Last call sheet for Hanyut's shooting.

Tears of success after Hanyut's shooting process finished.

Uwei's interview by Astro

Press conferences with Dato' Rais Yatim at Almayer's house.

Poland team and Rick on the British steamer ready to shoot, "Everybody take the first position!", Rick told to the cast to get ready for shooting.

It's almost 90 percent complete for Hanyut's shooting in Lipis and left about a week to finish all scenes. The shooting was followed the schedule and if there are no boundary Hanyut's team will finish the shooting process on time.

Good luck to all Hanyut's crew!

Howard and William came all the way from Australia to support the making of Hanyut.

LALU, from the Macaque species will be sharing the silver screen with Peter O' Brien when he plays Almayer's pet monkey in the film.  Here he shows us why he is chosen for the role! 

Opening ceremony for Hanyut's shooting in Padang Tengku, Kuala Lipis was held on 9th May 2010. There were great foods and spectacular Silat show by Padang Tengku's teenagers.

All the best for HANYUT!

Arek, HANYUT's Director Of Photography from Poland will play with everything in front of him on set.  That include snake, monkey, ball and also leaves!

He's a funny guy and everyone loves him.

HANYUT's animal trainer, Fendi from KL Tower Zoo.  

Fendi is also the monkey wrangler, in charged of Lalu, who will play Almayer's pet in the film...

...and he is a snake wrangler as well.

Bainun Waheeda explaining some of the props that will be used in HANYUT.

The lifeguards from the Lipis Fire Brigade and Rescue team ready to roll on the first day of shooting.  This team ensures the safety of the casts and crews while shooting scenes in the river.

The special effects guys are testing the gun powder that will be used for the shoot. It was magnificient and the crews had a 'blast' with the gun powder.

Rowing lessons for the cast. There will be a lot of paddling in Hanyut and the casts must keep their body fit.

An interview with JKK Kampung Beralas at Padang Tengku about Hanyut's pre-production. Hanyut got a positive feedback from the people of Padang Tengku at Lipis.

The production crew tested the Panavision film camera that will be used in Hanyut. Panavision is the leading camera systems in the world and Hanyut is the first Malaysian production that uses Panavision.  

A chance to familarise themselves with the words, the rehearsals are proving an invaluable experience for the actors. U-Wei is softly but firmly guiding them through the story and finding the truth in the scenes.

Indonesian actor, Rahayu Saraswati during the costume fitting for the role of Taminah.  The slave girl that falls for Dain.

In the film Hanyut, the character, Taminah sells cakes. That is why she is seen here trying out several baskets on her head.  The traditional way people sell cakes in the Malay community.

Malay beauty of the late 19th century.

Adi Putra under the tutelage of silat master Pak Ku put in the hours to get the silat (Malay martial arts) moves correctly.

U-Wei is explaining his expectations and the exact directions that he wants from his casts.

"You must understand that each line has its purpose, and you must be able to get the correct 'feel' for each line, so when we choreographed our movement, everything will fall in place"

Sabri Yunus, total immersion.

The first of many sessions of the silat (Malay Martial Art) rehearsals.

Adi and the gang shown here in this video being taught the silat by Pak Ku.

Sofia Jane during the fitting of her costume as Mem in Hanyut.

Costume design by Akma Suriati Awang

As the shooting deadline is getting nearer, work on the set building intensifies.

Here the men are seen working hard on Almayer's house.

U-Wei and his crew on Sungai Jelai River Cruise, during their location recce.

The construction of Captain Ford's steamer is almost done.

BEFORE

1.  The frame of the steamer

2.  Nick Wong, trying to act it out.

AFTER (60% Completed)

Dean Sham, on the Steamer.

Nick Wong and Sam Hobbs discussing on the props that are going to be used in the film.  

Here they are seen examining the hammock that the character Almayer will use in the film.

A script reading session was held at Tanah Licin's office.  This session enables U-Wei, the director to explain the script to the main casts.

U-Wei making his point.

"It must come from the heart Sofia"

"…Disloyal and unscrupulous! What has my 

glorious empire ever done to make me 

loyal? You have no grip on this 

country. I had to take care of myself, 

and when I asked for protection, what 

did I get? Threats and contempt; the 

Arabs throw slander in my face. I! A 

white man!"

U-Wei's reading of Almayer's line awed everybody.

"can you feel me, Wak?"

The Steamer, designed by Sam Hobbs, is currently being built.  The production team will construct two steamers for the film.

