INTER-MEZZO is a documentary of performance as well as a performance of documentary. Through a triptych, which treats the voice as a metaphor for political voice, Stephen Chen traces his journey as a male mezzo, faced with prejudice and marginalization back in Singapore, and later in North America. The schooling and suppression of his voice becomes interwoven with his experiences of colonialism and exile.
DOH! OH DEAR, A FEMALE TEAR! plays with the biography documentary form, dealing with issues of voice / gender / representation as Stephen traces his westernization, the discovery and silencing of his voice, and people's reactions in Singapore and North America.
WHAT THE FACH? exploits the “talking heads” documentary genre, and uses the classification of the Western voice into categories (or fachs) to parallel other formalized or “natural” boundaries to illustrate how such categories are exclusionary and defined by systems of power.
DEEP THROAT, HIGH PALATE utilizes “experimental” documentary techniques to reflect on critical artistic praxis. Stephen traces the rediscovery of his voice through biases of colonialism and repression, to ultimately transform and transcend the degraded material and past.
Deliberately and revelling in its low budget, INTER-MEZZO posits itself against the increasing clamour of superficial style and production values vs. content and commentary. Ultimately, INTER-MEZZO is about questioning norms and boundaries others accept as “natural,” and finding one's voice amidst suppression and exclusion.