Photo: Courtesy of Faisal Ariff
John Cho @ We Jun 曹维骏 graduated with honours in Actuarial Science and had a promising career in finance, then consumer durables, before pursuing filmmaking. He is a writer-director and production designer, having in mid-2014 studied Art Direction at Pinewood Studios Malaysia under Oscar-nominated production designer Tim Hutchinson (Willow, Highlander), veteran art director Desmond Crowe (Alexander, Band of Brothers) and Emmy-nominated set decorator Malcolm Stone (Fury, Dark Crystal).
We Jun has since directed numerous corporate documentaries, branded content, music videos and short films, several of which have been selected for film festivals in Japan, Germany, Mexico and Poland. In 2015, he had been selected to direct Coaster, a short film presented by Tiger Beer, during which time, he was mentored by Baltasar Kormákur (Everest). Between 2017 and 2020, We Jun had directed brand films for Netflix, Volkswagen, Knorr, Lady’s Choice, Ikano Centres and Astro.
In collaboration with his producer and creative partner, Lim Benji (15 Malaysia: Meter, The Joshua Tapes), We Jun is developing his debut feature length film, entitled Hungry Ghost Diner, which was officially selected to participate at the Southeast Asian Film Lab organised by the Singapore International Film Festival in 2019.
2017 : Marathon (short film)
2016 : Breaking Point (short film)
2015 : Coaster (short film)
2014 : Salvaj (short film)
2013 : Fix (short film)
2013 : Ubusuna (feature documentary, as co-cinematographer)
2012 : Outpost (short film)
2011 : The Apprentice (short documentary)
2009 : Resonance (short film)
- Netflix – Now Screaming – Promo
- Netflix – Paskal x Triple Frontier – Promo
- Volkswagen – Passat in Pekan – Promo
- Bah Digital Brunei – Promo
- Astro – Merdeka 2018 – TVC
- Knorr – Siapa Lebih Terer – TVC
- Mecomin – Father and Daughter – TVC
- Panasonic – Healthy Living – Promo
- Hong Leong Bank – SME Total Solutions – Promo
- Revelation Republic – Winners – Promo
- FiftySix Degrees Whisky – Corporate Documentary
- Ajinomoto Malaysia – Corporate Video
- Goodmaid – Nowhere to Run – TVC
- Broken Scar – Venus in September
- Azmyl Yunor – Charity Lane
- Two Maestros – Hari Yang Harum
- Azmyl Yunor – Bersendirilah
- Malaysian Musicians During Lockdown – Kurang Gaji
- Azmyl Yunor – Penghasut Blues
In development
Hungry Ghost Diner
HUNGRY GHOST DINER 《 乐灵咖啡馆 》 is the debut feature film by We Jun. Produced by his creative partner Lim Benji (Cuak, The Joshua Tapes, 15 Malaysia: Meter) and multiple-award-winning producer Lee Yve Vonn (Oasis of Now, Black Hole Monster, Stranger Than Love), the screenplay is written in collaboration with emerging auteur Jacky Yeap (Sometime, Sometime). This film is in development, for release in 2022/23. For news and updates, visit hungryghostdiner.com.
- Southeast Asian Film Lab, SGIFF 2019
- CFAM Move Forward International Producer’s Workshop 2020
- Southeast Asian Film Financing Forum (SAFF) 2020
- Locarno Open Doors Consultancy 2020
Taiping Adagio
In January 2013, We Jun and a group of friends travelled to Taiping, on a quest to make their first feature film, admittedly with more collective enthusiasm than know-how and experience. The experience would prove invaluable in that it was a failure. The project was briefly resurrected in 2016, after it managed to garner some early interest at Marche du Film in Cannes, and after an intense reshoot it was finally completed. Regrettably, it was not up to scratch. The project is now being once again re-edited as a mini-series for eventual release on the web. Expected to be completed by January 2023, a decade after we had originally set out to make it.
- Malaysia Goes to Cannes, Marche du Film 2016
Asian neo-noir
Fix
Yan is an undercover cop posing as a small-time pusher in the local narcotics ring. Despite regular phone calls from his mysterious handler reassuring him that someone will eventually take his place, Yan grows increasingly paranoid that it is only a matter of time before he is found out.
- Malaysian Shorts at Art for Grabs 2014
- Salón Internacional de la Luz Volumen 5 2014 (Bogota, Colombia)
- KALIBER35 Munich International Short Film Festival 2014 (Munich, Germany)
- 8th Festiwalu „Złote Mrówkojady 2014” (Lublin, Poland)
- XIX Internacionalni TV Festival Bar 2014 (Bar, Montenegro)
- 26th Girona International Film Festival 2014 (Girona, Spain)
- Munich Underground Film Festival 2015
- 4th Ascona Film Festival 2015 (Ascona, Switzerland)
Salvaj
Ishak, an experienced police diver with the Bandrika Water Constabulary, contemplates the emotional perils of his vocation following the most challenging dive of his career.
- Best Short Film, 27th Malaysian Film Festival 2015
- Runner-up, Sundance Channel Shorts 2014
- Asian Film Symposium 2015 (Singapore)
- 6th Cambodian International Film Festival 2015
- 20th Thai Short Film and Video Festival 2015
- Minikino Film Week 2015 (Bali, Indonesia)
Breaking Point
A tenacious forensic doctor investigates a series of bizarre cop murders in Island City.
- Fixi 3 Crimes Anthology
Action thriller
Marathon
Alex Greco is a veteran private security contractor tasked with escorting a high value asset to a rendezvous point in San Martino, The Republic of Sira.
- Nominated: Best Production Design (We Jun), 10th BMW Shorties 2016
- Nominated: Best Sound Editing (Sebastian Ng & We Jun), 10th BMW Shorties 2016
- Nominated: Best Actress (Susan Lankester), 10th BMW Shorties 2016
Documentary
Ubusuna
The ancient Japanese term “ubusuna” refers to a place and the gods that protect it. Once it was believed that ubusuna protected the people of a place, from a time before they were born until long after they had died. While most people living in the cities have long forgotten about ubusuna, could it be possible to unearth traces of it in contemporary Japan? Director Mile Nagaoka and four other filmmakers from around the world set off on a caravan trip, from Yamagata in the North to Okinawa in the South. As they walked, watched and listened to the stories they found at each place, they searched for clues to the ubusuna that is Japan in the 21st century. We Jun was the co-cinematographer for the Kakinoki, Shimane segment of the project.
- Dartington’s Exploring Our World Festival 2013
The Apprentice
Low Kok Kee is 67. He runs a print shop in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Foto Pak Tai has been faithfully serving the photography and printing needs of the local community since the 1940’s. With the advent of the digital age and a rapidly fluctuating appetite of the young and hip, Pak Tai is a business in decline. Increasingly dependent on his longstanding arrangement that for the time-being still sees the continual patronage from law enforcement for their official photographs, Low is somewhat philosophical about the day when he will be forced to draw the curtains on Pak Tai.
- Opening Film, 15th Guanajuato International Film Festival 2012 (Guanajuato, Mexico)
- KSFM Malaysian Shorts 2012
- 14th Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia 2012 (Tokyo, Japan)
- 28th Interfilm Berlin 2012 (Berlin, Germany)
- Seattle Asian American Film Festival 2013 (WA, USA)