Ix Wong Thien-pau (Malaysia) and Aaron Khek Ah Hock (Singapore) are dance duo. Their lives are not easy - Ix is HIV positive, and Hock suffered from cancer. Hock passed away when filmmaker Tsang Tsui-shan was making a dance video Ward 11 for the couple in 2019.
Losing someone you love is the hardest thing in the world to deal with. It is an immense pain and emotion that you feel all over your body - this physical suffering is similar to illness that could never be easily taken away. Can one still love and dance with a person that has passed away?
The idea of Chroma 11 comes from that of a dance with the dead. The border between life and death can be wide but also blurred. Taking user’s experience into consideration, filmmaker Tsang Tsui-shan (Hong Kong) hopes that the boundless love between lx (Malaysia) and Hock (Singapore) can touch participants, using the specific quality of the Virtual Reality (VR) to create a dance work that lies between reality and unreality.
Synopsis
Chroma 11 is a Virtual Reality immersive experience based on the true story of lost love. As an extension of the dance documentary film Ward 11, which documented the heart-rending last days of dance artist Aaron Khek Ah-hock and his partner Ix Wong Thien-pau. The Chroma 11 project expands the boundaries of moving images with VR technology. Through clips of rearranged memories and volumetric video captured by DepthKit, the creative team strives to reconstruct a reunion of the parted souls in the form of a duo dance after life. Chroma 11 was officially selected by the Biennale College Cinema VR under the 77th Venice International Film Festival.
Director’s statement
Always together yet forever apart. The spirit of 11 has extended from the love between the two of them into various forms. This is more than a short film (Ward 11) or a VR work (Chroma 11). This is also the channel for individuals to continue communicating with Ix. Every conversation is a love story, in which love transcends individuality and death.
The journey of 11 simply cannot be explained in a few words. It explores the ideas of love, the conduct of life, technologies, and—more importantly—egolessness and formlessness. It all started with love between Ix and Hock. With the recurring pandemic, living in isolation has become the norm. People are so far apart yet so close. Can modern technology bring people’s minds back together, even across the border of life and death?
I admire Ix’s ritualistic lifestyle. He nourishes himself and his lover so that his spirit is not dampened by his loss, instead, it becomes more vibrant. In immersive storytelling, the screen frame we are familiar with no longer exists, which brings the viewers closer to the characters and their stories. Viewers experience the past and present of the characters at that moment, with the help of visual and auditory stimuli. This is my team’s first attempt at VR creation. We hope you enjoy the immersive experience of the magic of love.
Creative Team
Director / Tsang Tsui-Shan
Best New Director of the 31st Hong Kong Film Award 2012. Her debut film Lovers On the Road (2008) won the Best Drama Award of the 8th South Taiwan Film Festival. Her second feature Big Blue Lake (2012) won the Jury Special Award of the Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival and the Asian New Talent Jury Prix of the Shanghai International Film Festival. Other films include the French-Hong Kong co-production documentary Flowing Stories (2014), feature film Scent (2014) and The Lady Improper (2019).
Performer / Ix Wong Thien-pau, Aaron Khek Ah-hock
Ix Wong Thien-pau was born 1974 in Sabah. Graduated from Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts at 1998. Danced professionally with the City Contemporary Dance Company (HK) (1998-2000). Rehearsal Director and dancer with Singapore Arts Fission Company (2000-2002).
Ix found Ah Hock & Peng Yu with his partner Aaron Khek Ah-hock and since has been producing, choreographing works that the duo creates together. In Spring 2016, together with his partner and two other Singapore established Artists, Nirmala Seshadri (multi-discipline Artist) and Leslie Tan (Cellist) started a laboratory called L3 - Lalu Lalang Lab.
Born in Hong Kong, Teresa Kwong is a promoter, curator and producer for film and cross-disciplinary arts practices. Currently the Programme Director of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, she is committed to nurture and promote the next generation of arts talents. She is one of the active independent film producers in town and working with a number of up-and-coming filmmakers in Hong Kong and China since 2006. She is also a film producer with award winning titles including SUK SUK in Berlinale 2020.
Creative Technologist / Lam Chi-fai
Graduated from the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong; Lam is experienced in procedural graphics, interaction technologies and social interventions. He is a member of an artist collective named Add Oil Team.
Art Director - VR Production / Iv Chan
Received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in The US, a Post Graduate Diploma in Visual Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a MFA from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is currently a part-time lecturer in The Chinese University of Hong Kong teaching Fundamentals of 3D Forming.
Art Director - Installation / Carmen Cheng
In collaboration with many artists and multi-media creative talents on theatre and commercial productions, specialised in art direction, design & creative production with more than 20 years experience around the globe, managed over 100 productions including dance, drama, musical, installation, exhibition, MTV, film, advertising, concert, theme park and music festival.
Sound Designer and Mixing / Benny Chan
Graduate of the School of Film and Television, Hong Kong Academy For Performing Arts (HKAPA) with a major in Sound Design and The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies. He has been a full-time Sound major lecturer in HKAPA since 2016. He is an AVID Pro Tools 310I Expert Level ICON Mixer and a Certified Operator for 101, 201 and 210P.
Composer and sound designer / Eunice Martins
A pianist and a composer working between classical and contemporary music and specializes in music for and with film. She performs and composes for silent films and creates soundtracks for experimental films, video art, feature films and documentaries.
| VR Production | Installation (Hong Kong) | ||
| Story Inspired by | Wong Thien-pau, Khek Ah-hock | Curator | Kattie Fan |
| Directed and Written by | Tsang Tsui-shan | Art Director | Carmen Cheng |
| Producers | Kattie Fan, Teresa Kwong | Technical Director | OneFai |
| Associate Producers | Geoffrey Stitt, Elissa Rosati | Assistant Set Designer | Vienna Choi, Tang Michelle Oi-lam |
| Choreographer | Wong Thien-pau | Lighting Design | Tion Chan |
| Performers | Wong Thien-pau, Khek Ah-hock | Projection Technician | Snorlax Lai |
| Assistant Directors | Hazel Tsui, Jevon Tse | Video Editor | Leung Hung-yik |
| Production Coordinator | Kate Lau, Catherine Chan | ||
| Translator | Simon Chung | ||
| Post-Production Assistants | Chan Mong-wang Bosco, Char Wai-man, Yue Pak-hin Cody | Installation (Venice) | |
| Production Assistants | Janice Hu, Leung Hung Yik | Exhibition Design | Kate Lau |
| Creative technologist | Jason Lam | ||
| Graphic Design | DESIGN OUTHERE | ||
| Visual Effects Artist | Hung Ching-wei Harry | ||
| 3D Designer | Tsang Chi-kiu Jerry | ||
| Art Director | Iv Chan | ||
| Art Direction Assistants | Coco Lau, Konnie Wong, Lai On Kei | ||
| Sound Design and Mixing | Benny Chan | ||
| Music Composer | Eunice Martins | ||
| Voice Over recordists | Benny Chan, MJ Tan | ||
| Sound Assistants | Gloria Pang, Claudia Yip | ||
| Multi-cam Coordinator | Michael Chu | ||
| Camera and Lighting | Desmond Liu, Lee Kin-hang Bobby, Fok Hei-ting Reiki | ||
| Camera and Lighting Assistants | Chung Yiu-hei Ray, Tan Ter-loong Darren, Wong Siu-lok Kole | ||
Cultural Partner
