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Who would have thought—having just dimmed Stories have a magical ability to transport CHAIRPERSON’S the lights after the celebrations of our 30th EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S us to different realities. They give us new MESSAGE edition last year, we would be faced with a MESSAGE perspectives, provoke conversation, global pandemic that would bring everything inspire action. They bring us on a journey to a standstill. In the film world, we have seen through someone else’s eyes. productions postponed and cinemas shut. Some of the biggest film festivals in the world Film is one beautiful way in which stories are have been forced to change their formats or told. A group of individuals gather in a cinema cancel their events for the year entirely. serendipitously to experience a film together. When the credits roll and audiences gradually At SGIFF, 2020 was going to be a year for exit, no doubt, each person has a slightly rejuvenation. The team came together in different take on the film. Conversations spark January to envision the future of this festival as people figure out plotlines, discuss what that is beloved by so many in Singapore and they missed, make sense of what they just the region. saw—certainly, film inspires connection.
We wanted to embark on the quest of The pandemic has put a pause on these social deepening the appreciation for cinema in connections that we often take for granted. Singapore, and for SGIFF to become the We crave their return, but we push on. leading platform for independent films from Southeast Asia. With our new Executive Local cinemas have reopened, albeit with strict Director Emily J. Hoe coming on board, and safety measures. Filmmakers and their crews Ming-Jung stepping up as Artistic Director, have had to figure out new ways of working. we started to chart the journey forward At the same time, all of us have also made with them. I am very pleased that, despite do with the fact that our home or personal the challenges posed by the pandemic, the screens had become a substitute for the big commitment towards growing our community screen. It felt like a necessary shift in how of film lovers remains stronger than ever. we experience film, but it is nevertheless a substitute. It’s hard to replace that feeling of During the lockdown when we were stuck anticipation when you’re sitting in a cinema at home, films have kept us company eagerly awaiting the start of a film, surrounded and given us a window to escape, to by a community who is just as excited as you imagine and to explore. I invite you to to see how this particular story will unfold. continue this exploration with us this November, accompanied by a whole We miss this feeling of community. We community of film lovers and filmmakers. miss you, every single one of you. We have Whether you are experiencing the films forged ahead with the festival to continue at home or in the cinemas, here’s a to put the spotlight on the amazing works of chance for us to finally connect with one filmmakers in Singapore, Asia and the rest of another again through the movies. the world. We are grateful for the opportunity to share the magic of film with you, and can’t Have a good time at the festival! wait to join you at one of our screenings.
Boo Junfeng Emily J. Hoe
6 7 At the height of the pandemic, SGIFF was Though travel restrictions have curtailed the ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S asked, and we asked ourselves, if cancellation attendance of many filmmakers to the festival, MESSAGE was an option. We had decided early on that some will participate remotely. We believe that the festival should go ahead, taking whatever the semblance of a true festival experience form was necessary. We felt SGIFF had to keep remains vital. Whatever the future holds for going as a supporter of films and filmmakers. festivals, their traditions or new hybrid forms, When cinemas closed, we planned for an online we strongly believe that the ritual of coming festival even though the decision to go online together for a shared experience, and the beauty was not an easy one. However, as cinemas of hearing diverse viewpoints and stories, gradually opened up, a hybrid festival became contribute positively to our sense of community. a possibility. So despite some restrictions, we still have one cinema screening for every SGIFF is grateful to all who have given their selected film, maintaining and fulfilling our time and support to the festival to continue its commitment to a full cinematic experience. mission under the most difficult circumstances; to the filmmakers whose work continues to The films available for consideration in this challenge and inspire us; and, above all, to the edition of SGIFF were conceived and produced audiences, whose enthusiasm and dedication way before the pandemic, and the best films to cinema give film festivals their purpose. about our unique present state are likely to be made in the future, after a time of creative Kuo Ming-Jung reflection. Nevertheless, the films in the programme still speak for the times we live in: personal stories, the search for identity, for one’s belonging, for the meaning of existence, questions of community, of social change and the desire for improvement. These sentiments are as potent as ever. We see filmmakers asking honest and sometimes raw questions through their stories and characters. There is vulnerability but also strength in their message.
SGIFF continues its aim to support local and regional filmmakers whose works shape the Southeast Asian identity. This year’s opening film, Tiong Bahru Social Club from Singapore, explores identity through its fantastical style, while the subject of identity is also examined in the documentary Sementara. A highlight of this year’s programme is the strength of short films and documentaries from Singapore and Southeast Asia. SGIFF has also maintained its commitment to Southeast Asian talent with our Film Academy: Southeast Asian Film Lab, Southeast Asian Producers Network, and Youth Jury & Critics Programme.
8 9 CONTENTS
73 films from 49 countries 14 Silver Screen Awards ABBREVIATIONS / LEGENDS Q&A WITH FILMMAKER(S) 19 Talks and Panels Indicates a live or prerecorded 27 Films Venues Q&A with the filmmaker(s). 28 Festival Opening SL Shaw Lido 31 Films in Competition – Asian Feature Film FG3 Filmgarde Bugis+, Hall 3 PREMIERE STATUS 36 Films in Competition – Southeast Asian Short Film FG7 Filmgarde Bugis+, Hall 7 While SGIFF has always maintained a 45 Singapore Panorama FG8 Filmgarde Bugis+, Hall 8 Singapore Premiere policy for all new films, 53 Asian Vision OT Oldham Theatre we are taking an exceptional stance on 65 Cinema Today TPG The Projector, Green Room premiere policy this year in an attempt to 73 Moonlight Cinema ONLINE Virtual Film Screening support filmmakers. For many short films, in 75 Film Academy particular, prior screenings without geoblocking 76 Southeast Asian Film Lab Film Credits may have resulted in worldwide availability. 78 Youth Jury & Critics Programme D Director 80 Southeast Asian Producers Network P Producer RATINGS 81 Film Fund C Cast Please check film ratings on sgiff.com 82 New Waves before purchasing tickets. 83 Film Immersion Programme 84 Donate to the Festival LABELS 87 About the Festival 91 Acknowledgements SEA-DOC GRANT 92 Film Index SEA-DOC Grant indicates that the film has received support from the Tan Ean Kiam Foundation-SGIFF Southeast Asian- Other Useful Information Documentary Grant. Refer to the centrefold for Festival Schedule and Ticketing Information. SEA-SHORTS GRANT SEA-SHORTS Grant indicates that the film has received support from the SGIFF Southeast Asian-Short Film Grant.
LANGUAGE All films will be shown in their original language. Films with non-English dialogue will be screened with English subtitles.
All information is correct at the time of print.
Visit SGIFF.COM for the latest Festival updates.
10 11 EXPERIENCING THE HYBRID FESTIVAL
For the first time, some films … IN CINEMA TALKS AND PANELS CONNECT WITH US! will have virtual screenings Due to the reduced seating capacity in For our offscreen events, the In After attending the film screenings and due to tighter capacity limits accordance with pandemic guidelines, Conversation dialogues and panel online events, remember to tell your and public health concerns. tickets are more limited than usual. discussions will be held virtually friends, continue the conversation and We will also connect with Please check sgiff.com for ticketing and available worldwide. share with us your festival experience updates to verify if seats are still using the hashtag #SGIFF31! each other online in our available. Remember to book your Register for free today at offscreen programmes. tickets early to avoid disappointment! sgiff.com/talksandpanels Always check sgiff.com for the latest updates in schedule and our social Our hybrid film festival format channels for exciting festival coverage. allows you to enjoy many of the … AT HOME @sginternationalfilmfest films either in the comforting The films that have virtual screenings darkness of the cinema or are indicated as ONLINE. Each film will @sgiffest be available for 48 hours and may be in the warmth of home. accessed in Singapore only. For information on Covid-19 safety guidelines, please check sgiff.com/faq Sign up for an account with The Projector Plus to view the films at sgiff.com.
For ticketing information, please refer to the centrefold.
12 13 Introduced in 1991, the Silver SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT FILM Screen Awards was the first COMPETITION international competition with Best Southeast Asian Short Film a category dedicated to Asian Best Singapore Short Film cinema. It aims to draw attention Best Director Youth Jury Prize to filmmaking talent from across Asia, with a particular focus ASIAN FEATURE FILM COMPETITION on Southeast Asia. Many of its Best Film nominees and awardees have Best Director since established themselves Best Performance among the region’s most prominent filmmakers. YOUTH JURY & CRITICS PROGRAMME Young Critic Award This year, despite great upheaval and challenges for filmmakers, SOUTHEAST ASIAN FILM LAB SGIFF has decided to reinforce Most Promising Project Fellowship Prize the spirit of the Silver Screen Awards, pressing ahead with two film competitions and two programmes from the Film Academy to encourage and keep alive cinematic storytelling, cherishing film as a form of art for better times. SILVER SCREEN AWARDS
To read more about Films in Competition, turn to pages 31–43.
14 15 ASIAN FEATURE FILM COMPETITION JURY
JOÃO PEDRO RODRIGUES MARY STEPHEN MOULY SURYA JOHN TORRES João Pedro Rodrigues is a Portuguese Mary Stephen collaborated with French New Mouly Surya studied literature and filmmaking John Torres is a filmmaker, writer and musician filmmaker based in Lisbon. His films have Wave director Eric Rohmer for more than 25 in Australia. Since her debut film, Fiksi (2008), from Manila, Philippines, whose films have been screened at Cannes, Venice, Locarno, years editing and co-composing music. She she has won numerous local and international been screened widely at international festivals. Toronto and Berlin, among others. His was the assistant to his then-editor Cécile awards. Her latest film, Marlina the Murderer His debut, Todo Todo Teros (2006), won the debut feature, O Fantasma (2000), was in Decugis and the editor for Rohmer’s films in Four Acts (2017), premiered at Cannes Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema competition at Venice Film Festival. His fifth including Winter’s Tale (1991) and The Romance and was released in 14 countries including at Vancouver International Film Festival, and feature, The Ornithologist (2016), won the of Astrea and Celadon (2007). In the past the US and Canada. In 2018, it bagged a the NETPAC and FIPRESCI Critics awards Silver Leopard for Best Director at Locarno. decade, Stephen has worked with independent record 10 awards at the Citra Awards of at SGIFF. He has made five features and In 2016, the Pompidou Centre in Paris hosted filmmakers and producers worldwide in the her home country, Indonesia. The film was numerous shorts as well as a multichannel a complete retrospective of his work. capacities of editing, associate-producing and also Indonesia’s entry for Best Foreign work that was shown in Rotterdam and Berlin. coaching, while still making her own films. Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
16 17 The Festival offers a series of SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT FILM dialogues and panel discussions COMPETITION JURY by filmmakers and industry experts who will provide insights into their creative processes, and how to navigate a fast-changing film and media landscape. With these, we hope to inform, inspire and encourage the continuing conversation between filmmakers and audiences.
HO TZU NYEN NAWAPOL WANG CHUN-CHI THAMRONGRATTANARIT Ho Tzu Nyen is a Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit Wang Chun-Chi is the director multidisciplinary artist from is a self-taught director, film of Taiwan Film Institute. Singapore. Spanning the critic and screenwriter. His She received her PhD in mediums of film, video, works have earned critical Cinema-Television Critical performance and installation, acclaim for their unique and Studies from the University his works have been shown eccentric style. In 2012, his of Southern California. As extensively at galleries feature debut 36 won the New an academic, her research worldwide. Most recently, Currents Award at Busan. His revolves around issues of he was co-curator of the 7th other features, Mary Is Happy, gender and sexuality and the Asian Art Biennale in Taipei Mary Is Happy (2013) and Die cultural history of film. She (2019). Ho represented Tomorrow (2017), have been is currently the chairperson Singapore at the 54th screened internationally. of Taiwan Women’s Film Venice Biennale (2011). Association and was formerly a programmer for the Women Make Wave Film Festival.
TALKS AND PANELS 18 FILMSTALKS IN & COMPETITON PANELS 21 page –Founderdirectorand – – for more details.more for sgiff.com/talksandpanels Shozo IchiyamaShozo IchiyamaknownFilmex,Shozois Tokyo of award-winningmanyhas the hefilms for this for mentorhead produced.the is He SoutheastLab.Seeyear’sAsianFilm 76 Online | 60min | 7pm 7pm | This event will be heldwillonline,Thisbeevent participantsopento worldwide. moredetailsregisterFor tothisand event,forplease visit 1 Dec, Tue Tue Dec, 1 and selecting projects he believes in.believes selectingheprojects and directors? new in value he does What shouldaspiringareas What the is what And on? focusfilmmakers independentproduction? of future career has seen him enable some of of enablesome him seen hascareer internationalin namesbiggest the Hsiao-HouKitano, cinema:Takeshi MakhmalbafmostHsien,and,Samira begunHaving Zhangke. Jia notably, Shochikustudio,the at careerhis broaden to ways quicklysought he champion to andhorizons his voices,independent creative and alongsideworkinginternational HeJapan. in thoseand filmmakers new of advocate an beenlong has increasinglyhas hetalent, which career own his as promote to sought expanded. have reputationand encourage determinationto His launchthe to him led voices new He 2000. in festival Filmex Tokyo hiscollaboratingcurrently on is Singapore.from project first discussingbeaspects willIchiyama with working as such career, his of directors,co-internationalnotable directorsproduction, finding new JapaneseproducerShozo distinguishedIchiyama’s 30-year IN CONVERSATION WITH CONVERSATIONIN ICHIYAMA SHOZO
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30 Nov, Mon Nov, 30 ANN HUI ANN IN CONVERSATION WITH WITH CONVERSATION IN 20 FILMSTALKS IN & COMPETITON PANELS 23
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29 Nov, Sun Nov, 29 Shaping Southeast Asian IdentitiesAsian SoutheastShaping Documentarythrough PANELDISCUSSION 22 FILMSTALKS IN & COMPETITON PANELS 25
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2 Dec, Wed Wed Dec, 2 Future of Cinema: of Future Film of Experience theRethinking PANELDISCUSSION 24 This year we have a slimmer selection, but we retain our core objective of bringing outstanding and unmissable gems from world cinema to you. The films of 2020 continue to explore, express and reflect the times we live in through bold views and imaginative storytelling that plumb the depths of humanity.
