Laughs From Around the World
by
Nihal Singhsachathet
Hi My name is Nihal; This is a little piece about my film All The Lonely People, which was made from 2018 through to 2019, when I was 20. It is an anthology feature film comprising seven shorts all centered around the same “theme”. (Though that word doesn’t feel right to me; it sounds too much like English class). Maybe it’s a bold assertion to make but I’d say it’s all really one story. One story made out of seven self contained component parts, that when taken together become this whole thing. I guess you could call it a concept movie, like the way musical artists do concept albums. For example: Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust… Sure you could listen to Moonage Daydream and get a piece of the puzzle, but when you experience the whole thing you’re transported. It becomes more than the sum of it’s parts.
It is so incredibly hard to trace the “genesis” of this thing. I could say I was reading James Franco’s Palo Alto, (a book of short stories) and the idea sprung from that. I could say, it’s convenient to do 7 shorts as opposed to managing one big thing. I could say so much but I don't think any of that is entirely true. All I know is I've been making films since I was a kid. I started “seriously” (whatever that means) making shorts in 2015. Went to film school in 2017 and fucking hated it. It is a pointless place for a self starter. So by the summer of 2018; I was in a strange and (I guess) desolate place, not knowing where to go. Feeling so close yet far away. I was sitting in the theatre waiting to see Dwayne “Big Stone” Johnson’s Skyscraper and the idea just hit me. WAIT… I could give it a proper go. I could do this too. Make a proper feature. That year Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters came out, getting big press for being the first 0 budget movie at Cannes. That inspiration was all I needed to say “fuck it”
I knew at a young age; coming from my background, that in most instances I’d have to work four times as hard as certain people just to get the same opportunities. I don’t mean to disparage anyone who thinks the institutional path is their sole way of learning but my firm belief is that there is no better teacher than experience. Most of these people in film school sit inside their four walls and fear the act of doing, because doing means failing.. but they don’t see that failing means learning. I used to ramble on in my final years of High School saying if Godard could shoot two separate films at the same time (shooting one during the day and another at night) we had absolutely no excuse. With our technology and access to information, you have no option but to just start making stuff right now. Put your money where your mouth is (so to say). If Sean Baker can make Tangerine on his fucking iPhone why are you waiting for someone to come and hand you the keys to make your first short?! I never understood that. But that’s the industry mindset for you. For me making All The Lonely People was like taking a page out of that Cassavetes, Linklater, Kevin Smith and even to an extent Orson Welles handbook. Leaning into the limitations and just fucking go for it.
Now I understand, not everyone had the access that I had. I am very fortunate that my parents were supportive and onboard with what I was trying to do, but it didn’t come out of a vacuum either. It was years and years prior of proving myself, fighting for the right to go off the beaten path. The plain fact is, the film was made in its entirety with no crew and no budget. Just me and the actors. Each chapter takes place in a separate city around the world, so I relied on the friends I’d made in High School and family to collaborate and act. Sleeping on their couches and reconnecting with them after all that time. Some went back to their home countries, others on an adventure in a new land. Essentially following up and creating fictional impressions of what their lives looked like at the time. In most cases shooting in their actual apartments / dorms. I set out of Bangkok with 1 DSLR (with 3 lenses), a tripod, a LED light and a laptop. That’s all we really had to make the film. I had no crew and the actors were treated more like creative producers - giving crucial input on the writing, and producing of the feature. The aim of the film was simply to make something true and honest that represented how we felt at the time. The idea was really to make a punk rock movie. By this I mean, the punk rock songs, and that whole movement, is about simplicity. These guys were not seasoned musicians with technical prowess or musicianship. They played the simple easy chords, but relied on that power of expression. It’s like the opposite of Jazz, which is complex and rich. Dialing into that simplicity was key in All The Lonely People because it gave each collaborator an easy jumping on point, especially the actors. We were able to rely on that raw feeling to construct these stories. In most cases (whether the actors / collaborators knew it or not) it was me going to them, instead of them trying to fulfill this bullseye I set out. Normally when you have someone like Daniel Day Lewis you can tell them - that's where I want to go, and you can construct a character that is so far different from the person playing it, they become unrecognizable. I knew I couldn’t do that with non-actors, so instead we had to flip it. What can we incorporate from what we were dealing with in our lives at that time, to work within this film. And of course, trying to do it in as healthy and non-intrusive a way as possible.
Growing up in Asia, away from the norms of the western world - Yet experiencing it second hand through the export of art / entertainment left a strange and weird taste in our mouths. Hollywood did not speak for us. The big blockbuster films of the world as a whole did not speak for or to us. Yet they attempted to. Making All The Lonely People was a way to kind of take control of the narrative and show the world as we were / had experienced it. Warts and all. It was a beautiful time, and a big journey with all those people. I think having the fiction allowed us to find universality in our stories. To express that though you may feel isolated, lonely and lost in the world - There is still a common thread that binds us all in humanity. No misunderstanding is too big that we all can’t find some way to connect and be there for each other. Not just as friends or family but simply as human beings.
