D4 life movies | THE STRAITS TIMES | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016 | | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016 | THE STRAITS TIMES | movies life D5

Singapore International Film Festival Explore revenge, tickling, blindness

French film-maker Tran Anh Hung (above) is behind Eternity, starring Here are some The Singapore International Film blood and violence in the South the loss section is the gorgeous films need love too. The Guardian gave it a full five “competitive endurance tickling” chance for the audience to test the Audrey Tautou Festival claims to have something Korean fashion. It comes from Fili- nine-minute animation, Grandma Recent School of the Arts gradu- stars, calling it an “articulate, elo- and go to the United States to make technology. (left). PHOTOS: works to look at for everyone. pino film-maker Lav Diaz, whose Loleng, from 21-year-old Che ate Khym Fong directed the nine- quent and soul-searchingly honest” a documentary about it. They got His five-minute film, commis- SINGAPORE Variety is great, but there could films are known for their serious- Tagyamon from the Philippines. minute Mao Shan Wang, about an look at what it means to lose one’s what they wanted, but not without sioned by cable television provider INTERNATIONAL FILM from the festival’s be a downside – paralysis. With ness and length. At just under four This wordless neon-coloured col- elderly man and his reveries as he sight. a fight from the secretive and litiga- StarHub, will be a “big gamble” FESTIVAL more than 160 films on offer this hours, this film is only half as long lage of drawings, photographs and picks durians. The 18-year-old, Certain Women (rating to be an- tion-happy organisers of the event. because of how it takes the plunge more than 160 films year and a standard ticket priced at as his last work. music deals with how a joyful speaking to The Straits Times, says nounced, 107 minutes) stars Laura This work was nominated for a into uncharted waters. $12, pulling the trigger on a pur- It tells the story of Horacia (Charo present cannot be safe from terri- the work is about “the rituals of Dern, Kristen Stewart and Michelle Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sun- His proposed VR-360 project – chase can be hard. Santos-Concio), a woman released ble memories of wartime. grief”. Williams in an anthology based on dance Film Festival. which lets users wearing headsets Fascinated by the timelessness of large families Here are the works The Straits from prison after 30 years. She is The Road To Mandalay (NC16, “People cope with adversity in the short stories of Maile Meloy. Virtual reality (VR) is supposed to look around a space and interact Times thinks deserve a second poor and the man who framed her – 110 minutes) deals with strife of different ways,” she says, and in the The rugged terrain of Montana is be the next breakthrough in cine- with it – will be filmed using real glance, based on press previews, a former lover – is rich, and so another kind – the exploitation of case of the older man, he finds com- the common thread in this work ma. objects and actors, rather than the Vietnam-born French film-maker Alice Ferney. awards and festival reviews from unfolds a story that, like so many of foreign labour in Thailand. Celebrat- fort in the slow process of hunting from a stalwart of independent cine- In the talks section of the festival, commonly used computer graph- Tran Anh Hung will appear at the “I was moved by the book,” he VIEW IT / ETERNITY (PG13) around the world. They are not mar- Diaz’s works, digs into class and ed Taiwanese film-maker Midi Z fruit in the jungle. ma, Kelly Reichardt, who is known a Singapore production house is ics. festival to give a talk and to show off says to The Straits Times over the WHERE: Shaw Theatres Lido, quee films with stars – those will wealth in Filipino society. likes to go back to his birthplace of The Cinema Today section is the for telling stories from the female about to embark on an ambitious On the Web, there are VR Eternity, his latest work. telephone from his home in Paris. 