director’s statement
The pressure of ambition, success, and especially competition is an issue that haunts many youths. Trying to figure out where they’re meant to be and go, always comparing to peers and feeling like, or even being told to their face that they’re not at their highest potential.
I firmly believe that success and ambition is not the most important thing in life. Sometimes ‘failure’ can lead to redemption and internal happiness/validation, and there is no such thing as ‘wasting time’ in finding your place in life. Hopefully that can relate to the younger generation and even my peers, and allow them to appreciate themselves and life around them more.
Reconnecting with childhood friends and rediscovering our dynamic alongside our audience feels so surreal, and I feel extremely grateful to have this opportunity to begin with. The opportunity to catch up, rethink young memories, and learn from each other as adults has been one of the best moments in my life that will follow me beyond this film.
Making this film has been simultaneously terrifying and unpredictable as it has been eye-opening and enjoyable. I am so incredibly proud of our work and how it’s shaped itself, and I’m so excited to share it with everyone. I hope Joanne and I’s efforts and love that has gone into this documentary speaks to people beyond ourselves.
MERDE is a short documentary film that follows 3 current and former ballerinas, all having started from the same ballet studio, but all in very different places in life now, exploring what ‘failure’ means to them in their relationship with ballet, how that’s shaped them, and how they’ve bounced back.
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Nanyang Technological University
School of Art, Design and Media
81 Nanyang Dr, Singapore 637458
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