During the making of Mike Wiluan’s latest film Orang Ikan, the crew accidentally set a national forest on fire. Wiluan’s life flashed before his eyes. “For four hours, I thought my life would end at any moment. I thought that even if I survived, I’d end up in jail,” he recounts. Providentially, his team managed to extinguish the flames, so filming resumed the next day.
While alarming, such an incident was by no means unusual. “Every film has drama behind the scenes,” he explains. Having to work with limited time, copious creative decisions, logistical challenges, and a finite budget means conflicts, mishaps, and misunderstandings are inevitable. These tense situations are often alleviated only by the cast and crew staying positive, he adds.
The son of Indonesian tycoon Kris Wiluan, the filmmaker grew up in a family whose businesses largely involved oil and gas, and infrastructure development. However, his passion has always been storytelling, and as a child he was put in charge of keeping inventory of his father’s video distribution business’ VHS and Betamax stock.
He’d watch films after school and his favourites were horrors and Westerns, in particular those directed by Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood. “I’d watch George R Romero’s Night of the Living Dead during the day so I wouldn’t get too scared,” he recounts.
In the early stages of his career, he worked as an executive producer on several notable Singaporean films and in recent years took on the role of producer for both Singaporean and Indonesian projects. A notable one was Crazy Rich Asians.
In 2018, he made his directorial debut with Buffalo Boys, an Indonesian–Singaporean action Western selected by Singapore as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. It was followed by Motel Melati (Losmen Melati) in 2023.
Orang Ikan made its Southeast Asian premiere at the recent edition of the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). A Singapore-Indonesia-Japan-UK co-production, the monster film takes place during WWII and follows two adversaries trying to outwit a demoniac creature hunting them down. Wiluan says that its inspiration include Jack Arnold’s Creature from the Black Lagoon and Sergio Martino’s Island of the Fisherman, and that the shoot was unforgettable not just because of the forest fire. “It was a gruelling shoot in the most inhospitable territory. An experience I will cherish, but won’t be quick to repeat.”
When he isn’t capturing our imaginations or raising funds, which is his role when he produces, he runs Infinite Studios, which provides creative services and develops original content.
In his opinion, market size may have significant impact on local film productions but our smallness hasn’t stopped local filmmakers from producing world-class content. It helps that initiatives like SGIFF provide them with financial support and promote their work in the region.
“More importantly, Singapore filmmakers have proved to be quite hardy and innovative in the face of challenges”.
Mike Wiluan on resilience in a small market
Having gained momentum, Wiluan has no intention to slow down. His next film is already in the works. “It’s something outside of my usual genre, so I look forward to exploring my capabilities as a director with a slightly different theme. It’s a creative challenge, but we shouldn’t always settle into one way of doing things.”
If he had to make a movie about his life, it would be something of an absurdity—a dark comedy with ridiculous characters. “I’ve had the most profound and amusing experiences. The best way to relive them would be through humour.”
Art direction: Ed Harland
Photography: Mun Kong
Photography assistant: Melvin Leong
Grooming: Crystal using Goldwell & Wee Ming using Gucci Beauty
