BENNY FOO FUNG KOON

1. Describe the movie to us.

Due to the many recent horror movies and thrillers, it has become more challenging to have a breakthrough. “The Spirit Compendium” is not based entirely on a ghost story. And in fact, “The Spirit Compendium” may not belong to any specific category, as it is a fusion of different emotional expressions and spiritual characters, such as love, friendship and a touch of homosexuality, deities and spirits.
The story is about Tom’s girlfriend dies in a tragic accident and he plunges into depression. May is shunned by the people around her because she claims she can see the spirits. Sam’s family loses their fortune and is forced to move in with his friend, Tom and May, his housemate. The three friends embrace on a journey that begins with the mysterious disappearance of Tom’s father, who leaves Tom with only a spiritual book and an ancient Tibetan Dzi Bead. It is not until Sam is trapped in a spiritual realm that they realize the importance of the items.

2. Spirit Compendium is your first feature movie, but what is your background in filmmaking? When did you start?

I was already actively involved in drama and play during my school time and subsequently pass an audition to enter the First Producers Training Course (Drama) and the Fourth Professional Scriptwriting Course organized by SBC(Now as TCS). There I undergo serious training and received guidance from professionals. Along the way, I joined the Acting course from Southern Arts Drama Group to learn and understand the art of acting, speech, performing and body movements and gestures. In the recent months, I had also successfully completed the Hi-Def production and Final Cut Pro6 course to further aid in the proficiency of video editing.
My first Merit award was during the National Scriptwriting Competition in 1985, with the story entitled “Happy Like A Fairy”.
In 1992, I won The Best Direction Award in the Panasonic Video Awards for the short film, entitled “MONICA’. Since 1986, I have directed 15 short films, 7 MTVs, 2 experimental films, 3 documentaries and as a producer and scriptwriting role, involved in 3 short films.
The spirit Compendium, in 2007, is my first featured film.

3. What was the main source of inspiration for Spirit Compendium?

The influence of Chinese cultures, martial arts and beliefs such as geomacracy, fortune telling, has increased tremendously in the western countries over the years. And it has aroused a great curiosity among the westerners due to its mysterious powers. Most, if not all, of these Chinese beliefs is based on the book, I Ching (Wade-Giles), or “Yì Jīng” (Pinyin); also called “Book of Changes” or “Classic of Changes”, is the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. A symbol system designed to identify order in what seem like chance events, it describes an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy that is at the heart of Chinese cultural beliefs. In Western cultures, the I Ching is regarded by some as simply a system of divination; many believe it expresses the wisdom and philosophy of ancient China. In the movie, The Spirit Compendium is actually referring to a spiritual book that is derived from I Ching.

4. How long did you take to complete Spirit Compendium [timeline from pre-production to post-production?
The whole production of The Spirit Compendium takes a year to complete. The pre-production take up three months. The shooting time is about two month. The rest of it will be spent on the post.

5. Many films that focus on the other side often have 'encounters' - did you?

Well, it so happened that The Spirit Compendium started its filming during the Lunar Seventh Month. As a regular practice and to ensure that our production runs smooth, we carried out incense offering ceremony and prayers to pay our respect to the “other side”.

That was one incident, during our daytime outdoor scene, the sky suddenly turns dark and ugly. It seems that a heavy downpour is expected anytime soon. Desperate to stick to our planned schedule, we actually resort to the burning of joss papers for the spirits, hoping for a miracle. Surprisely, it worked! The sky cleared up in no time and we were back to our shooting again. And amazingly, right after our shooting, a heavy downpour followed by.

6. What are your future plans in filmmaking?

In fact, I am already starting working on my next movie, Seven. After The Spirit Compendium, my next focus will be entirely on Seven’s production. .