Join us to be charmed, excited, challenged and provoked by these 73 films that capture the zeitgeist of our times.
FILMS
Yellow Cat FILMSOPENING IN COMPETITON FILM 29
( ) ( ) Snakeskin ( ), among ( ), TiongBahruSocial is a Singaporeana is FundamentallyHappy As You Were You As is his solohisdirectorialis debut. producer,writerdirectorand has who multipleworkedon award-winning films. foundingA memberindependent of collectivefilmLittlePictures, Tan co-directed producedandBinYuan Leiwith and ( ) otherlocalfilms. Club HuangJunxiang ThomasPang,GohGuatKian, JalynHan Tan BeeThiam Tan
D P C LSW Tan Bee Thiam’sBeeoffbeat satirical Tan comedy takes whimsicala sci-fisoftandapproach funpoke to Singapore’sat preoccupation results-drivenwith practicalities.society a Inwhereeverything—including happiness—isquantified managed,and tendermoments whichinvulnerabilities revealedare become radical forgeactsthatbondsreal ruptureand anveneerthe of enforcedhappiness. CheckSGIFF.comratings for Employed as a happinessEmployeda as agent,taskedisBee Ah growsincreasinglyheHowever, alienated and Ah Bee leaves his dull office job at a factoryjoinleavesBeedullhisto a Ah office at job residentsidyllic,thein pastel-hued neighbourhood of TiongBahru. rebelliousa Wee,takingwithMs careof elderly resident joinedwhofreebies.the for lookingto Fromcat her for participatinggroupinhappiness exercises, seemsitlike world.thebestinjobthe questionscold,the mechanical achievingnatureof happiness,whereeveryhappiness riskof atagent is beingcontributereplacednot do they if enough the to community’soverallhappiness index. TiongtheBahru Social exclusive Club—an data-driven pilotprogramme createworld’stheaimsthathappiestto Q&Afilmmaker(s)with in Cast C SL BlackMirror Producer P 7PM, 8PM Director D
26 NOV, THU NOV, 26
MANDARIN, HOKKIEN, MALAY, TAMIL / NC16 / TAMIL MALAY, HOKKIEN, MANDARIN, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 88MIN / ENGLISH, CANTONESE,
28 construct of happinessconstructSingapore. of in this satiricalthisquestionscomedythat the Wes Andersonmeets Wes
[SOUTHEASTASIAN PREMIERE] SOCIAL CLUB SOCIAL
TIONG BAHRUTIONG OPENINGFILM COMMISSIONED The Asian Feature Competition SHORT has eight films by directors making their first or second features. This year, five of these mark directorial debuts, highlighting a new generation of exciting talent in Asia. There is a dynamic variety of styles, but each film presents NEWBORN its themes—whether personal or A teenager struggles to care generational, challenging moralities for her newborn in the wake of her mother’s disappearance. or unspeakable violence, the speed of change or the force of forgetting— Pei Ling is forced to take on the full duties of caring for her newborn after her SINGAPORE / 2020 / 12MIN / mother’s disappearance. Struggling with her identity as a young mother, she with daring and commitment. MANDARIN finds ways to cope with the burden of abandonment and single parenthood. 26 NOV, THU 7PM, 8PM SL As always, the Southeast Asian This flm will be screened together D Shoki Lin is a director, writer and cinematographer based in Short Film Competition defies easy with Tiong Bahru Social Club (p. 28). Singapore. His previous short film, Adam (2019), was part of the Cinéfondation Selection at Cannes, and was awarded Best summary, considering the numerous Singapore Short Film at SGIFF. selections and the diversity of their themes, styles and stories. We highly recommend you enjoy the variety Catch the Best of Fest! We are and revel in the abundance of strong, FILMS rescreening winning films from the creative talent from the region. Silver Screen Awards and Audience Choice Award in the cinemas.
Winners will be announced on Sunday 6 Dec 2020, 9am on sgiff.com
6 Dec, Sun | 1pm | FG3 Best Southeast Asian Short Film Award winner Best Asian Feature Film Award winner
6 Dec, Sun | 4pm | FG3 Best Singapore Short Film Award winner Audience Choice Award winner IN For ticketing details, please refer to the centrefold. COMPETITION
30 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) No Love for the Young FILMS IN INCOMPETITION COMPETITON A BALANCE THE CLOUD IN HER ROOM A psychological drama of moralities A young woman returns to her hometown that dives deep into the complexities of where she connects with the old, the new, individuals, as truths are altered as much the city and herself. as the perception of them shifts. [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] CHINA, HONG KONG / 2020 / 101MIN / MANDARIN / R21 JAPAN / 2020 / 152MIN / JAPANESE 28 NOV, SAT 6:30PM FG3 1 DEC, TUE 6:30PM FG7 + ONLINE 5 DEC, SAT 3:30PM FG7
Yuko is an empathetic documentary filmmaker who D Yujiro Harumoto’s debut feature, Going Twenty-something Muzi returns to her hometown D Zheng Lu Xinyuan is a director based works after hours at her father’s cram school, where she the Distance (2016), which he produced, of Hangzhou for Chinese New Year. Through interactions in Hangzhou, China. Her works have befriends a troubled student, Mei. For her documentary, wrote, edited and directed, was screened with her friends, family and lovers, both old and new, Muzi been screened at various film festivals Yuko tries to unearth the truth of a sensational case internationally at festivals, and received a navigates what it means to be female – as a daughter, a internationally. Winner of the prestigious of school bullying, interviewing family members of the commercial release in Japan. A Balance, his sister and, most of all, as a woman who desires and wants Tiger Award at International Film Festival high-school student and teacher suspected of a love second feature, was selected for festivals such to be desired. The black-and-white film, its inexplicable Rotterdam, The Cloud in Her Room is her affair. While she carries the immense emotional burden as as Tokyo Filmex and Busan. cuts and documentary-style sequences mirror the debut feature. conduit and mediator between tortured parties’ and their disconcerting experience of being surrounded by the new truths, Yuko also has to battle her own conscience after a P Yujiro Harumoto, Tetsuya Matsushima, Sunao Katabuchi and the familiar as well as the occasionally bumpy road P Wang Zijian shocking discovery about her father. C Kumi Takiuchi, Ken Mitsuishi, Masahiro Umeda of a young woman’s self-discovery. Zheng Lu Xinyuan C Jin Jing, Liu Dan, Chen Zhou In a world where one’s conscience, self-interest and brings the audiences through Muzi’s journey slowly, but the pressures of society continually collide to form lies, with a confident hand. The film ultimately emerges as a perhaps balance, or healing, can be reached by revealing charismatic and thoughtful take on a woman’s identity in a the truth. FL constantly changing world. GN
BEGINNING GERANIUM დასაწყისი SARDUNYA This stellar, award-winning debut examines An affecting drama about mortality, familial the extreme isolation of a woman’s suffering relationships and morality as a 19-year-old that is quiet, though no less acute. unwittingly undergoes a crash course on life.
[CANCELLED] GEORGIA, FRANCE / 2020 / 125MIN / GEORGIAN TURKEY / 2020 / 82MIN / TURKISH / PG13 27 NOV, FRI 6:30PM FG7 4 DEC, FRI 6:30PM FG3 4 DEC, FRI 6:30PM FG7 + ONLINE
Yana, a former actress, and her minister husband D Dea Kulumbegashvili is a Georgian film Defne returns home in the middle of her university D Turkish filmmaker and educator Çağıl are Jehovah’s Witness missionaries in a remote Georgian director. Her first short film, Invisible Spaces studies following her father’s stroke to help him Bocut completed his PhD in cinema and town. Following a horrific attack on their church, her (2014), was nominated for the Short Film recuperate, and their fraught relationship gradually television at Marmara University in Istanbul husband leaves on a work trip. Yana, alone with her young Palme d’Or, becoming the first film from mends during the rehabilitative period. At the same in 2018. He has made a number of short son, is faced with a hostile community and a corrupt independent Georgia selected for competition time, her aunt, who lives with them, and the family dog films that were screened worldwide, and police. Embroiled in an identity crisis herself, Yana at Cannes. Beginning emerged a major winner at are suffering from terminal illnesses. The air at home Geranium is his debut feature. endures physical and psychological trauma, with no one San Sebastián Film Festival, clinching Best Film, is thick with mortality, lies and malaise. Through it all, to turn to. Best Director, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. their congenial longtime housekeeper Mari tries her P Asli Erdem, Çağlar Bocut Through the juxtaposition of natural scenery against best to continue caring for the family. Following a family C Ilayda Elif Elhih, Ali Seçkiner Alici, Evren Duyal cold, domestic spaces, Yana’s torment is not so much P Steven Darty, Adrien Dassault tragedy, Defne, who is implicated in it, has to face the seen but felt, resonating through the spaces she inhabits. C Ia Sukhitashvili, Rati Oneli, Kakha Kintsurashvili consequences or betray her morality. Dea Kulumbegashvili’s still camerawork with precise mise Geranium is a striking debut that shows a en scène dispassionately paints a stoic front that belies young woman on the cusp of adulthood, forced by the dark undertows of a woman’s suffering. GN circumstances to confront the human condition. FL
32 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 33 FILMS IN INCOMPETITION COMPETITON MILESTONE TIONG BAHRU SOCIAL CLUB Wes Anderson meets Black Mirror in Facing obsolescence, a stoic truck driver tries this satirical comedy that questions the to retain control of his life in this gritty take construct of happiness in Singapore. on what it means to become one’s work.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
INDIA / 2020 / 98MIN / HINDI, PUNJABI, KASHMIRI SINGAPORE / 2020 / 88MIN / ENGLISH, CANTONESE, MANDARIN, HOKKIEN, MALAY, TAMIL / NC16 29 NOV, SUN 6:30PM FG3 2 DEC, WED 6:30PM FG7 26 NOV, THU 7PM, 8PM SL
Ghalib, a Punjabi trucker in New Delhi, has hit D Ivan Ayr is a filmmaker who grew up in Ah Bee leaves his dull office job to join the Tiong D Tan Bee Thiam is a Singaporean producer, a milestone. While his truck has covered , northern India. His debut, Soni (2018), Bahru Social Club—a data-driven programme that aims writer and director. A founding member of kilometres, our aging protagonist finds his life stalled by garnered multiple accolades including Best to create the world’s happiest residents in the idyllic independent film collective 13 Little Pictures, a workers’ strike, the loss of his wife, and an inexplicable Film Award at Pingyao International Film neighbourhood. Employed as a happiness agent, Ah Bee Tan co-directed Fundamentally Happy (2016) pain in his back. When a young and eager Pash is Festival. Milestone premiered at this year’s is tasked with taking care of Ms Wee. From looking for with Lei Yuan Bin and produced Snakeskin assigned as his understudy, Ghalib realises what he must Venice International Film Festival. her cat to participating in group happiness exercises, it (2015) and As You Were (2014), among other do to keep his life’s work from falling apart. seems like the best job in the world. However, he grows local films. Tiong Bahru Social Club is his solo The harsh North Indian winter looms above all this, P Kimsi Singh increasingly alienated and questions their means of directorial debut. its grip constricting every worker’s life. Ivan Ayr’s film is C Suvinder Vicky, Lakshvir Saran achieving happiness. a sobering portrait of a man who—even as he confronts In a society where happiness is quantified and P Huang Junxiang his own disposability—insists on preserving his dignity. A managed, tender moments in which vulnerabilities are C Thomas Pang, Goh Guat Kian, Jalyn Han stunning follow-up to Soni ( ), Milestone establishes revealed become radical acts that forge real bonds and Ayr as the humanist filmmaker of our generation. SH rupture the veneer of an enforced happiness. LSW
This film will be screened together with Newborn (p. 0).
