TOPS 18 Interview: Winnifred Jong
“As a female Asian filmmaker, my stories live in the margins. While I try to uncover truths, I try to connect personal stories with a universality and emerge from the margins.”
As a person who likes to ramble, I’m always incredibly impressed with folks who can tell a story succinctly. Hence my love for short films. A beginning, middle, end—plus characters and heart and feeling in under 10 minutes? Incredible. But how about 88 seconds?
Winnifred Jong’s MILK clocks in at just shy of a minute and a half, and that’s including credits. And making it more impressive is how much it manages to pack in those seconds: heart, frustration, a little bit of tension, and even a good laugh.
Milk is instantly relatable no matter your background—we’ve all had hilarious communication breakdowns with our loved ones—yet also what we need to see more of on our screens: a distinctly Asian-Canadian story.
Winnifred Jong is a Toronto-based filmmaker and an alumna of the Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) and Ryerson University. Her recent work can be seen on CBC’s Frankie Drake Mysteries web series. Chosen as a Wattpad Studios creator, she is currently producing/directing the short film Destin. The comedic web series, Tokens, which Winnifred Jong created is slated to shoot in Fall 2018. The Offer, her debut short film, won the Deluxe Canada First Award at Lakeshorts International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film in the 2016 DGC Awards. Her second award-winning short, Milk, which she also penned, is currently on the festival circuit. She is in pre-production for her third short, a passion project, Distant Cousins, and in development on a feature film, Zephyr.
You can see MILK at the 2018 Toronto Outdoor Picture Show Parkway Forest screening with The Lunchbox and other short Bacon & God’s Wrath on Thursday August 30. Read Winnifred’s TOPS interview here!
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved with filmmaking.
Winnifred Jong: Films have always been a passion. I quit a science degree at U of T to pursue a film degree at Ryerson—not exactly a financially wise career move, but I had to promise myself that I would try.
Tell us about MILK. Where did the idea come from?
WJ: I was interviewing for a directing slot on Kim’s Convenience and the morning of my interview, the idea of writing a comedic scene set in a convenience store popped into my head. So, an intergenerational conversation where the comedy is in the miscommunication was the result. I didn’t get the job, but I made the film!
There’s nothing better than a great story told in a minimal amount of time. Did you set out to make a minute long short or did it just come together that way?
WJ: I love the response I’ve gotten to Milk. I didn’t set out to make it any particular length. I tend to like pace, so it just came together that way.
Can you tell us about some/all of the other amazing women who worked on this film?
WJ: Well, MILK was also an experiment for me. I wanted to shoot a drama with a doc sized crew. One in camera and one in sound. Sarah Thomas Moffat was the cinematographer. We had met at a WIFT event and wanted to collaborate. She loved the challenge! Gloria Tong was the editor. She was a CFC resident and was editing remotely while I was working in Budapest. She had great ideas and we communicated so well. Rany Ly was the Post-Production Supervisor and Colourist. She’s a tech guru and kept me organized in post. I have to shout out to my amazing cast, Annabelle Loi and my mom, Fay Jong. They really got the comedy timing down!
Tell us about why you are a feminist and why it’s important to your filmmaking.
WJ: I believe in intersectionality. As a female Asian filmmaker, my stories live in the margins. While I try to uncover truths, I try to connect personal stories with a universality and emerge from the margins.
Who are your favourite women working in the film industry?
WJ: There are so many! When I look, there are the groundbreakers, the champions and the supporters. It would be a disservice to name just a few when so many women are my favourites.
What’s the best advice about filmmaking you’ve ever received?
WJ: The best filmmaking advice I received was “You know you have the performance when you believe it.”
What are you working on now/next?
WJ: I’ve created a web series called Tokens which I’ll be filming later this year. I also have a passion project, my short film, Distant Cousins.
In honour of July being National Ice Cream Month, if you were reincarnated as an ice cream flavour, what would it be?
WJ: Ha! Vanilla salted caramel. A triple threat!
If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be?
WJ: Geena Davis, Sandra Oh, Janelle Monae
Finally, recommend one #MUFFApproved film for our blog readers!
WJ: Fire by Deepa Mehta.
Stay up to date with Winnifred and her work on Twitter.
You can see MILK at the 2018 Toronto Outdoor Picture Show Parkway Forest screening with The Lunchbox and other short Bacon & God’s Wrath on Thursday August 30.
