Brilliant Malaysian film director U-Wei Bin HajiSaari was in town recently for the world premiere of his short film My Beautiful Rambutan Tree in Tanjung Rambutan at the Singapore International Film Festival. The dark and bittersweet film, about sibling rivalry that turns horribly wrong, will next show at the Cannes Film Festival this month. The controversial and elusive U-Wei, who first came to our attention with his assured debut film Woman, Wife and Whore—about a wayward woman who stirs up various desires in a conservative village, way back in 1993—is arguably Malaysia’s best filmmaker. He tells Terry Ong what makes him tick.

Director Roger Donaldson tells the true story of motorcyclist Burt Munro in the film The World’s Fastest Indian, which is showing at the New Zealand Film Festival.

Bid for a dinner date with two kick-ass rockers.

A hairstylist for 20 years, Christopher Lim, 35, hopes to one day work in Tokyo, the region’s trendsetting city. He tells I-S how Singaporeans lag behind the daring Japanese when it comes to hairstyles and how he coped with the fashion of the ’80s.

Yugoslav model Natasa Vojnovic has come a long way. From her war-ridden teens, the rambunctious model has worked for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Baptiste-Mondino and Terry Richardson, and has graced numerous magazines covers such as Vogue, i-D and Dazed & Confused. Vojnovic was in town recently to promote the latest Hugo Boss fragrance, Pure Purple, which she is the spokesperson for.

A conversation with cinematographer Christopher Doyle is as good as it gets.

With a radical plot, romance musical Aspects of Love inspects the nature of that emotion that makes people go gaga and whisper mushy sweet nothings.

Two new plays are unveiled.

I-S chats with Dr. Piergiorgio Muzi, a professor who teaches Latin, and uncovers interesting tidbits about this seemingly “dead” language.

Style maestro Hideki Akiyoshi, creative director of Style Asia, recently staged the arts and fashion festival Motorola SUPER-Style Mix. This Japan native is one of the most clued-in and trendiest dudes in town, and probably owns more clothes than your whole family combined. Don’t believe us? Read on.