Virtual cinematic heritage for the lost Singaporean film Pontianak (1957)
In 1957, Cathay-Keris Studio in Singapore released “Pontianak”, the first of a hugely popular series of horror films featuring the female vampiric ghost based on Malay folk mythology. The visual transformation of the lead actress Maria Mernado into the Pontianak creature amazed the audience in ci...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/145530 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | In 1957, Cathay-Keris Studio in Singapore released “Pontianak”, the
first of a hugely popular series of horror films featuring the female vampiric ghost
based on Malay folk mythology. The visual transformation of the lead actress
Maria Mernado into the Pontianak creature amazed the audience in cinemas
(Mustafar, 2012) [1]. The Pontianak trilogy by Cathay-Keris was ground-breaking
for the genre at that time and registered several firsts in Singapore: Pontianak was
the first Malay film to be dubbed into Mandarin, while Sumpah Pontianak is the
first local CinemaScope (widescreen) film. The 1957 film is also considered the
first depiction of the Pontianak in a film [2]. Despite their relatively wide distribution
in 1957 both films are believed to be lost, with no prints or copies surviving
(Barnard, 2011) [3]. Film Heritage in the conventional way of ‘restoration’ being
impossible, this project investigates the novel approach of creating a Virtual Cinematic
Heritage application. In this paper, we outline our current work in progress
from historical film research to recreating a scene from the lost film as a Virtual
Reality experience. |
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