350 Orchard Road find an audience with no problem – For those with shorter attention Myanmar for inspiration and, in place to find works from North perspective. project that few have done – make a haunted-house tours, music videos, The sumptuously staged histori- He was fascinated by Ferney’s John Lui but films that have character. spans, the Southeast Asian Short this Golden Horse-nominated America and Europe that have set In contrast to Reichardt’s portray- VR film that tells a story, rather and tours of space or the sea. These cal drama, spanning generations of depiction of a sprawling family WHEN: Nov 24, 9.30pm The Woman Who Left (rating to Film Competition section is the work, two young people, played by festivals buzzing. als of women’s lives, Tickled (rat- than take viewers on just a virtual do not have a narrative, but that is a French family and several time with deep roots in French society, ADMISSION: $12 from Sistic Film Correspondent be announced, 228 minutes) is the place to find plenty of variety, Wu Ke Xi and Kai Ko, find romance Standouts this year include Brit- ing to be announced, 92 minutes) is tour of a location. what he wants to do with the tech- periods, stars three of France’s best which contrasted with the one in (call 6348-5555 or go to winner of this year’s Golden Lion, usually of a high quality. and terror after they make an illegal ish documentary Notes On Blind- all about men being men, but in Mr Pok Yue Weng, 44, co-founder nology. known names: Audrey Tautou, Mel- which he grew up. His family fled to the top prize at the Venice Film Fes- There are three anthologies, crossing into hostile territory. ness (PG, 90 minutes), based on ways some might find strange. of the Creative Room label, will “The real challenge is using VR to anie Laurent and Berenice Bejo. France from a war-torn Vietnam www.sistic.com.sg) tival. broadly grouped under the classifi- The feature-length movies in the the audio diaries of writer and theo- New Zealanders David Farrier speak about the planning and work tell a story,” he says. For Hung, 53, this is his most when he was 12. INFO: Director Tran Anh Hung This is a revenge drama, but do cations of “political landscapes”, Singapore Panorama section usual- logian John Hull, who went blind in and Dylan Reeve follow a tip about that will go into his yet-to-be-made ambitious work, in both scale and “I have only my parents and my will attend the screening not expect an operatic romp of “the Asian psyche” and “loss”. In ly get all the attention, but the short 1983 after years of failing vision. the bizarre underground sport of mystery-thriller and there will be a [email protected] calibre of the stars. brother, feeling fragile in this As a film-maker who made his world,” he says. Large families BOOK IT /MASTERCLASS career with intimate works set in endure many years and it was the WITH TRAN ANH HUNG Vietnam – such as the Oscar-nomi- idea of the timelessness that he Film picks nated The Scent Of Green Papaya wanted to capture. WHERE: Gallery Theatre, (1993) – Eternity marks a turning “Man and woman meet, they National Museum of Singapore, point because it is set in his home have children, some of them die, 93 Stamford Road CINEMA country, with French actors. and there are new children. I move WHEN: Nov 26, 11am TODAY: He says that going home, as it fast. I wanted to get a new emotion, British were, was never a career goal. It all a feeling of looking at families from ADMISSION: $5 documenta- began with L’Elegance Des Veuves, the point of view of eternity,” he INFO: sgiff2016.peatix.com ry Notes On the 1995 novel by French writer says. Blindness looks at what it means to Capturing the lose one’s sight. struggle of old and new

In the Singapore International Film Festival’s opening feature, Inter- change, men mutate into birds while forest shamans cast spells on cynical cops trying to find a serial killer in a high-tech tropical city. It sounds like a rather odd mish- mash, but Malaysian director Dain Iskandar Said says his supernatural thriller, which he also co-wrote, is a clash of cultures and ideas, much like the cities of South-east Asia. Malaysian Under the concrete of Bangkok, director Dain VIEW IT / INTERCHANGE Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar Said (PG13) (left) says Singapore is a layer of myth and folk- Interchange WHERE: Sands Theatre, Marina lore going back to tribal times. (above), is a BaySands, 10 Bayfront Avenue “There are two worlds. In the clash of cultures film, you see the jungle taking over and ideas, much WHEN: Nov 23, 7.15pm abandoned buildings,” he says. like the cities of ADMISSION: $25 from Sistic It features a mix of actors from South-east Asia. Indonesia and Malaysia, with Dain INFO: Director Dain Iskandar and cast members scheduled to Said and cast will attend the appear at the screening. screening The struggle of old and new, of myth versus science, held dramatic appeal for the artist who has done the earliest known photographs of phone from Kuala Lumpur. work with folklore and tradition. Borneo tribal people. “The irony for me was that their Interchange is his third feature. “I was struck by this shot of washing was photographed. I won- The need to make a film about the women bending over in a stream. dered how many times they had to subject was triggered by a book The caption said, ‘Women washing go through the cleansing ritual. Peo- published in the early 20th century themselves to remove the evil of ple all over the world believed that PHOTOS: by Norwegian explorer Carl Sofus being photographed,’” Dain says to photographs take away your soul,” SINGAPORE Lumholtz, which contains some of The Straits Times over the tele- he adds. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Optimistic on Hong ASIAN VISION: CINEMA SOUTH- Filipino TODAY: EAST ASIAN Kong film industry revenge drama Tickled, a SHORT The Woman documentary FILM Who Left won by New COMPETI- this year’s Zealanders TION: Golden Lion, David Farrier Grandma Writer-director Herman Yau is the top prize at and Dylan Loleng from upbeat about the Hong Kong film the Venice Film Reeve, explores Che industry he works in, in spite of Festival. the bizarre Tagyamon, others saying it is a shadow of its underground 21, from the former self. sport of Philippines, The prolific 55-year-old releases “competitive deals with two films a year, sometimes three, endurance how a joyful covering period dramas (The Wom- tickling”. present an Knight Of Mirror Lake, 2011) to cannot be martial arts (Ip Man: The Final safe from Fight, 2013) to horror (The Second terrible Coming, 2014). memories of The work coming to the festival Anthony Wong wartime. fits into yet another genre: triad (above) stars in VIEW IT / THE MOBFATHERS movies. The Mobfathers stars Chap- The Mobfathers (R21) man To and Anthony Wong as gang- by Hong Kong WHERE: Shaw Theatres Lido, OPENING & SINGAPORE VIEW IT / SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL sters in a war of succession. writer-director 350 Orchard Road SPECIAL PANORAMA FILM FESTIVAL Yau says he is glad the film was Herman Yau (left). PRESENTA- SHORTS: made – the growing importance of WHEN: Nov 29, 9.30pm WHERE: Marina Bay Sands, The Arts House, Capitol China-Hong Kong joint film ven- TION FILMS: Mao Shan Wang ADMISSION: $12 from Sistic The Road To by recent Theatre, Filmgarde Bugis+, National Gallery Singapore, tures to produce films for the main- Mandalay by School of the National Museum of Singapore, Objectifs Centre for land market has lowered the INFO: Director Herman Yau will Taiwanese Arts graduate Photography and Film, Shaw Theatres Lido number of gangland pictures. speak at the screening “The censorship system doesn’t film-maker Khym Fong is WHEN: Nov 23 to Dec 4 Midi Z deals about an elderly allow triad films,” he tells The with the man and his ADMISSION: $12 to $25 (films), Straits Times over the telephone ing the boldness of Hong Kong film- cient”. Time is money, he says. exploitation of reveries as he $5 (masterclasses and talks) from Hong Kong. To access the making as some do. “I’ve made more than 80 films lucrative mainland market, crime “It’s a not very significant portion and just a few have lost money. foreign labour picks durians. INFO: sgiff.com in Thailand. films need to show the baddies of Hong Kong cinema that is now They are mostly profitable and that hauled off to prison, but in Yau’s trying to match the mainland’s cen- is because I stay under budget.” movie, the cops barely show up; the sorship standards. It is not the He also has other ways of stretch- focus is kept on internal gang poli- whole film industry that is follow- ing the budget. tics. ing the trend,” he says. “In The Mobfathers, I used 100 Yau has worked in China co-pro- As for how prolific he is, he says it extras, but onscreen, it looks like ductions, such as Mirror Lake, and is all down to his speed. He gets there are several hundred of them,” does not see mainland money dilut- hired, he guesses, because he is “effi- he says.