Akma Suriati Awang, the Costume Designer, explaining the art of costume design.

Scene : The burning of Almayer's Folly

Storyboard Artist: Shadan Hashim

The building of Almayer's Folly.

Nick Wong is in charge of the props for Hanyut.  Seen here, Nick is doing some notes on the boats and sampans for Hanyut.

These elephants will be used in the arabs compund.  The working force! 

HANYUT's production will get the co-operations from the Orang Asli (indigenous people) of Kg Kuala Koyan.  They will appear as part of the community portrayed in the film.  The portrayal of the multiracial community is essential to the film as just to show how prosperous we were back then.  

Achom Luji, the leader of the Orang Asli village.

Achom Luji showing off his 'love potion'.  The 'masterpiece' of his village.

Jeremy Raymond Fenton a.k.a. Jeza Fenton is a student from Australia currently in Malaysia for a Student Exchange Programme in Universiti Malaya.  What is so special about Jeza is that he could speak flawless Malay! in Aussie accent of course!

We are thinking of giving him the part as one of the British Soldiers whose mission is to capture Dain in the film.  What do you think?

U-Wei, during earlier location recce.  Notice the short hair.

U-Wei, Location recce in Sg Miang Pekan quite recently.  Notice the long hair.

“My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you've got to be a filmmaker.” - Robert Wise, Filmmaker.

Our special friend in Kuala Gandah, Pahang will be making a cameo appearance in the film Hanyut.

U-Wei has finally decided that Aida Ross will be playing Young Nina.  Aida is a very talented young girl, she does sports, music, and she knows how to do the pencak silat as well!

You can view her audition video here at findingnina.com (Casting video).

Tanah Licin crew with U-Wei bin Haji Saari.  Good guys wear black!

Gua Kenong, Kuala Lipis, Pahang.  The location for Dain & Nina's love nest.

(recorded using mobile phone)

Nina

Production assistant 

Lina Hasbullah

Production Coordinator

Lina Hasbullah

Production Coordinator

A glimpse of the pre-production work by U-Wei and his team.   

The ladies of Padang Tengku, Kuala Lipis doing aerobics to get fit in time for Hanyut shooting.

AYU

Asst. Production Coordinator

HAFIZ

Production Runner

Wandi

Asst production coordinator

Sam is busy with his boat model before he left for Pulau Duyong, Terengganu early this morning.  The model is important for the boat builder,  it serves as a reference, as the boat is supposed to be built in 1830s.

Rahayu Saraswati, Indonesian actress uploaded her casting video clip on findingnina.com and caught the director's eyes.

She is being shortlisted for the role of Taminah, a slave girl who falls for Dain, NIna's love interest.   

Impian Liana's Lydia Ibtisam talking to U-Wei on the possibilities of working together in the Hanyut production.

Her BIG smile is a plus point!

Hanyut director, U-Wei Bin HajiSaari and costume designer Akma Suriati Awang examining the details of the costume design for Hanyut.

"Clothes maketh the man"

Adi Putra is in the office to do Dain Maroola, if you think that he is THE Dain that we're loking for, vote for him now here at findingnina,com  

U-Wei talking to Malay Heartthrob, Aaron Aziz.  Aaron, one of the up and coming actors in the Malay film industry is interested to join the production of Hanyut.

Maybe, U-Wei has found his Dain Maroola? 

Pre-production meeting between the director, 1st assistant director, producer, production designer, and production assistant.

Ironing out the details of the production design and planning for the production works that will begin in April.

"It pays to plan ahead.  It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark"-Anonymous

Atan, Kg Beralas's most eligible bachelor is officiating the ground breaking ceremony of the construction of the Hanyut set.

There is no stopping us now. There is no turning back.  the show must go on.

U-Wei explaining the U-Wei's Shadow competition.  For those who are interested to join the competition please go to the link on the left hand side panel "Start Your Film Career Now'.

Don't wait, NOW is the time!

U-Wei explaining the U-Wei's Shadow competition.  For those who are interested to join the competition please go to the link on the left hand side panel "Start Your Film Career Now'.

Don't wait, NOW is the time!

Zara Fenley, one of the director's favourite, is going to London to further her studies.  She posted her video on findingnina.com from Singapore, and caught the director's eyes.  Unfortunately, when contacted, she is not able to come down to KL to be interviewed.

Ummi Nazeera, auditioning for Hanyut.  She is one of the shortlisted candidates for Taminah, but as she is going to further her studies, she puts her acting commitment on hold.  