NO LOVE FOR THE YOUNG THE WASTELAND TIADA CINTA SELAMA MUDA Poetry, movement and theatre are fused in In this bleak study of human agency, a this lyrical experiment to express the ineffable brick factory and its community fall apart feeling of being young in today’s Malaysia. in quiet desolation.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [WORLD PREMIERE] IRAN / 2020 / 102MIN / PERSIAN, TURKISH, MALAYSIA / 2020 / 85MIN / BAHASA MELAYU, ENGLISH KURDISH / PG
30 NOV, MON 6:30PM FG7 + ONLINE 3 DEC, THU 6:30PM FG7 + ONLINE
What is passion? What is pleasure? Actors D Ridhwan Saidi is a Malaysian film director, Bricks are replaced by cement, which is cheaper D Ahmad Bahrami is an emerging voice to and non-actors contemplate questions of the heart theatre practitioner and novelist. His short to produce. And so it is for workers at a brick factory, look out for in the new generation of Iranian and play a game of word association, ruminating on films include Sisa Binasa (2019), and No Love who recognise the looming finality. They look to their filmmakers. He made his debut feature, definitions. And when words are inadequate, they for the Young is his debut feature. The author supervisor to mediate differences, while the factory Panah, in 2017. The Wasteland, his second employ movement. Drunk on life, art and a youthful of multiple novels, Ridhwan co-founded owner offers lies and platitudes as salve. When that last feature, was awarded Best Film in the honesty, characters reveal their inner worlds, relating a independent publishing house, Moka Mocha day arrives, there is little closure: unpaid salaries, familial Orizzonti section of Venice Film Festival. generation’s sensibilities. Ink, and established open theatre collective and ethnic tensions, unresolved romances. Collectively devised by Kuala Lumpur theatre Ensembel Teater Kaos Nol. The filmic style invites comparisons to Béla Tarr, P Saeed Bashiri group Ensembel Teater Kaos Nol, the film’s theatrical Abbas Kiarostami and Persian verse. Ahmad Bahrami has, C Ali Bagheri, Farrokh Nemati, Mahdieh Nassaj emotive thread is woven through an immersive visual P Nurul Aizam however, created a personal artistic signature, crafting language; combined with the music of poetry, No Love C Ensembel Teater Kaos Nol a powerful story in which the individual and the spaces for the Young becomes a wholly original and genre- they inhabit are inextricably connected. Like the act of defying voice. SH bricklaying, his images are weighty; they gain in intensity, culminating in a devastating final act. RL
34 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 35 SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT PROGRAMME 1 FILMS IN INCOMPETITION COMPETITON FILM COMPETITION 28 Nov, Sat | 1.30pm | 85min | OT + Online
All films in this programme will feature Q&A with the filmmakers.
1 THE UNSEEN RIVER VIETNAM, LAOS / 2020 / 23MIN / VIETNAMESE 4 THE SMELL OF COFFEE SINGAPORE / 2020 / 12MIN / TAMIL GIÒNG SÔNG KHÔNG NHÌN THẤY
Along the Mekong River, a woman reunites with [ASIAN PREMIERE] her ex-lover at a hydroelectric plant. Meanwhile, In the wake of his grandfather’s passing, Raga a young man travels downstream to a temple in accompanies his grieving grandmother. A faint yet search of a cure for his insomnia. KMJ familiar smell piques his curiosity, leading him on a journey of self-discovery in the fading apartment. SM
D Phạm Ngọc Lân’s previous shorts, D Nishok Nishok is studying filmmaking The Story of Ones and Another City, at the University of Westminster were screened widely at festivals and in London. The Smell of Coffee galleries around the world. He is currently premiered at the International Short developing a feature, Cu Li Never Cries. Film Festival Oberhausen.
2 JUDY FREE PHILIPPINES, SINGAPORE / 2019 / 20MIN / FILIPINO
[INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE] SEA-SHORTS GRANT
An impressionistic child’s-eye view from Judy, of the hope, longing, disruption and disappointment experienced by the families of migrant workers like hers during their infrequent reunions. KMJ
D Che Tagyamon’s animated short Grandma Loleng (2016) was screened at film festivals worldwide. She is an alumna of SGIFF’s Southeast Asian Film Lab 2018 and Berlinale Talents 2019.
3 RED ANINSRI; OR, TIPTOEING ON THAILAND / 2020 / 30MIN / THAI THE STILL TREMBLING BERLIN WALL
In an undercover spy mission, a transgender woman disguises as a masculine man to lure a student activist, only to fall in love. KMJ
D A graduate of the film department of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke works as a scriptwriter, film lecturer and critic. He was selected for Berlinale Talents in 2020.
36 D Director P Producer C Cast Check SGIFF.com for ratings 37 SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT PROGRAMME 2 FILMS IN INCOMPETITION COMPETITON FILM COMPETITION 28 Nov, Sat | 3.30pm | 80min | OT + Online
All films in this programme will feature Q&A with the filmmakers.
1 FILIPIÑANA PHILIPPINES, UK / 2020 / 24MIN / FILIPINO, ENGLISH 4 SUNRISE IN MY MIND CAMBODIA / 2020 / 14MIN / KHMER
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
At a dream-like golf course on an idyllic day, Isabel, the A young beautician working late at night in a salon new ‘tee girl’, struggles to understand her role on the tentatively gives in to her desires for a young delivery greens, from social hierarchy to staving off her youthful driver who cruises the streets of Phnom Penh on his curiosity. VC motorbike. KMJ
D Rafael Manuel is a Filipino writer- director, producer and editor based D Danech San is a Cambodian in London. He is currently working filmmaker. Her debut short, A Million on his debut feature also titled Years (2018), won Best Southeast Filipiñana, based on this short film. Asian Short Film at SGIFF.
2 HERE IS NOT THERE SINGAPORE / 2019 / 20MIN / MANDARIN
Against the stillness of the graveyard shift, two lovers reflect on the transitory lives they lead in Singapore. They wrestle with the inevitability of their fates, unwilling to give in. VC
D Local filmmaker Nelson Yeo was selected to participate in SGIFF’s Southeast Asian Film Lab in 2017. He is currently working on his debut feature, The Drought.
3 VIETNAM, SOUTH KOREA, SINGAPORE, THAILAND / BÌNH 2020 / 22MIN / VIETNAMESE
SEA-SHORTS GRANT
An alluring story of an alien in human form who arrives at the construction site of a colossal temple. His human encounters include a beguiling medium who has appeared in his dreams. SM
D Hanoi-born Ostin Fam is a filmmaker based in New York. His previous short film, short/cut, was screened at last year’s SGIFF.
38 D Director P Producer C Cast Check SGIFF.com for ratings 39 SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT PROGRAMME 3 FILMS IN INCOMPETITION COMPETITON FILM COMPETITION 29 Nov, Sun | 1.30pm | 85min | OT + Online
All films in this programme will feature Q&A with the filmmakers.
1 PEOPLE ON SUNDAY THAILAND / 2020 / 21MIN / THAI 4 TELLURIAN DRAMA INDONESIA / 2020 / 26MIN / BAHASA INDONESIA
In this homage to Menschen am Sonntag ( ), [WORLD PREMIERE] the watchful surveillance of the camera captures A docufiction that investigates alternative the paradox of actors trying to relax while working, Indonesian histories through a rumination of revealing the artificiality of the moving image. VC colonial ruins, the role of technology, and the invisible power of indigenous ancestry. SM
D Tulapop Saenjaroen is a Thai artist D Riar Rizaldi is a Hong Kong-based and filmmaker based in Bangkok. A Indonesian artist and researcher. His Room with a Coconut View (2018) was short films, such as Kasiterit (2019), have screened in competition at SGIFF. been screened at festivals worldwide.
2 TO CALM THE PIG INSIDE PHILIPPINES / 2020 / 19MIN / CEBUANO ANG PAGPAKALMA SA UNOS
Myths and memories meet in this contemplation of a typhoon’s devastation on a seaside city. SM
D Joanna Vasquez Arong started making films in Beijing before relocating back to her native Philippines. Her documentaries include Neo-Lounge (2007) and Yugong Yishan (2008).
3 ROCKETSHIP SINGAPORE / 2020 / 18MIN / ENGLISH
[ASIAN PREMIERE] Ten-year-old Samuel takes it upon himself to save his parents’ marriage by recreating a precious shared memory. VC
D Mathias Choo is a graduate of Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design and Media. As a director and editor, his films have travelled to several international film festivals.
40 D Director P Producer C Cast Check SGIFF.com for ratings 41 SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT PROGRAMME 4 FILMS IN INCOMPETITION COMPETITON FILM COMPETITION 29 Nov, Sun | 3.30pm | 85min | OT + Online
All films in this programme will feature Q&A with the filmmakers.
1 PHILIPPINES / 2020 / 12MIN / FILIPINO 4 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 17MIN / TEOCHEW, HOW TO DIE YOUNG THE CUP CEBUANO IN MANILA [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [WORLD PREMIERE] An allegory for distraction, a teenage boy roams Manila Moving through the rhythms of the day, looking for an anonymous hookup. The men he eyes man, as an organism, needs water, end up dead, and he must now find his true desire. VC sunlight, rest—and a nice cup of coffee— but not without a few mishaps. KMJ
D Petersen Vargas is a Filipino filmmaker. D Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen’s He is developing his second feature, features, Cannonball (2018) and Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, Revolution Launderette (2019), were which was presented at the Cannes both screened at SGIFF. Their films Cinéfondation Atelier this year. have been shown internationally.
2 MALAYSIA, TAIWAN / 2020 / 25MIN / 2 VIETNAM / 2020 / 15MIN / VIETNAMESE PULANG HAKKA, MANDARIN, CANTONESE A TRIP TO HEAVEN THIÊN ĐƯỜNG GỌI TÊN [INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE] Fifty-year-old Mdm Tam joins a bus tour to the Yao-Wei takes his girlfriend home to Malaysia Mekong Delta with a friend. On the trip, she bumps for the first time. In the midst of a monsoon, he into her high school sweetheart and embarks on a tries to find the right time to tell his parents of his mission of reconciliation. VC engagement. KMJ
D Malaysia-born Kin Wai Yam graduated D Duong Dieu Linh is a Vietnamese from the Department of Motion Picture, filmmaker based in Singapore. Her National Taiwan University of the Arts. previous short, Sweet Salty, was screened Pulang was his graduation film and debut. in competition at last year’s SGIFF.
3 ESTATE MYANMAR / 2020 / 16MIN / BURMESE
[INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE] A son looks after his dying father. Trapped together in the family home, old conflicts resurface while death approaches. KMJ
D A student at Yangon Technological University, Lin Htet Aung has published poetry and turned to film in 2017. He won student film awards for his shorts Silence and Shower at 1am.
42 D Director P Producer C Cast Check SGIFF.com for ratings 43 The latest independent feature and short films showcasing the dynamism and talent of local filmmaking, telling the stories closest to home.
For this year’s Singapore Panorama, we doubled the short film programme to provide a richer experience of local films. The diverse showcase ranges from works with wider appeal to those of hybrid and unconventional Take part in the discovery of talents by forms. Together, they present a cross- casting your vote after each screening! section of the state of independent filmmaking in Singapore. Through their varied portayals, they capture a slice of eclectic Singapore that we hope will spark discussion and reflection.
1. Scan the QR code or enter the url sgiff.com/vote
2. Select the film of your choice after viewing the film in cinemas or at home. Only one vote per film will be valid. SINGAPORE Voting closes on 5 December 2020 at 9.30pm. PANORAMA The winning film will be announced on Sunday 6 Dec, 9am on sgiff.com, and rescreened on Sunday 6 Dec, 4pm at Filmgarde Bugis+.
44 After Noon FILMSSINGAPORE IN COMPETITON PANORAMA 47 As also , the pastisthe , (2010)and JoantÚbeda is pursuingis in MAher LiaoJiekai (2018),which featuredwas at is an independentan is danceartist, RedDragonflies (2014),whilevideohis works have JoantÚbeda – ElysaWendi,Jeremy Chua KobayashiJunya, SaraTan ChewChiaShao Min filmmakingUniversity. York New at Besides films,Singapore-based directscommercials andmusicvideos. They previouslycollaborated shorttheonfilm JuneandMay SGIFFBestCinematographyandwon the at MaverickMovieAwards. For localForfilmmaker territory,a shapedvarious by inhabitants examines.whomhe Hisoeuvre includes featuresthe Were You beengalleriesshownat andartfestivals. He pursuingisfilm directingin MAhis Tokyo at UniversityArts.the of SudheeLiao choreographeranddanceeducator.
