Different Language, Same Tongue: A Conversation with Lim Yen and her film Exits / Entrances
Different Language, Same Tongue:
A Conversation with Lim Yen and her film
Exits / Entrances
(SYFF)
Some words are spoken differently in different worlds, yet understood by the same tongue.
It is perhaps this realisation of a common humanity that allowed the main character, played by film editor Lim Yen, to so eloquently seep into the vulnerable spaces that the homestay owners held for the filmmaker.
Exits / Entrances is a film laden with doors that move viewers through portals of Yucatán’s sleepy coastal town. Yen, too, steps into uncharted territory, marking a new chapter in her career with a unique documentarian look into the interiority of their culture through an outsider’s eyes.
A sparse eleven minutes is sufficient to immerse us in Yen’s intimate and heartfelt pockets of interactions, particularly with a family whose openness surprises not just us, but the filmmaker too.
The film premiered in the Singapore Youth Film Festival 2024 and bagged home a Special Mention Award with three other nominations for Editing, Directing, and Best Short.
I caught up with Yen to unravel her process in the making of this film.
Hao: This film was made in participation with Playlab Films, under the mentorship of Apitchatpong Weerasethakul. You've mentioned that the lab offered a fundamentally different approach than traditional filmmaking labs, could you elaborate more on how this difference shaped the outcome of your film?
Yen: First off, the lab mantra was how not to make a film. You're here with Apitchatpong, a renowned filmmaker, but he's telling you how you cannot do this traditionally.
What drew me in was his intention to experience life as a person first, connect with people, and see what transpires from there. I connected with it because I wanted to grow as a person and find out more about myself and what inspires me.
And because I've been editing professionally for close to 10 years, by stepping out of this into making films, I feel I want to see life through a more authentic lens.
It isn’t really about doing the work anymore, but more about sensing what life has for me and seeing what I can make of it.
Hao: In your film, there is a conscious effort to capture the lived realities of the Yucatán's livelihoods without the 'hand of God' which fictional narratives often employ. By playing as yourself in the piece, it also refuses traditional documentarian conventions. How did you arrive at this way of shooting?
Yen: Perhaps I wanted to memorise these moments as best as I could without making them feel uncomfortable. And this was something I struggled with because the moment I took out my camera they started to be shy. So then I tried to see, how about we'll both be in it together so it's less awkward for them?
I never really wanted to be in the film. I suppose I was directing them in the conversations that we were having like this could go this way, whereas this could go that way.
And this was done very casually because we were having a conversation together while we were in their home, just drinking and having fun. I was recording everything, hoping I could use these in some way and figure it out later.
They are akin to pieces of memories that I collect, such that I will collect all that I can and then figure out the puzzle later.
Hao: Your film embodies an undeniable imprint of authenticity, which is perhaps achieved by its stripped-back, naturalistic approach. How important is it for you as a filmmaker to embody that sensitivity to be honest, whether across your editing career or when you approach your way of making?
Yen: Personally, I enjoy films that feature non-actors. One subgenre I particularly love is Mumblecore.
If I were to go into narrative filmmaking, that would be the method I would employ because I like to throw actors into a situation without a script and see what they can make out of it.
With works that I edit also, I try to look for the most naturalistic performances. Sometimes I like to pick the parts where they look like they are not acting at all. If they are just being themselves or being what the character is supposed to be, I like to use those parts as much as possible.
Hao: Architecture and lived spaces comprise a significant screentime in Exits / Entrances. In what ways do these spaces inform the relationship between the city and its citizens?
Yen: I was going with this idea of having frames within a frame. I came across half-constructed houses with people residing and even having fun, entering and exiting.
Entering these spaces made me feel like I was intruding into their safe space but they are also so welcoming in that fact. They just go on, finding things that work within their means and then continue living.
This mantra was something I found so eye-opening and refreshing to have experienced there.
Hao: Are there any parting words you would like to leave the readers, perhaps about the making of your film?
Yen: In filmmaking, there doesn't have to be so many rules to it.
I think the moment you let your guard down and not let these rules take over you, you can be much more creative in making art that inspires you. As I tell myself this, I'm also trying to inculcate this belief more often in my daily practice.
By allowing the rhythm of lived life to take precedence over a preordained arc,
Exits / Entrances transcends the heightened realities of constructed narratives to present a grounded love letter to the residents of Yucatán in Mexico.
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About the author: He really, really loves trees.
This review is published as part of *SCAPE’s Film Critics Lab: A Writing Mentorship Programme, with support from Singapore Film Society.
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