Nishino, engineer for set construction pointing to the location of where Almayer's house will be built, along the Jelai river.

Construction works has begun.  The first task is to prepare a road to the set.  So that it"ll be easy to move the filming equipment to the set.  

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
 
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost(1916)

findingnina.com's crop circle!  

U-Wei Bin HajiSaari (standing), the director of Hanyut together with Rick Beecroft (dark tee), the 1st assistant director, and Sam Hobbs, the production designer, traveling along Sg Miang, in Pekan Pahang.  

With no life jacket, Sam looks a little bit nervous, but U-Wei is more concerned about the location for the shoot.

photos by Jo Ghazali

Sam Hobbs surveying the beach of Sg Miang, Pekan.  Sg Miang is one of the locations for Hanyut.

From L-R: Rick (1st AD), Sam (Production Designer), U-Wei (director)

photo by Jo Ghazali

Sam Hobbs, the production designer starts the idea of Almayer's House with a sketch after he did his initial research.  Later, he developed a more specific plan for the house.The next phase would be the constructions of the house and sets.

Production Designer's impression of the village.  This will be used as a point of reference to the actual design of the whole feel  and mood of the village set

The locals have started rehearsing for the Hanyut shoot! Commitment is the essence of professionalism! 

A lot of people out there are still oblivious to findingnina.com.  Help them discover the world of findingnina.com by promoting this web site on your facebook, blogs, twitter etc.  

There will be a lot of happenings to come in this website! Contest and what not, and you'll never know, you will end up sipping coffee on location with the main cast from Hollywood!

Sharon going through the casting file for Hanyut.  Most of the casting are done through findingnina.com, but a few send their photos, CV by snail mail as well.  

The script breakdown of Hanyut on Julia's (the producer) wall.  A reminder of the task ahead.

Site plan of the set, which will be constructed in Kuala Lipis Pahang.  Construction will take place somewhere in February.  We will set up a time lapse camera to document the constructions for the fans of findingnina.com

More of Sam's notes on production design

Sam Hobbs's (production designer) interpretation of the design philosophy of the Hanyut production

Azam Raslan, editor for the EPK (electronic press kit) is busy at work.  He is responsible for most of the videos uploaded here in findingnina.com

HANYUT THE MOVIE Team, in charge of Marketing, Dean Sham is seen discussing with Lina Hasbullah, assistant producer on the Hanyut project.

With limited resources, the team has to be creative in order to realise the project.  They take it as a challenge, as the reward of being a part of a team that will be producing an international standard film is definitely worth it.

Sam search for a perfect location to build the Jetty at Sungai Jelai.  By the time the filmming is over, Sam will be an expert of the river, and the jungle of Kuala Lipis!

The production team lead by Sam Hobbs, the production designer scout for a house for Almayer.  They went all the way to Terengganu to seek inspiration for the design of the house.  The problem with doing a period piece in Malaysia is getting the right information or documentation to assist the filmmaking.  

Although it is not the intention of the filmmaker to make the film to be a history textbook, it is vital for the production to get the facts as right as possible.  This is to move the story.  

For history buff, they may find some things are not really well placed in terms of period or it may be geographically incorrect, and may accuse the film of not getting it right.  Call it artistic license.

Sam Hobbs, the production designer, went to Pulau Duyung in Terengganu to look at the boat making technique, so that he could design a realistic design for the steamboat that is going to be used in the filmming of Hanyut in April 2010.

Submit Your Videos Now

We are seeking talented young filmmakers to help us make a documentary about U-Wei and his journey with Hanyut. If you think you are the filmmaker we are looking for - all you need to do is upload some recent audio visual work so we can view it. We will allow our fans to comment, and will put together a shortlist of potential young filmmakers to meet.

Looking forward to meeting upcoming creative talents & storytellers!

Sign up now, one click away: ---> www.findingnina.com

Kuala Lumpur 11 December 2009

Hello Everyone,

We will be asking a shortlist of actors to come in to our office and
meet with our director over the next few weeks. We are sorry for the
lack of communication about the next phase of our casting process
recently. We have been very busy visiting the location and having
pre-production meetings ...and its now going to get even busier! But of
course the casting of our movie is incredibly important as well.

We really appreciate everyone's interest in our movie - and hope that a
lot of the actors who uploaded their videos will join us on the set in
either small roles or bigger roles... you never know!

So, do keep an eye on what we are doing, and stay tuned for the next
round of our casting process.

Very best wishes,
Findingnina.com Management Team!