D P C D P C RL ( ), the directorsthe ( ), ebbsflows.andIts OT + ONLINE OT OT Le JoliMaiLe 9:30PM 9:30PM 9:30PM EC , Malay for ‘temporary’,Malayfor , deftlyweaves castsnonjudgmental a eye Once the heir to a familyshrine,a Onceheirto Junyatheleavesthat Inspiredwintrythecoast along,travelbythey noisyAmidthespectacle Singapore’sof golden Sementara 3 DEC, THU 28 NOV, SAT SAT NOV, 28 SUN NOV, 29 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 103MIN / ENGLISH, MANDARIN ENGLISH, / 103MIN / 2020 / SINGAPORE SINGAPORE, JAPAN / 2020 / 70MIN / ENGLISHJAPANESE, ShaoJoantandMinÚbeda conduct casual, unhurried interviewspeoplewith different fromlife,each ofwalks valuesbeliefs.andof settheir with ownsubjectsThe sharedeeply personal storiestheirandperspectives issuesonreligion, suchas race,identity mortality.and InspiredChrisMarker’sby of togetherscenesprofoundsubjectivities of societaland structurescompellingpresenta to sensitive yet portrayal Singapore.of CheckSGIFF.comratings for pub.behindHepursue a dreams, histo at works nowand befriendsvisitorSara,researchinga dance. Together, Japan.Junya’shometownof Seareturntonear thethey friendshipThe generosityingrows sharetheypersonalas histories—theirinteractions tendermarkedmovementsby gracefulambivalence. a and ShadowMyWandered Faraway rhythmsgesturesfromcuefall,riseandtake whilethat undatedartefactsonscreen.up wash elegiesWiththe for accompaniedpast come,praisestheto thingsby for yet gingerlyfilm respondsurgentfracturedanquestion a to in sharestrangers?withworld:meanto does Whatit Sementara theonanxieties disparateof individuals home. Singapore call who PREMIERE] [WORLD jubileefilmmakerscelebrations ChiaChew , in FARAWAY MY SHADOW WANDEREDSHADOW MY FARAWAY youngA mandancer,and a wellaschoreographyas andreality, cross pathsdocumentary ain that explores. it as much as entangles PREMIERE] [WORLD SEMENTARA (2019). Konpaku has been in the mediathebeenhasindustryin ’s work focusesworkcommunity, ’s on Ho Pak Kin,PakBellaHo Julita, Sheikh AhmadBafadhal MasturaSitiAlwi, Sarah Ariffin, Vincent Tee Tan Biyun, Sharmeen/SifarTan ChanSeng,FookSeah Siok Tiang RemiSaliM. decades.twooverfor directedhasHe music videos,telemovies andpopular dramas, and producedaward-winning trailers. Hisprevious horrorthefeaturewasfilm, InternationalFestivalArts(2017).of Tan Biyun Tan humanrightsandsocial justice, spanning performanceandinstallation. Her installationsNTUbeenthehaveshown at CentreContemporaryfor Art(2017) and O.P.E.N.Thein programme Singaporeof
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D 28 NOV, SAT SAT NOV, 28 5 DEC, SAT 5 DEC, SAT 4 DEC, FRI BAHASA MELAYU BAHASA SINGAPORE / 2020 / 112MIN / ENGLISH, MANDARIN, TEOCHEW, ENGLISH TEOCHEW, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 100MIN / CHINESE, HOKKIEN, undercarpetSingapore.thein gamelyemploysfarcical the elements exposethe to ignoranceculturaland insensitivities sweptoftenare that uncomfortablesituations brashanddialogue that illustratecharacters’the callousness. Instead,film the Edwin’s parents run a roast pork stall. How do the tworoastEdwin’sporkthestall.parents do a How run familiesbridgethis cultural gulf? initialrockyencounters, begintheydeveloping feelings awkwardanfaceproblem: theyBut each other. for chef. In a bid to strike out on her own as a baker, shebaker, a asown her on out strike to bid a Inchef. engagesproduceEdwinto bakingher vlogs. Despitethe
[WORLD PREMIERE] [WORLD An unexpectedAn romance between a MalayMuslim woman Chineseanda man stall. pork roast a run parents whose granted:“Thisadvertisesfilm SengFookdeclares.me,” amplifyingmoments demanding action.thisirreverent In collaboration,neither filmmaker subjectnorfortaken is listenerinteractions,film:warmthea severalin in hats an theireffortssecuringaideto in financial assistance, while they wend their way through the thicket of bureaucracythroughtheirwendthickettheywayofthe to accessfinancial aid. For him and his partner,hisandhimnegotiating For imperativeistheir to survival—beyondtheirinformalway alsothe is trade, it in leavesevictedSeng, hawkersFookhis likein in ailments,varietyof a withand little with s recourse.
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CITIZEN HUSTLERCITIZEN [WORLD PREMIERE] [WORLD 46 SINGAPORE PANORAMA SHORTS 1 Dec, Tue | 6:30pm | 81min | FG3 + Online FILMSSINGAPORE PANORAMAIN COMPETITON PROGRAMME 1
All films in this programme will feature Q&A with the filmmakers.
1 SINGAPORE, US / 2020 / 18MIN / MANDARIN, 4 SINGAPORE, AUSTRALIA / 2020 / 21 DAYS TEOCHEW, CANTONESE FLOWER SHADOW SERENADE 11MIN / MANDARIN, ENGLISH [WORLD PREMIERE] [ASIAN PREMIERE] Jin and his family are in mourning following his In this ode to memory and loss, a familiar mother’s death. While her spirit has returned to visit her song leads a grandmother’s spirit back to her husband, Jin is desperately looking for signs of her. SM family during the Chinese ghost month. SM
D Yong Mun Chee is a director and cinematographer known for Where the D Goh Lin Yuan graduated from Victorian Road Meets the Sun (2011), which was College of the Arts in Melbourne. theatrically released in the US. She Flower Shadow Serenade was won a Special Jury Award at SXSW for screened in competition at the Palm 9:30 (2003). Springs International ShortFest.
2 AND THEY ROAMED SINGAPORE / 2020 / 14MIN / ENGLISH 5 SAUDADE SINGAPORE / 2020 / 20MIN / KRISTANG
[WORLD PREMIERE] [WORLD PREMIERE] Two schoolgirls encounter the ghost of a former Narrated in Kristang, a critically endangered creole student in an abandoned school. Enlisting their help language of Portuguese Eurasians, Saudade to pass into the afterlife, the ghost brings them around reimagines rituals of early Eurasian kampongs the building, reliving painful and joyous memories. KMJ to tell a story of loss and displacement. SM
D Joshuah Lim En is a student at D Russell Adam Morton is a Singaporean LASALLE College of the Arts. He is filmmaker and performance artist who interested in films that explore themes explores folkloric myths and esoteric such as time, memory and love. rituals in his works.
3 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 3MIN / 6 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 16MIN / SEXY SUSHI JAPANESE, ENGLISH AFTER NOON ENGLISH, MANDARIN [ASIAN PREMIERE] [WORLD PREMIERE] Life on a conveyor belt seems great Two teenage boys idle away a seemingly ordinary for Sushi and his Topping friends. afternoon, but as events stir up hidden feelings, But as he begins to contemplate his confusion leads to the testing of boundaries. KMJ existence, Sushi wonders if there is more to life than pimping himself out to savage consumers. VC D Koo Chia Meng received an MFA in film directing from Taipei National University D Calleen Koh and Amanda Teo are of the Arts. Since 2009, he has worked currently pursuing their Bachelors in in various aspects of production on Animation Art and Animation respectively, films including Ilo Ilo (2013), Apprentice in LASALLE College of the Arts. (2016) and Wet Season (2019).
48 D Director P Producer C Cast Check SGIFF.com for ratings 49 SINGAPORE PANORAMA SHORTS 3 Dec, Thu | 6:30pm | 83min | FG3 + Online FILMSSINGAPORE PANORAMAIN COMPETITON PROGRAMME 2
All films in this programme will feature Q&A with the filmmakers.
1 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 22MIN / HINDI, 4 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 14MIN / CHINESE, MY BROTHER ENGLISH, TAMIL HOLDING ON, LETTING GO HOKKIEN [WORLD PREMIERE] [WORLD PREMIERE] Ram reluctantly becomes a brother figure to a After the death of her beloved grandmother, Ting young and helpless boy, both undocumented struggles to cope with the loss, unsure of the lively workers. Living in such intense precarity, mutual funeral rituals. But beneath strong appearances, support might be the only way to survive. VC everyone copes with grief differently. VC
D Shreela Agarwal graduated from D An alumnus of Film, Sound and Video at LASALLE College of the Arts with a Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Lionel Seah’s BA in film. She is now based in Mumbai, passion for telling evocative stories has where she grew up, and Singapore. led him to pursue a career as a director.
2 SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA / 2020 / 5 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 4MIN / ENGLISH NURSERY RHYMES 10MIN / ENGLISH, JAPANESE, HOKKIEN WATERMELON PLEASE [WORLD PREMIERE] SEA-SHORTS GRANT [WORLD PREMIERE] Drawing inspiration from his memories of his How does one change after having stared death grandmothers, Michael Kam imagines their childhood in the face? In this hand-drawn animated short, a spent under different imperialist rule. KMJ man’s love for watermelon becomes the catalyst for introspection. VC
D Michael Kam teaches filmmaking at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Film and Media Studies. His short D A fresh graduate of Nanyang films have travelled to numerous Academy of Fine Arts, Lim Jia Ying international film festivals, such as is currently a Singapore-based Berlin, Encounters and Palm Springs. freelance illustrator and animator.
3 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 13MIN / TAMIL 6 SINGAPORE / 2020 / 20MIN / ENGLISH, SILK EAST COAST PARK LOVERS MANDARIN, TAGALOG
[WORLD PREMIERE] [WORLD PREMIERE] A dutiful son struggles to reunite his fractured In this microcosm of the modern world, three family as they deal with his ailing father’s condition. couples, each at a different stage of their lives However, the shocking discovery of a family secret and relationship, face up to the conflicts of their threatens to undermine his efforts. KMJ differing cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. KMJ
D Li Lin Wee is one of Singapore’s D Local filmmaker Don Aravind works pioneering female filmmakers. Best in film and television. His shorts have known for Autograph Book (2003) and been screened widely in local and Gone Shopping (2007), her films have international festivals. been screened at festivals worldwide.
50 D Director P Producer C Cast Check SGIFF.com for ratings 51 TICKETING PACKAGES Asian Vision showcases the most exciting developments shaping the Asian film landscape. This year’s Return to the dark embrace of the cinema and save at the same selection offers a greater proportion CINEMA time by purchasing any four tickets across these sections! 4 for $50 of documentaries from Southeast Asia, not only demonstrating • Asian Feature Competition* • Southeast Asian Short Film Competition the strength of this genre in the • Asian Vision region, but also proving that the • Cinema Today documentary form is vibrant and *excludes Tiong Bahru Social Club. elastic. There are also new fiction films from key auteurs who continue Catch more screen delights in the comforts of your home by to deliver their bold visions. Finally, ONLINE buying four tickets for any online screenings at a reduced price. we are pleased to include a unique 4 for $35 Please visit sgiff.com to see our recommended thematic film bundles. video essay series that spotlights promising Asian filmmakers.
Festival Starter World in Motion New to the festival, and unsure which films to Journeys, travels or flights of the imagination. catch? These are our recommendations, not Films that take us places and to different to be missed! times, enriching our experiences and broadening our horizons.
