaming citizen. The audience soon have their questions to his oddity answered. He’s a stateless man who is denied access to basic rights like healthcare, education and jobs in the outside world. These are basic rights that even prisoners are entitled to.

Execution

The creative brief for the film was to portray a man who is oddly happy in prison in contrast to the gritty prison environment that everyone is accustomed to seeing. We had to find an actual prison to shoot in so that every scene was true to life of a prisoner in Malaysia. The jail cells were built and designed to look as gritty and real as possible from the carvings on the wall to the bunk beds. In contrast to that, we chose a main talent that looked vulnerable enough in prison yet somehow oddly psychotic in his smile and happiness. Extras were carefully selected to provide that extra contrast to his vulnerability. Music was written and composed to help in increasing the happiness and oddity of this man in prison, taking the audience on a joyous journey before taking them on a dark twist at the end.