Kuala Lumpur 11 December 2009

The 3 LUCKY winners are ...

MARINA TAN
ACHU
LIZZIE HUANG

Congratulations guys! You each WON  2 tickets  to the Premier of the movie "Hanyut"!

All participating talents will be invited to attend a comprehensive acting workshop at a mystery location which will be conducted in December 2009. 

Limited seats, kindly confirm your participation to: admin@tanahlicin.com

Snap Shots from the Team Recce in Oct 2009

 Photography by: Jo Ghazali

Cloth & Clef, Kuala Lumpur-26 Oct 2009

Sunday Flick Fling: Kaki Bakar Screening 

Penang-19 October 2009, USM

Working Paper Presentation by U-Wei bin HajiSaari

A working paper presentation by U-Wei Bin HajiSaari will be held at Universiti Sains Malaysia on Malay film making adaptations from western literature by William Faulkner Barn Burning & U-Wei's Kaki Bakar ( The Arsonist) foremost on U-Wei's upcoming project Hanyut, an adaptation from Joseph Conrad's Almayer's Folley.

U-Wei Trying To Work...

 " I didn't do it"...

"I shall take notes"...

Recce Trip Sept 09

 Photography by: Jo Ghazali

Since we are announcing some prizes & giveaways on Friday, 9 Oct 2009. We are pleased to announce that we will be giving away exciting prizes in relation to Hanyut to our Top 5 Most Active Fans.

Selection Criteria will be based on the overall activity of each fan's consistent interests on each videos, comments & of course the number of votes made.

Stay Tuned For the Announcements &
Happy Video Viewing!

Free Screening Sessions

Anything goes, anything shows

Jogho

9pm

Thursday 10 Dec

Palete Pallete

21 Jalan Mesui, 50200 Kuala Lumpur

For more information & location map: www.palatepallete.com

Snap Shots from Kaki Bakar Screening at Cloth & Clef, Changkat Bukit Bintang KL, 26 Oct 2009

Tanah Licin & Cloth & Clef proudly presents an exlcusive screening session and up close with U-Wei in person.

 5pm, Sunday 25th Oct 2009

 Cloth & Clef, #30 Changkat Bukit Bintang KL  

www.clothandclef.com

Crew call for feature film.

'Calling all departments'

Please call 03-41422190, fax 03-41422195 or email us at jfraser@tanahlicin.com for application.

The search for Nina`s love interest is now open for online audition submission for the role of Dain Maroola.

 Dain is a prince, a Malay warrior. He is young, intelligent and attractive. This is the man whom Nina falls for in which she is willing to risk everything to be with her `knight & shining armour`.

If you fit these descriptions for the role of Dain Maroola, dont wait any longer, upload your casting video and show us THE DAIN MAROOLA we been looking for!

Malay, male

25-35 years old

Must be physically fit, pleasant with adventurous rough personality & of course attractive, knowledge in Silat would be an added advantage!

, knowledge in Silat would be an added advantage!</p>

We are on the lookout for a Malay Beauty addition for the role of Taminah who`s beauty is ignored caused by the existence of white skin who is an `exotic competitor`in the movie.

Taminah should be 100% Malay, long black hair, tanned skin between 17 - 25 years of age, female. If you think you fit the characteristics of Taminah, upload your video and specify your role of Taminah.

Kuala Lumpur

18 August 2009

A recent Press Conference for the launch of www.findingnina.com the global casting call for U-Wei's upcoming feature film "Hanyut" based on the adaptation of Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad which was published in 1895. The press conference was held on 18 August 2009 at the Basil Leaf Restaurant , Ampang and was attended by 120 VIP,guests and representatives from Celcom's Senior Vice President, Marketing- En. Zalman Zainal, En. Kamil Othman from MOSTI and En. Mohammad Rosdi, representative for Kuala Lipis District office. The press conference was launched by the honorary guest the Ambassador of Poland, Mr. Eugeniusz Sawicki with overwhleming presence from local and international film actors, film makers & musicians: Al Manik and Pak Subowo(music composer from Indonesia), Khalid Salleh, Sabri Yunus, Ayob Ibrahim, Sofea Jane, Vanida Imran and especially members of the media, radio & tv stations.

In conjuction with Celcom X pax launch of 'Got X', hidden talent potentials will have the opportunity to be discovered for the leading role of 'Nina' by submitting their video online through http://www.findingnina.com and http://www.xpax.com.my/gotx For more information or participation, please visit: www.findingnina.com and for recent updates follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/findingnina