ASIAN
Talk to Her On Cinema and Storytelling Female-centric narratives exploring the Films capturing mesmerising encounters, world through women’s eyes: their emotions, with inspirational people and stories. The psychology, perspectives and words. Finding continuing adventure of cinema. courage, seeking hope, navigating their lives and places in the world. VISION
52 Veins of the World FILMSASIAN IN VISION COMPETITON 55
is a is Lav DiazLav (2016)won Season of the DevilSeasonthe of Tsai Ming-Liang Tsai in 2014.in Stray Dogs Stray The WomanLeftWhoThe Award-winningFilipino filmmaker lengthyhisknownforis films deal thatwith themestrauma,the of violence andthe entanglementsbetween national andpersonal histories. VenicetheGolden Lion,and 29th(2018)theSGIFF.shown wasat DiazLav NandingJosef,Bart Guingona, DMsBoongaling Knownsensitivehisfor explorations of lonelinessandurbanisolation, Malaysia-born, Taiwan-basedfilmmaker figurecontemporaryin key worldcinema. His diverseoeuvre includes virtualworksin reality installations.andtheatrewellasas filmsTsai’s wellrepresentedare pasteditionsin SGIFF, of lastbeingthe ClaudeWang Kang-Sheng,Lee AnongHoungheuangsy
D P C D P C AC is a bleaka is GenusPan AC OT + ONLINE TPG TPG , is plaguedchronicis by , neckpain. 6:30PM 9:30PM Days 6:30PM charts humanity’s dark impulses is a tenderintimacy,lonelinessstudyofa is and Days An allegoryAn monstersthedeprivationon that Tsai Ming-Liang Tsai continues longtimehis plot,Withnarrative dialogueand barestripped a to darkmythswithandrifeislandHugaw The is of 2 DEC, WED 27 NOV, FRI FRI NOV, 27 SAT NOV, 28 PHILIPPINES / 2020 / 147MIN / TAGALOG / NC16 / TAGALOG / 147MIN / 2020 / PHILIPPINES TAIWAN / 2020 / 127MIN / NO DIALOGUE / R21 horsebringcertain miasmaticanother,death;thein fear cloudscolonialthatisland thea isleftover blightsthat landscarsandthepeople.the heartsDarkerthestillare mankind,of whosegreedpenchant and violencefor characteronegenusthechimpanzees, Pan,likensor to humanity’sclosest biological kin. againstmen,setavariceandcontemporary of make Philippines’violent, traumatic history, examinationinescapabletheunderclass ofthe of fate who remainstrappedendlessanviolence. incycle of filmThe BestDirectorOrizzontiwonthe in sectionVenice. at CheckSGIFF.comratings for collaborationKang-Sheng,museandactorLeewith who inlife,andreal in mountains,characterLee’sthehousein livesupalonea in venturingcitythesporadicallyinto seekdifferentto treatmentsailment.hisfor Meanwhile, small,livinga in similarlyyoungwhospartanmanBangkok a in is flatgoes unhurriedly,aboutlifehis mostlyandalone. day, One visitsLeeBangkok treatment,for share twoa theand passionateencounter. minimum,quiet,mundane momentsunfoldallowed areto time.gentlyrealImbueddeeplyin a withmeditative quality, beautyhumantheconnections. of GENUSPAN HAYOP LAHI, hauntingA fable about myths andviolence, Pan Genus homecoming. tragic miner’s gold a through [SOUTHEASTASIAN PREMIERE] strangehistories. legend,oneIn black sightingsa of DAYS Ming-LiangTsai returns featureto filmmaking withthis tender, meditative portrait twoof briefly. intersect lives whose men solitary [SOUTHEASTASIAN PREMIERE] was
Planetarium Garage Chulayarnnon Birth of GoldenBirthof Snail VanishingtheHorizon of is an up-and-an is , and, (2016)and Beast (2015),beenhave screened ’s shortfilm ’s received Specialthe Mention2014the at Alyx Ayn ArumpacAlyxAyn comingdirector andproducer from Philippines.the Herprevious works, including Inventory acrossEuropePhilippines.theandin ArmiCacanindin,Rae AlyxArumpacAyn CiriacoSantiago III, OrlyFernandez, Vincent Go screenedcompetitionin lastyear’sSGIFF.at Siriphol Chulayarnnon ChulayarnnonSiriphol, FaridaJiraphan Thaiartistand filmmaker Siriphol Sea 2018,InSGIFF. shorthis film premieredCannesanthology,thepartat asof ThailandYears 10
D P C P C D are aswang Q&Afilmmaker(s)with FL GN Cast TPG + ONLINE C OT + ONLINE 3:30PM , shapeshifting, monstersPhilippine in Producer 9:30PM P aswang takes unflinchingan lookthe at
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D 29 NOV, SUN SUN NOV, 29 4 DEC, FRI THAILAND / 2020 / 115MIN / THAI / 115MIN / 2020 / THAILAND DENMARK / 2019 / 85MIN / FILIPINO / 85MIN / 2019 / DENMARK FRANCE, GERMANY, NORWAY, PHILIPPINES, QATAR,
SEA nightmarishreality Duterte-erain Philippines monstrousas terror isunleashed upon the urbanpoor. Aswang as resistanceasauthoritarian an in regime. destabilisingauthenticity,notiontheof thistongue-in- cheekdocufiction embraces meaning-making belowfrom vanishes.resurrectedis variousitBut in guises and contexts,including aforementionedthe ByDVD. KhanatheRatsadon of democracysymbol plaque—aof royalistThailand—withplaqueinmysteriouslya itafter becameunrecognisable. editionansold aswas EachDVD baht. forfilmthe of film times on DVD, the qualitytheeachsuccessiveDVD,times on of film versionincreasingly degraded originaluntilthe work revoked by his commissioners.hisrevoked by response,In distributedhe certificateawardcopiesthe of re-rendered and the
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OF DEMOCRACY OF 100 TIMES REPRODUCTIONTIMES 100 [INTERNATIONALPREMIERE] shantytowns,cameraunstintingtheana gives us ofview citygrippedviolence by corruption.and activistanand fearlesslywho documents deaths.the Threadingthroughwaynarrow Manila’salleysitsin the urban poor. As bodiesurbanstreets,Asthethepoor. mountnightsin the Manilain become filledterrorwithoppressiveand dread. the policethe vigilantesand impunitykillwithwho under presidentRodrigo Duterte’sdrugs’‘wartargets onthat folklore,strikingtheirhuntprey, nightfearemerge to at community.thein today’sPhilippines,In the 54 ASIAN VISION FILMSASIAN IN COMPETITON KEEP ROLLING THE SALT IN OUR WATERS
Brimming with life and humour, Keep Rolling A sculptor from the city visits a remote is a warm and richly humane portrait of coastal village in Bangladesh where he faces celebrated Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui. challenges to his world views and beliefs.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
HONG KONG / 2020 / 113MIN / CANTONESE, MANDARIN BANGLADESH, FRANCE / 2020 / 106MIN / BENGALI
29 NOV, SUN 3:30PM FG3 + ONLINE 29 NOV, SUN 6:30PM TPG + ONLINE
In a filmic career spanning some four decades, Hong D A frequent collaborator of Ann Hui, Rudro, a well-meaning artist from the city, D Raised in the capital Dhaka, Bangladeshi Kong director Ann Hui has made critical darlings and box Man Lim Chung is a veteran Hong Kong ventures into a remote coastal village to work on his director and screenwriter Rezwan Shahriar office hits, as well as widely panned flops. But behind the art director and production designer. figurative sculptures. However, he finds his secular Sumit was a Tisch Fellow of New York accolades and pummelling from critics, Hui is as human as Keep Rolling is his first feature. values challenged by the village’s religious dictates University’s graduate film programme. The Salt anyone, battling anxieties about life and career—though and social mores, which leads to conflict. Meanwhile, in Our Waters, his debut feature, was screened always maintaining her characteristic good humour and P Jacqueline Liu, Man Lim Chung Tuni, the daughter of Rudro’s landlord, falls for him, but internationally, including Busan and London. humility. C Ann Hui their romance is frowned upon. A seafaring people, the Keep Rolling offers an up-close and personal look at villagers’ survival hinges on their seasonal catches, which P Ilann Girard the trials and tribulations of an artist who has devoted her are in turn subject to the capriciousness of nature. Can C Fazlur Rahman Babu, Titas Zia, Tasnova Tamanna entire life to her craft. Rather than gloss over the foibles one’s god temper an increasingly volatile climate? and insecurities of the documentary subject, Keep Rolling Catch Ann Hui in conversation with Amidst exquisite cinematography framed by open shines a light on them, revealing the complexities and Man Lim Chung (p. 0). waters, turbulence in the film gradually intensifies as the contradictions of a modern-day maestro. AC characters find their respective shores to cling onto. FL
PLOY THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE SEVEN SONGS Narratives of migrant workers’ experiences in Singapore are stitched together in a documentary that is not afraid to play with form. A lyrical tale of the circumstances of a young woman from a nomadic tribe doubles as a timely comment on the tense Kashmiri situation today.
[WORLD PREMIERE] SEA-DOC GRANT [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
THAILAND, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 51MIN / THAI, ENGLISH INDIA / 2020 / 96MIN / GOJRI, HINDI
2 DEC, WED 6:30PM OT + ONLINE 29 NOV, SUN 6:30PM OT + ONLINE
Longing for a life beyond her hometown in the Thai D Prapat Jiwarangsan is a visual artist and After Laila marries a fellow nomadic tribesman, she D Pushpendra Singh is an Indian actor, writer province of Buriram, Ploy moves to various Southeast film director from Thailand. His recent and the rest of their tribe migrate to mountainous plains. and filmmaker whose works have travelled Asian cities in search of work. She ends up in Singapore documentaries—The Asylum (2015), The Their move attracts the attention of local police officers, internationally including the Berlinale. His as a sex worker at an illegal, makeshift brothel operating Wandering Ghosts (2017) and Destination who are in awe of Laila’s beauty. Through seven folk films focus on the impact that tradition, under the cover of a jungle’s leafy darkness that is Nowhere (2018)—focus on the stories of songs, Pushpendra Singh weaves a tale in which Laila culture and politics has on the everyday lives eventually turned into a public park. migrant workers in Asia, and have been screened interrogates what it means to be a woman desired by many of marginalised individuals or communities. His Ploy’s story is interwoven with those of other at film festivals in Rotterdam and Singapore. but unable to act on desires of her own—an allegory of previous features include The Honour Keeper migrant workers, backgrounded by scenes of labour, the political situation in Kashmir. Set against the beautiful (2014) and Ashwatthama (2017). prohibition and surveillance. Nature, a silent witness to P Graiwoot Chulphongsathorn Himalayan mountains in Kashmir and Jammu, Singh’s all this, is not spared from the violence of man’s impulse C – lyrical, sometimes playful, story is a poignant comment on P Pushpendra Singh, Gulab Singh Tanwar, Ajit Singh Rathore, to control. Employing a variety of materials such as life at the intersection of desire, politics and culture. GN Sanjay Gulati photographs and paintings, Ploy joins a wave of recent Ploy will be screened together with You and I (p. 60). C Navjot Randhawa, Sadakkit Bijran, Shahnawaz Bhat films that centres these voices from the margins. SH
56 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 57 ASIAN VISION FILMSASIAN IN COMPETITON TRUE MOTHERS WIFE OF A SPY A subtle yet electrifying mystery drama After stumbling across an alarming that sensitively deconstructs the ideal of a national secret, a Japanese businessman nuclear family. and his wife embark on a treacherous journey to bring this discovery to light.
