In greener pastures

AWARD-WINNING actor Bront Palarae, 39, and his production house Pixel Play have just signed a memorandum of understanding with Kunming Heng Ming Media Co Ltd (KHMM), a film production house based in Yunnan, China, in order to work together to produce films, television shows and documentaries.
Their first project is a Mandarin-language thriller called The Intern, which Bront, whose real name is Nasrul Suhaimin Saiffuddin, will be directing.
The story centres on a young graduate who becomes an intern at an advertising agency.
On her first day, she is bullied and forced to work alone, late into the night.
Then, the office has a blackout. The intern finds all the doors are locked, and that she is trapped.
Slowly, she realises that someone else is in the office, and that this person means to harm her. She spends the whole night in terror in the dark, finding ways to keep herself safe.
During a recent interview in Kuala Lumpur, Bront shared some details of the production.
"We are trying to get a famous name to play the intern, as we want to sell the film all over China and internationally," says Bront, who held auditions for actresses from Hong Kong, China, and Korea.
At the moment, they are in talks with a certain actress, but Bront is keeping mum on any further details until the deal has been signed.
The first draft for the script was written by Bront, and the film will be set over a period of one day, with over 90% of scenes taking place in the office.
"I am planning to build the office from scratch, so I can better control over the environment when I am shooting the film," he says.
This will be his second attempt at directing, after the anthology film Kolumpo(2013).
Over the last few years, this versatile actor has been spreading his wings across the region, acting in Indonesian films such as Headshot, My Stupid Boss and the recent hit horror flick, Pengabdi Setan, which has been distributed to more than 30 countries, including New Zealand, the United States, and Australia.
"I still can't believe that my face will be (on) a big screen in 30 countries," says Bront, who plays a father to four children in the film.
His performance earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Festival Film Tempo 2017 in Jakarta.
However, Bront lost out to another Malaysian actor, Chew Kin Wah, for the latter's performance in the comedy drama film Cek Toko Sebelah.
Jokingly, Bront says: "He won because he older than me. I am still young and I have many more chances to win.
"Frankly speaking, I love him like a brother.
"He is the one who recommended me for Belukar (for which Bront won the Malaysia Film Festival's Best Actor award in 2010).
"[Chew] is a very talented actor who is underappreciated and underutilised.
"I think we are going to lose him to the Indonesian film industry. There, he gets better pay, and better scripts."
Bront himself is also more than happy to seek roles further afield. He recently completed shooting a Philippine horror film called Daddy's Home.
The film is directed by award-winning Malaysian filmmaker Bradley Liew, who is based in Manila, and produced by Philippine producer Bianca Balbuena. It will likely open in our cinemas early next year.
However, Bront is still making films in Malaysia.
He will begin shooting the crime film What Comes Around next year, under director Zahir Omar, where he will play a corrupt police officer.
And his company Pixel Play is putting the finishing touches on the film 1, 2, Jaga, which has been in production for three years.
The film, which is directed by Namron, deals with the hot-button topics of police corruption and illegal immigration, and stars Rosdeen Suboh, Zahril Adzim, Ameriul Affendi, Vanida Imran, and Azman Hassan.
His production team worked closely with the PDRM (Polis Diraja Malaysia) to get certain police procedures depiucted in the film as authentic as possible.
"Our aim is to discuss the issues of corruption and immigration," he says. "Whenever we have problems (in our society), we always take the easy way out and blame immigrants for them".
He adds: "We are not pointing fingers at any one [person] or any institution. It is a story that needs to be told".
Bront is famously choosy about his roles and the films he makes. But he always puts his passion first, before money.
"As an actor, I would rather play a normal role in a great film, than playing a great role in a bad film," he says.
"I had experiences where people tell me that I was great in the film, but the film sucked.

"I just do not know how to react to that kind of statement."
But how long can he resist the lure of big buck commercial roles?
Bront reminds us of his 18-month-old daughter Adeena, whom he has with wife Rozi Isma.
He says: "I should think of her future, too. I should not let her be the victim of my passion.
"Eventually, I need to find a balance between passion and finance."