JAPAN / 2020 / 139MIN / JAPANESE JAPAN / 2020 / 115MIN / JAPANESE
29 NOV, SUN 9:30PM FG7 3 DEC, THU 9:30PM FG7 2 DEC, WED 6:30PM FG3 5 DEC, SAT 3:30PM FG3
Satoko and Kiyokazu struggle to come to terms with D Naomi Kawase is a staple name of Japanese Winner of the Silver Lion for Best Director at the D Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese director the news of their infertility, trying various treatments to cinema and a regular of the film festival Venice Film Festival, Wife of a Spy follows Kobe-based who first rose to prominence for his work conceive. Eventually, through an adoption agency, they circuit. She was the focus of a special merchant Yusaku and his wife Satoko as they attempt to in the crime and horror genres with films welcome a baby boy into their lives, fulfilling their ideal programme at the 27th SGIFF. Kawase’s films expose a horrific national secret. Navigating a complex, like Cure (1997) and Pulse (2001). He won of a family. But as the couple navigate the challenges often navigate harsh realities, intertwining dangerous web of wartime political and military figures, the Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard of parenthood, they are met with a bombshell: a woman them with the spirituality of physical Yusaku and Satoko’s marriage and trust in each other section at Cannes for family drama Tokyo claiming to be the boy’s mother demands for him to be landscape. Her 2007 film The Mourning also enter uncharted waters. This first period piece by Sonata (2008) and followed up with the Best returned to her. Forest won the Grand Prix at Cannes. the prolific Kiyoshi Kurosawa ingeniously shapeshifts Director award in the same section for his Naomi Kawase brings to life the big-screen between captivating romance, electrifying spy thriller and 2015 film Journey to the Shore. adaptation of the novel of the same name by Mizuki P Yumiko Takebe elegant historical drama. With a side plot involving the Tsujimura. Told through multiple perspectives, True C Hiromi Nagasaku, Arata Iura, Aju Makita making of a film, Wife of a Spy also becomes a thoughtful P Keisuke Tsuchihashi, Takashi Sawada, Satoshi Takada, Mothers is an emotionally sincere dive into the fears and reflection on the role of cinema in archiving, capturing and Tamon Kondo morality of adoption, reiterating that family is not limited disclosing the truth. SM C Yu Aoi, Issey Takahashi, Ryota Bando by biological connection. VC
VEINS OF THE WORLD THE WOMAN WHO RAN DIE ADERN DER WELT A young boy must decide between supporting Continuing in his signature of repetition and his family or honoring his father’s traditions in difference, Korean auteur Hong Sang-Soo’s this gentle and uplifting Mongolian drama. latest focuses on women’s interactions, revealing undercurrents of ambivalence. [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
GERMANY, MONGOLIA / 2020 / 97MIN / SOUTH KOREA / 2020 / 77MIN / KOREAN / PG13 MONGOLIAN / PG13 1 DEC, TUE 9:30PM FG3 5 DEC, SAT 6:30PM OT + ONLINE 5 DEC, SAT 6:30PM FG3
Eleven-year-old Amra and his family live the D Byambasuren Davaa is an award- Hong’s longtime collaborator Kim Min-Hee D Hong Sang-Soo is a South Korean film traditional Mongolian way, respecting their land despite winning Mongolian director, writer and stars again as the protagonist in this trifurcated film. director and screenwriter who is known for the onslaught of international mining companies. producer. Her debut documentary The She plays Gam Hee, who, on the rare occasion of her his minimalist and intricate depictions of Struggling to resist the ways of big corporations and the Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) was husband’s absence, visits two friends and bumps into everyday life. He won the prestigious Golden threat to their livelihoods, Amra and his community find a Best Documentary nominee at the 77th a third. Mundane, meandering conversations between Leopard at Locarno Film Festival for Right their resilience tested. In time, Amra must decide between Academy Awards. Her other features include women—and the occasional men—play out in long Now, Wrong Then (2015). A familiar name forsaking his dreams in order to care for his family or find The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005) and The takes with precise performances, yielding complex in the film festival circuit, Hong bagged the the courage to stay true to himself. Two Horses of Genghis Khan (2009). Veins character studies. Through these interactions, Gam Hee’s Silver Bear for Best Director at this year’s Veins of the World reflects how indigenous of the World is her second fiction film. perception of the world and herself is subtly altered. Berlinale for The Woman Who Ran. communities deal with the imposition of modernity on Resuming his characteristically unassuming yet self- longstanding traditions. With its strong message on youth P Eva Kemme, Tobias Siebrt, Ansger Frerich reflexive directorial style, Hong once again transforms P Hong Sang-Soo empowerment through the conservation of indigenous C Bat-Ireedui Batmunkh, Enerel Tumen, the quotidian into insightful observations about people C Kim Min-Hee, Seo Young-Hwa, Song Seon-Mi heritage, the film had its world premiere in the Generation Algirchamin Baatarsuren and their relationships with seemingly effortless ease. GN section at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. AAB
58 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 59 ASIAN VISION FILMSASIAN IN COMPETITON YELLOW CAT MONOGRAPHS ZHELTAYA KOSHKA Monographs is a new series of films commissioned by Singapore’s A girl and a gun may be all you need to make movies, but it takes a lot more to open a Asian Film Archive, conceived as a platform for engaging the Asian cinema in the Kazakh steppes, it seems. film community in discourse on the moving image. Originating as a response to the uncertainties of the pandemic, the current programme [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] of 10 video essays showcases diverse filmmaking talents engaging KAZAKHSTAN, FRANCE / 2020 / 89MIN / with contemporary ideas and creating a fresh, dynamic interplay of KAZAKH, RUSSIAN / PG13 stories and images. The films are grouped thematically into Motifs 5 DEC, SAT 1:30PM OT + ONLINE and Movements: the first is focused on the immediate, the visceral and the gaze; the latter on reflections, memories and histories. To others, Kermek is an ex-con and a blithering D Adilkhan Yerzhanov is one of Kazakhstan’s idiot. To himself, he is a wide-eyed fanboy of Alain Delon most prolific directors, with a body of work who wants to build his own cinema. Accompanied by spanning multiple genres. The Owners (2014) his beloved Eva, he relies on his pluck and a surprising was screened in competition at SGIFF, and sensibility for the cinematic—a folk hero for the screen. The Gentle Indifference of the World made its MONOGRAPHS But the wilder their dreams, the more saboteurs they premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section MOTIFS find on their tails: police and mafia, all in a territory where in 2018. Yellow Cat is his ninth feature film. everything happens in full view. [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] 1 Dec, Tue | 6:30pm | 69min | OT + Online Genre-savvy as always, Adilkhan Yerzhanov treks P Serik Abishev, Olga Khlasheva, Guillaume de Seille across sparse landscapes and classical cinema history C Azamat Nigmanov, Kamila Nugmanova INDONESIA, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 20MIN / to deliver a measured mix of the deadpan, the hopeful 1 GHOST LIKE US BAHASA INDONESIA and the absurd. This is a film that wears its heart (and references) on its sleeve, approaching grim realities with a sincerity that may move the deepest cynics. RL A multilayered, haunted film that invokes the spectres of Indonesian horror cinema to examine the othering of people on the peripheries. FL
YOU AND I
Meeting in their youth as political detainees, D Riar Rizaldi is a Hong Kong-based Kaminah and Kusdalini embark on a lifelong Indonesian artist and researcher. His journey together, supporting each other short films, such as Kasiterit (2019), have through the challenges of growing old. been screened at festivals worldwide.
VIETNAM, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 14MIN / VIETNAMESE INDONESIA / 2020 / 76MIN / BAHASA INDONESIA 2 DEATH OF SOLDIER 2 DEC, WED 6:30PM OT + ONLINE A montage featuring scenes of soldiers’ deaths Kaminah and Kusdalini met as Indonesian political D Born in Bandung and currently based in in Vietnamese propaganda war films reveals detainees in , when both were on the cusp of Surakarta, Central Java, Fanny Chotimah striking similarities, highlighting their crass adulthood. After being rejected by her hometown, works as a freelance writer. She is involved in nationalist agenda. FL Kaminah went to live with Kusdalini. Since then, they have women’s issues as well as the literary and film been inseparable, living together in Surakarta, Central communities. You and I is her directorial debut Java. Now, in their s, they survive on the kindness of and first foray into filmmaking. their neighbours, and the crackers that they sell. Growing D Truong Minh Quý is a Vietnamese old hand in hand, You and I charts a delicate moment P Amerta Kusuma, Tazia Teresa Darryanto, Yulia Evina Bhara filmmaker. His second feature, The Tree in time when the pair are faced with the heartbreaking C Kaminah, Kusdalini House (2019), premiered at Locarno realities of growing old. Film Festival, followed by screenings in Fanny Chotimah skillfully stands as an observer, New York and SGIFF. capturing the last few moments of a beautiful relationship. Her directorial debut, You and I exemplifies the best of humanity, reminding us to appreciate the simple, small You and I will be screened together with Ploy (p. 56). gestures in life.
60 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 61 MONOGRAPHS MONOGRAPHS VISION FILMSASIAN IN COMPETITON MOTIFS 1 Dec, Tue | 6:30pm | 69min | OT + Online MOVEMENTS 1 Dec, Tue | 9:30pm | 83min | OT + Online
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
3 IRANI BAG IRAN, UK, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 6MIN / NO DIALOGUE 1 BRAVE REVOLUTIONARY INDIA, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 20MIN / ENGLISH, HINDI REDUBBED In post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, the humble A close study of the cathartic final scene bag is often deployed as a surrogate for human of Hindi box office hit Krantiveer (Brave touch, sometimes to hilarious effect. FL Revolutionary), now a popular meme, reveals the instability of meaning and the power of one’s subjectivity. FL
D Artist Kush Badhwar, who works across D Based in London and Shiraz, filmmaker mediums, has shown at Videobrasil and Maryam Tafakory works with filmic the Berlinale. Renu Savant is an award- and textual collages, interweaving winning filmmaker whose work centres poetry, auto-ethnography, aural archive on the methodologies of documentation and cryptic forms of narrative. and the limits of fiction in film.
4 CHINA, GERMANY, POLAND, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 2 PHILIPPINES, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 20MIN / SAVED BY THE PARTY-STATE 15MIN / MANDARIN, ENGLISH SPIRIT FILM NO DIALOGUE
Maja Korbecka offers a sharp, feminist analysis of Using archival footage, Raya Martin resurrects the two Chinese films made during different turning fraught history of Philippine film, which leads us to points in China’s history, both dealing with Mao’s wonder about the future of cinema—as the film asks, campaign to ‘re-educate’ former sex workers. FL “How do we watch movies without cinema?” FL
D Maja Korbecka is a freelance writer, D Raya Martin is a prolific Filipino director translator and film studies researcher known for his breakthrough feature focusing on Sinophone cinemas. She Independencia (2009). His works have is currently pursuing her PhD at Freie been presented at Documenta 13 and Universität Berlin. New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
5 UZBEKISTAN, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 13MIN / 3 VIETNAM, THAILAND, CAMBODIA, SINGAPORE / HER FIVE LIVES NO DIALOGUE A WEIRDO NEVER 2020 / 14MIN / NO DIALOGUE FEVER OVERRY The modern history of Uzbekistan is told through Arnont Nongyao’s ‘travelogue’ about his personal its cinematic history, focusing on the evolution of history and stories is a hallucinatory journey into female heroine archetypes in Uzbek films. FL a fog of glitch, noise and fragments of memories, where bliss resides in the fuzzy edges of meaning. FL
D Artist Saodat Ismailova came of D Based between Lumphun and Saigon, age in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. Her Arnont Nongyao is a sound and video work has been shown at the Venice artist whose works have been shown Biennale, and she is currently working internationally. He was a participant on her second feature, Barazgh. in the Singapore Biennale 2019.
62 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 63 MONOGRAPHS Compelling stories with distinctive MOVEMENTS 1 Dec, Tue | 9:30pm | 83min | OT + Online perspectives from both masters and emerging names, those making an essential contribution to world cinema. 4 REMINISCENCES MYANMAR, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 15MIN / BURMESE This year’s selection sees several With his father, grandfather and uncles involved in Burmese cinema in one way or another, Maung politically charged stories in the Okkar’s family history is inextricably entwined with form of dystopian allegory, devilish Myanmar’s film history. FL figures and accusatory polemic, all of them urgent and pertinent D Burmese filmmaker Maung Okkar’s in questioning the current state short films have been screened internationally. He is actively involved of justice in different contexts. in film restoration projects in his The search for personal identity home country and overseas. continues to resonate, while several delightful films centre on 5 GERMANY, SINGAPORE / 2020 / 14MIN / ENGLISH, love, the bringing of joy and the CASTING A SPELL TO MANDARIN, HAKKA ALTER REALITY power of emotions. Expansive Using scenes from Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Coming of landscapes framing their Age’ trilogy, Pam Virada presents an entrancing, lyrical study of physical and psychological interiors respective protagonist’s quest for shaped by spellbinding magic-realist stories. FL personal freedom characterise two exceptional films that show US independent cinema at its best.
D Bangkok-born Pam Virada is a visual artist based in Amsterdam. Her most recent solo exhibition was held in 2019 at TheTip in Frankfurt.
As part of the partnership with Asian Film Archive on Monographs, SGIFF’s Youth Jury & Critics Programme participants this year will use Monographs as a case study. Under the mentorship of Chris Fujiwara, they will produce two video essays in response to the films to expand the creative conversation. The works will be published on SGIFF’s Film Academy website, filmacademy.sgiff.com. For more information on the Youth Jury & Critics Programme, please see page 78. CINEMA TODAY
64 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) First Cow CINEMA TODAY FILMS CINEMA IN COMPETITON AMMONITE FIRST COW In this period romance starring Kate Winslet In Kelly Reichardt’s atypical Western, two and Saoirse Ronan, each little gesture of desire outcasts strike an unlikely entrepreneurial carries immeasurable weight. friendship in 19th-century Oregon.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
UK / 2020 / 117MIN / ENGLISH USA / 2019 / 122MIN / ENGLISH / PG13
28 NOV, SAT 6:30PM FG8 5 DEC, SAT 6:30PM TPG + ONLINE
Mary Anning wears a seemingly impenetrable D Francis Lee is a British filmmaker best When ‘Cookie’, a hired cook, discovers Lu, a D Kelly Reichardt is an American screenwriter exterior, not unlike a fossil. Leading a humble existence known for his debut feature, God’s Own Chinese immigrant-turned-fugitive, in the woods, he and director. She has made a number of as a fossil hunter, her brilliance as a palaeontologist is Country (2017). Dubbed “the Yorkshire offers his tent as a safehouse. An off-chance reunion critically acclaimed works including her systematically undermined in patriarchal and classist Brokeback Mountain”, the gay drama won later bonds the two further, as they try to scheme debut, River of Grass (1994), Old Joy (2006), Victorian England. One day, Charlotte, a wealthy young multiple accolades, including the World their way to a better life. What follows is an enduring Wendy and Lucy (2008) and Certain Women woman suffering from melancholia, arrives at Mary’s shop Cinema Direction Award at Sundance. Lee tale of friendship between two gentle men, propelled (2016). The latter three have been presented with her husband, who leaves her behind to convalesce. was awarded Outstanding Newcomer for by kindness under unforgiving circumstances, at previous editions of SGIFF. Mary begrudgingly nurses Charlotte back to health; over British Feature Film Writing at the British amidst the promise of the American dream. time, both unearth a tenderness for each other. Screenwriters’ Awards in 2018. In her seventh offering since 2016’s award- P Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, Neil Kopp Winslet’s and Ronan’s breathtaking performances winning Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt offers an C John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones take the audience on a deep dive into forbidden love. With P Ian Canning, Emile Sherman, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly enthralling tale of the little guy versus the big guy, whilst the ravishing Jurassic Coast framing the duet, Ammonite C Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones highlighting the intimacy in male camaraderie. AAB cements Francis Lee’s place among the most exciting visionaries in queer cinema today. SH
DOWNSTREAM TO KINSHASA GAGARINE EN ROUTE POUR LE MILLIARD In this moving magic-realist tale, a teenage boy copes with the loss of his beloved community Dieudo Hamadi’s latest documentary on the and home with gravity-defying means. survivors of Congo’s Six-Day War is a triumphant show of the strength of the human spirit.
[ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, FRANCE, FRANCE / 2020 / 97MIN / FRENCH BELGIUM / 2020 / 90MIN / LINGALA, SWAHILI 29 NOV, SUN 6:30PM FG7 + ONLINE 3 DEC, THU 6:30PM OT + ONLINE 30 NOV, MON 6:30PM FG3
In 2000, the town of Kisangani became the D Dieudo Hamadi is a Congolese director, Youri, who dreams of being an astronaut, has lived D French filmmakers Fanny Liatard and epicentre of a war between Uganda and Rwanda that writer, cinematographer and editor. His first his whole life in Cité Gagarine, a real-life housing project Jérémy Trouilh have been making films lasted six days. Two decades later, the tragedy is a faded feature documentary, Atalaku (2013), won built in the ’60s and named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri with a keen interest in documenting memory in the country’s history. Now, the survivors— the Joris Ivens Award at Cinéma du Réel. Gagarin. Youri’s life and that of Cité Gagarine are deeply changes in urban spaces. Gagarine, their mostly orphaned, widowed or suffering from permanent His other critically acclaimed works include entwined: The building contains his childhood memories, debut feature, is based on their 2016 short disabilities—are seeking their rightful compensation, National Diploma (2014), Mama Colonel (2017) and the community there is all he has ever known. film of the same title. Gagarine was part of enduring a treacherous journey along the Congo River and Kinshasa Makambo (2018). Downstream to Following news of its planned demolition, Youri and Cannes Film Festival’s official selection this to the capital Kinshasa for a chance to be heard. Kinshasa is his fifth feature documentary. his friends try to save the building, but residents gradually year. Downstream to Kinshasa is an emotive work vacate. All life is soon drained from the edifice, where of memory from one of the most prolific voices in P Quentin Laurent, Frédéric Féraud, Dieudo Hamadi Youri resolutely remains. In a stunning magical turn, he P Julie Billy, Carole Scotta African cinema. Through creative interpretation and C Victims of the Six-Day War creates a spaceship within the complex, and floats gently C Alséni Bathily, Lyna Khoudri, Jamil McCraven unobtrusive yet dynamic camerawork, Dieudo Hamadi’s in space. Gagarine is a wildly imaginative exploration of raw and impassioned story about those abandoned isolation and community—themes that are especially by the government became the first Congolese relevant today. LSW film to be selected at Cannes Film Festival. AAB
66 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 67 CINEMA TODAY FILMS CINEMA IN COMPETITON HERE WE ARE MALMKROG An uplifting drama about a father’s love for A period chamber drama that challenges his son and the difficulties of letting go. the existence of absolutes—even death.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
ROMANIA / 2020 / 200MIN / FRENCH, HUNGARIAN, ISRAEL, ITALY / 2020 / 92MIN / HEBREW / PG13 GERMAN, RUSSIAN / PG13
27 NOV, FRI 9:30PM FG7 + ONLINE 27 NOV, FRI 6:30PM OT + ONLINE
Proud middle-aged single father Aharon’s life D Nir Bergman is an Israeli film and television In an ostentatious manor in th-century D Cristi Puiu is an award-winning Romanian revolves around his autistic son, Uri, who has grown writer and director. He is known for his debut Transylvania, six aristocrats spar with one another about director and screenwriter who is regarded into a teenager who loves Charlie Chaplin films and Broken Wings (2002), whose accolades the nature of good and evil, war, mortality and religion. as the pioneer of Romanian New Wave. His animals. Their heartwarming daily routine is uprooted include the Grand Prix at Tokyo International Their serious pontifications are backgrounded by the critically acclaimed second feature, The when his ex-wife demands that it is time for Uri to live Film Festival, and television series BeTipul, constant presence of expressionless servants working Death of Mr Lăzărescu (2005), won the Prix in a specialised institution so that he can be more which was adapted into the award-winning in perfectly choreographed movements. Contradictions Un Certain Regard at Cannes. Malmkrog is his independent. Father and son are deeply reluctant to HBO series In Treatment. Here We Are is his abound and no resolution is ever reached. sixth feature film. part with each other and leave the safe and comfortable fifth feature fiction. Based on Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov’s reality that they have built together. Torn between the influential text, War and Christianity: Three Conversations, P Anca Puiu, Smaranda Puiu pressure of letting go and his instinct to protect his P Eitan Mansuri, Jonathan Doweck, Marica Stocchi Malmkrog illustrates the violence of dogmatism cloaked C Frédéric Schulz-Richard, Agathe Bosch, Diana Sakalauskaité son, Aharon, on a whim, takes a step into the unknown, C Shai Avivi, Noam Imber, Smadar Wolfman in intellect, yet the incessant discursive turns also call into leaving behind a world of familiarity for both. FL question the existence of absolutes—including death. The film won Best Director in the Encounters section at the Berlin International Film Festival. FL
IDENTIFYING FEATURES NEW ORDER SIN SEÑAS PARTICULARES NUEVO ORDEN In Mexico’s northern frontier region, lyrical In this taut dystopian thriller, a posh wedding is and horrific moments follow a mother who interrupted by unwelcome guests who seek to knows no bounds in finding her missing son. destabilise the current social order in Mexico. [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] MEXICO, SPAIN / 2020 / 97MIN / SPANISH, ZAPOTECO / NC16 MEXICO / 2020 / 86MIN / SPANISH / M18 30 NOV, MON 6:30PM OT + ONLINE 30 NOV, MON 9:30PM FG7 4 DEC, FRI 3:30PM OT 4 DEC, FRI 9:30PM FG3
Magdalena’s son disappears while trying to enter D Director and producer Fernanda Valadez’s A newlywed’s lavish wedding celebration takes an D Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco is no the United States. Not acknowledging his death, she first short film, De Este Mundo (2010), unimaginable turn for the worst when angry dispossessed stranger to the festival circuit, known for retraces his steps to seek the truth. Along the way received the Best Short Film Award at protestors stage a coup d’état at their swanky private his unflinching portrayals of suffering and she meets Miguel, recently deported from the US and Guanajuato Film Festival. Identifying residence. The violent upheaval by the disenfranchised in trauma onscreen. Two of his features, returning to a home that is no more. In the borderlands Features, her feature debut, won the Mexico immediately gives way to a more insidious evil: a After Lucia (2012) and April’s Daughter that their search takes them through, peril is understood Audience Award and Jury Screenplay military that capitalises on the riots to extort from the rich (2017), clinched the Jury Prize in Cannes’ yet seldom recognisable, while the kindness of strangers Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. She is by imprisoning and torturing them for ransom. The poor Un Certain Regard section. New Order, exists alongside devilish aggressors. currently writing her next feature, Rambler. become further stratified, their lives in constant peril in his sixth feature film, premiered at Venice, Fernanda Valadez looks beyond ruin to embrace a the new dystopian state rule. where it won the Grand Jury Prize. visual signature of distortions and apparitions, never far P Astrid Rondero New Order’s unapologetic indictment of class and from our incendiary reality. Rounded off by unyieldingly C Mercedes Hernández, David Illescas, Juan Jesús Varela racial inequalities as well as state corruption resonates P Michel Franco, Eréndira Núñez Larios, Cristina Velasco L. stoic performances and Clarice Jensen’s haunting score, well beyond the Latin American experience, providing an C Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Mónica del Carmen this smouldering thriller both retells and resists the extreme depiction of a future if present disparities are left extremes of a humanitarian crisis. RL unchecked. LSW
68 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 69 CINEMA TODAY FILMS CINEMA IN COMPETITON NIGHT OF THE KINGS A PERFECTLY NORMAL FAMILY LA NUIT DES ROIS EN HELT ALMINDELIG FAMILIE The condemned do not go gently into A young girl struggles to deal with her the good night, fighting with their stories transsexual father’s transition in this instead, in this kinetic and dizzying thriller. contemplative semi-autobiographical debut.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] CÔTE D’IVOIRE, FRANCE, CANADA, SENEGAL / 2020 / 93MIN / FRENCH, DIOULA, NOUCHI DENMARK / 2020 / 97MIN / DANISH / M18
4 DEC, FRI 6:30PM OT + ONLINE 5 DEC, SAT 9:30PM OT + ONLINE
The writer Joan Didion once said we tell ourselves D Beginning as a radio reporter, Philippe Lacôte Emma shares a very ordinary life with her seemingly D Malou Reymann is a Danish filmmaker and stories in order to live, and this frenetic feature takes that from Ivory Coast has gone on to produce tight-knit family. Her supportive parents Thomas and actress. She holds a degree in literature from aphorism up to eleven. A pickpocket enters a notorious documentaries and narrative-driven works. Helle cheer her on at her football matches, and her older the University of Copenhagen and a master’s prison expecting the worst, only to be given new garb His first feature, Run (2014), was presented sister Caroline still makes time for her despite a busy in Directing Fiction from the National Film and a new name: Roman. The prisoners are ruled less by at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. Night of the schedule. However, all this changes when her parents and Television School in England. Her short guards than rites, and on a red-mooned night, Roman is to Kings, his second feature, was shown at Venice, announce their divorce with a bombshell: Thomas wishes film, 13, was named Best Short Film at the 2011 tell them tales—what awaits him after is unknown. Toronto and New York film festivals. to become a woman. Odense International Film Festival. With Roman’s desperate tale of Zama King, an Malou Reymann draws from her own experiences in outlaw who witnesses various periods in Ivorian history, P Delphine Jaquet, Yanick Létourneau, Ernest Konan, this powerful, sincere and quietly observant debut feature P Matilda Appelin, René Ezra Night of the Kings not only pays homage to West African Yoro Mbaye showing the crumbling of the archetypal nuclear family C Kaya Toft Loholt, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Rigmor Rante griot storytelling. From pantomime and mythology, down C Koné Bakary, Steve Tientcheu, Rasmané Ouédraogo unit, whilst grasping at the hope that no matter what to the expressions Roman wears, it testifies to the ability happens, a family will always stay a family. A Perfectly of fictions to write themselves, no matter how forsaken its Normal Family premiered at Rotterdam where it garnered authors may seem. RL the Big Screen Award. AAB
NOMADLAND SLALOM In this graceful portrait of nomadism, Chloé A tense, compelling drama of sexual abuse Zhao challenges the romanticism of American in the world of high-performance sports. freedom against a forced life on the road.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
USA / 2020 / 108MIN / ENGLISH / M18 FRANCE / 2020 / 90MIN / FRENCH / R21
28 NOV, SAT 9:30PM FG3 + FG7 30 NOV, MON 9:30PM OT + ONLINE
Alongside a whole generation of middle-class, D Born in Beijing, Chloé Zhao is a writer, director Slalom follows Lyz, a -year-old competitive D Charlène Favier is a French writer and middle-aged Americans affected by the recession, Fern and producer currently based in the United skier who falls prey to the sexual advances of her coach. director whose previous works include short takes to the roads. Living in her van, she chases seasonal States. Zhao’s previous features Songs My Throughout the film, the emotionally isolated Lyz hurtles films and a documentary. Her work often jobs as they come along, spending summers in desert Brothers Taught Me (2015) and The Rider down the physical slopes and an internal whirlwind of features strong female protagonists who communes. On her journey, Fern meets many other (2017) question intimately the American pleasure and pain, as she struggles to understand her navigate social and personal circumstances nomads. They enter Fern’s world, like short chapters in a way of life. Zhao continues this discourse with own identity while being Fred’s student, lover and victim. in search of their identity. Slalom, her debut story, each with a wealth of tales from their own travels. Nomadland, which won the Golden Lion at this Relying less on script than on body language, Charlène feature, was selected for Cannes. While this camaraderie gives her temporary respite, year’s Venice Film Festival. Favier effectively communicates the psychological Fern’s heart lies in wandering. Her unwillingness to settle trauma experienced by Lyz. Chilling and disconcerting, P Edouard Mauriat, Anne-Cécile Berthomeau down propels her to move steadfastly onwards. P Chloé Zhao, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Slalom makes for an essential watch in the #MeToo era, C Jérémie Renier, Noée Abita, Marie Denarnaud Chloé Zhao presents a tender antithesis to the Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey particularly following the accounts of abuse emerging American dream. Her sensitivity to transitory connections C Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May from the sports world. GN and instinctive empathy craft a deeply meaningful, circular tale of introspection. VC
70 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) Check SGIFF.com for ratings 71 THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS Old-timers and their canine friends go on MOONLIGHT perilous journeys for elusive truffles in this insightful and sumptuous documentary. CINEMA [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] 20—21 NOVEMBER 2020 | ONLINE | FREE SCREENING ITALY, USA, GREECE / 2020 / 84MIN / ITALIAN, PIEDMONTESE / R21 29 NOV, SUN 9:30PM TPG Moonlight Cinema returns this year with two films that will allow 3 DEC, THU 9:30PM TPG us to dream together! The Alba white truffle is a most sought-after D Michael Dweck is an award-winning delicacy, fetching exorbitant prices at auctions and filmmaker and visual artist. Gregory Kershaw favoured in world cuisine by the elite of society. But what is a documentary and narrative filmmaker. Join us for a weekend of online evening screenings that tell the about the people whose purpose in life is to search for this Their debut collaborative effort, The Last stories of Hong Kong singer Denise Ho’s journey of self-discovery lavish ingredient, no matter how arduous the task? Race, won Best Documentary Feature at the Filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw Motor Film Awards 2019. Their second film, and transformation, and a delightful trip through France with shine a light on this disappearing trade, following some The Truffle Hunters was part of the selections filmmaker Agnès Varda and photographer JR. Both are available eccentric old boys and their loyal furry companions, as of Cannes, Toronto and New York film festivals they traipse through the forests of northern Italy and after its premiere at Sundance. for home viewing in anticipation of the 31st SGIFF. contend with corporate villains who no longer respect the traditional ways. Delightful, humorous and visually P Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw stunning, this documentary was executive produced by C Paulo Stacchin, Piero Botto, Egidio Gagliardi Tune in to watch at sgiff.com/moonlightcinema Luca Guadagnino. AAB Moonlight Cinema is brought to you with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Singapore.
1 2 WINDOW BOY WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HAVE A SUBMARINE CHICO VENTANA TAMBIÉN QUISIERA Don’t miss singer Denise Ho Take a tour around the nooks TENER UN SUBMARINO and director Sue Williams in and crannies of Singapore with In this poetic, magic-realist film, a portal is a conversation with SGIFF. your friends over the weekend, chance for connections—but only if we embrace the unknown. like what the late filmmaker Submit your questions for them at [SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE] Agnès Varda and photographer sgiff.com/film-qna URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, NETHERLANDS, JR did in France. Did you chance PHILIPPINES / 2020 / 84MIN / SPANISH, TUWALI upon any charming wall art 2 DEC, WED 10PM OT + ONLINE or intriguing architecture?
Aboard a luxurious cruise ship, a listless deckhand D Alex Piperno is a poet, director and producer Share with us your ‘Faces Places’ local discovers a portal that leads to a woman’s apartment in from Uruguay. Besides several critically sights and tag us with Montevideo. Meanwhile, a group of rural farmers in the acclaimed short films, he has also published #sgiffmoonlightcinema to stand a Philippines come upon a mysterious hut that they have books of poetry. Window Boy Would Also chance to receive complimentary never seen in the forest. Fearing that it may harbour evil Like to Have a Submarine, his debut feature, tickets to online Festival screenings spirits, they plan to destroy it. Faith and the trust in the premiered at the Berlinale this year. unknown are examined in how different characters react or a full Festival merchandise kit! to strange situations that elude belief. P Alex Piperno, Esteban Lucangioli, Araquén Rodríguez, Window Boy Would Also Like to Have a Submarine Rachel Ellis, Frank Hoeve, Armi Rae Cacanindin Contest runs from 20 November is an atmospheric film that forgoes a traditional narrative. C Daniel Quiroga, Inés Bortagaray, Noli Tobol Friday to 22 November Sunday. It searches for kindness and a fundamental human connection that can be possible in serendipitous For more details, visit our Facebook encounters between isolated individuals around the @sginternationalfilmfestival and world—but only if we give it a chance. LSW Instagram @sgiffest
72 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) 73 MOONLIGHT CINEMA SGIFF nurtures future talent and film appreciation with developmental programmes DENISE HO: and outreach projects for BECOMING THE SONG upcoming filmmakers and the In this story of courage and finding one’s true voice, acclaimed Hong Kong singer next generation of film critics. Denise Ho searches for her identity.
[SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE]
USA / 2020 / 83MIN / CANTONESE, ENGLISH, MANDARIN
20 NOV, FRI 8PM ONLINE
The documentary follows the remarkable journey D Sue Williams is a documentary writer, of Cantopop superstar Denise Ho, as she grapples with producer and director. She formed identity and the freedom of expression. It accompanies Ambrica Productions in 1986 to produce Ho on the road as she tours the US, Canada and the UK, documentaries of international scope and while preparing to release a new song. She reflects on interest, including the CHINA trilogy and her life’s trajectory: her childhood, family life, her dream to biographies on American icons. In 2016, she work with the late Cantopop legend Anita Mui, stardom, was awarded the Boston Globe Filmmaker and having to rebuild her career in the wake of pressures Fund Award for Death by Design. resulting from her outspoken views on social issues. The film reveals her belief in personal freedom and P Sue Williams liberty and her commitment to an open and democratic C Denise Ho world where each person can find their own true voice. KMJ
FACES PLACES VISAGES VILLAGES Iconic photographer/muralist JR strikes up an unlikely friendship with illustrious French New Wave filmmaker Agnès Varda as they embark on a tender, enchanting road trip through the French countryside.
FRANCE / 2016 / 94MIN / FRENCH / PG13
21 NOV, SAT 8PM ONLINE
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the D Agnès Varda (1928–2019) was one of the Academy Awards, the film follows the travels of the few French New Wave female directors. She late filmmaker Agnès Varda and photographer JR through received an honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes FILM rural French towns. They meet coal miners, farmers, Film Festival in 2015. Her major works include cheese-makers, truck drivers and factory workers and Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Vagabond (1985) and create epic-size portraits of them. With these two kindred Jacquot de Nantes (1991). spirits shaping the film from both behind and in front of the camera, this personal/road-trip documentary profoundly JR is an acclaimed French photographer ACADEMY captures the power of art to connect communities. known for his giant portraits on buildings, Between stops, Varda and JR share honest musings trains and bridges. about their artistic practices and philosophies of image- making. With Varda in her golden years, Faces Places P Agnès Varda, JR, Rosalie Varda also becomes a poignant conversation on life and the C Agnès Varda, JR relentless forward march of time. SM
74 D Director P Producer C Cast Q&A with filmmaker(s) FILMSFILM ACADEMY IN COMPETITON 77 Vietnam Thailand Thailand Myanmar Singapore
Nong Nhat QuangNongNhat GUAVA JACKFRUIT BABY BABY DOCUMENTARY conservativeA mother, schizophrenicsondaughter gayand recountdivergencethetheir lives of thenewbornwelcome they to a as family. RussellMortonAdam PENUMBRA a onwashes runupthe on man A kelong.Caughtbetween land and sea,dreamsmonsters,and he escape.awaits HeinBo Bo Zaw DRAGONGARUDA unhappilyAn marriedsearchesman identitysexualtruehisthe withfor uncle’shisghost. helpof JirassayaWongsutin GIRLS FLAT policea daughterthe of Jane is sergeant.samethelived inhas She sinceflatsbirth.block of Following Janeandfather, her of deaththe leave.motherpreparehermust to PrimrinPuarat BURIEDDEADMOUNTAIN DOCUMENTARY Followinglivesstrugglesandthe villagerssufferedof havewho mismanagementwastethe from crisiseasternThailandin over for decade,filmmakera the reflects systemicfailurespatternof the on whetherasksanyandthereare realisticsolutionsproblem.the to Malaysia Cambodia Singapore Philippines Philippines
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HEADMENTOR IchiyamaJapanShozo | founderIchiyamathe Shozo is Filmex. Tokyo director of and workedhas heproducer, a As Asianfilmmakerswithon award-winningincludingfilms Zhangke’sJia Sin Shanghaiof Flowers Blackboards CalmingThe Berlinalethe2020. Forum at CICAE Prize MENTORS Mai Meksawan | ThailandMeksawan| Mai former a MeksawanisMai BangkokInternational Film programmerFestival and productionco-founderThai of distributionand company mostVirgin.Extralatter’s The successfultitle, festivalsworldwide100thanandmore in recentmost international Hisawards.received 11 production, Festival.FilmVenice Orizzontisection of the NanditaSolomonMalaysia | NanditaSolomonthe is co-founderMalaysian of independentproductionfilm companyApparat,its and film officialsubmission for 2013the LanguageForeignBest at Film presentedprojectshasAcademySheAwards. GenreAsiaFocus HAF, Kong’sHong at Udine,Singapore’sin MarketSoutheast FinancingAsianFilmand Project Market DocedgeKolkata.Solomonserves also as MalaysiaIndustryMultimediathe Advisor to University’sCinematicArts. of Faculty
L’Atelier, Locarno’s Open Doors,Open Locarno’s L’Atelier, TorinoFilmLab. andSEAFIC and markets such as Busan’s as such markets and Cannes’Market, Project Asian other prestigiousworkshopsother from the Southeast Asian Film AsianSoutheast the from in thrive to on gone have Lab Projects that have emerged have that Projects at the Silver Screen Awards. ScreenSilver the at will be awarded Most PromisingMost awarded be will Prize Fellowshipand Project industry experts. Two filmmakers industryTwo experts. programme will end with the with endprogramme will of panel a to pitchingfilmmakers experiences and insights.andThe experiences mentors, and hear from fellow from hear andmentors, theirshare they as filmmakers Film Lab, filmmakers will receive willfilmmakers Lab, Film three personalfrom feedback length film project.theDuring filmlength Asian filmmakers who are whofilmmakers Asian feature- first theirembarking on collaborative space for Southeast for collaborativespace The Southeast Asian Film AsianSoutheast The nurturingand a provides Lab FILM LAB FILM SOUTHEASTASIAN 76 YOUTH JURY & CRITICS FILMSFILM ACADEMYIN COMPETITON PROGRAMME PARTICIPANTS Kathleen Bu Ng Zu En Casidhe The Youth Jury & Critics MENTOR Filmmaker Yale-NUS College Programme aims to nurture new Chris Fujiwara | Japan film critics who can contribute Chris Fujiwara has written Anyone can critique a film, but Film criticism allows me to and edited several books on having the opportunity to learn it crystallise the personally to Southeast Asian film culture cinema, including Jacques professionally comes rarely. resonant aspects of a work. and discourse. This programme Tourneur: The Cinema of provides the opportunity for Nightfall (1998), The World mentorship in the art of film and Its Double: The Life and Chan Jonathan Bertram Chiu Yee Euginia Tan Work of Otto Preminger (2008) and Jerry Lewis Yale University (August ’21) Freelance Writer criticism, while invited speakers (2009). He was the editor of Undercurrent, also enrich the learning experience the film-criticism magazine of FIPRESCI To read a film is an act of love, a I see film criticism as another by sharing about different (International Federation of Film Critics) and quiet dwelling in sight and sound. foray to expand on the potential of textual possibilities. types of critics, their role in a film critic for the Boston Phoenix , and has contributed to numerous magazines, journals film culture and what it is like to and newspapers. A former artistic director have a career as a film critic. of Edinburgh International Film Festival, Charles Kurniawan Teo Xiao Ting Fujiwara has also developed film programmes Marketing Freelance Writer In the lead-up to and during for other institutions and has organised and served as a mentor for numerous workshops Film theory classes sparked I’m curious about the distances and the festival, the young critics’ on film criticism and film programming. my interest in film criticism intimacies within (and without) film. articles and video essays will and it inspired me to constantly evolve myself as a writer. be published on SGIFF’s Film SPEAKERS Academy journal, Stories. The Viknesh Kobinathan mentor will award one of the Programmer, Asian Film Archive, Singapore Lee Jian Hao Ernest Wong Kar Mun Nicole young critics with the Young Critic Kevin B. Lee University of Oxford Executive, Checkpoint Theatre Award for originality of writing Professor of Crossmedia Publishing, Merz Akademie, Germany The sociohistorical context and Seeing worlds in the quiver of a and for contributing to cinematic afterlives of films intrigue me— silence or flicker of light on screen. discussions in the region. The but really, Lynch started it. Edna Lim programme will culminate in the Senior Lecturer, English Language and young jurors awarding the Youth Literature, National University of Singapore Jury Prize to one of the films Li Zhenhong Daryl Joellene Yap Yu Ean Editor University of California, Berkeley competing in the Southeast Asian John Lui Senior Correspondent, Short Film Competition during The Straits Times, Singapore My main interests lie in ideas Loves coming-of-age, animation of spectatorship, genre, and good representation. the Silver Screen Awards. memory and culture. Thong Kay Wee Programmes and Outreach Officer, Asian Film Archive, Singapore Joshuah Lim Alan Yuen LASALLE College of the Arts Nanyang Technological University
Intrigued by the mysteries of life and I want to write like Ebert and make why the moving image transcends. video essays like Tony Zhou.
Lim Mei Pei Nanyang Technological University
Let’s critique films to like them better, and make better ones.
78 79 SOUTHEAST ASIAN SGIFF FILM FUND FILMSFILM ACADEMYIN COMPETITON PRODUCERS NETWORK The Southeast Asian Producers SGIFF offers two film grants for Network invites producers from PARTICIPATING PRODUCERS Southeast Asian film projects. These CATCH THE 2019 GRANT the region to share their wealth grants are dedicated to supporting RECIPIENTS AT THE FESTIVAL Angelina Marilyn Bok filmmakers with compelling stories of knowledge and ideas with Aswang (p. 54) Xeno Pictures | Singapore to tell across both fiction and non- one another. The network is a Bình (p. 38) Projects: The Beast from fiction genres. platform for further dialogue and the Trees; The Blameless Citizen Hustler (p. 46) opportunities for collaboration. Life of Rev. Barnaby; If You Judy Free (p. 36) Are Not Here on Sunday Morning Submissions open in December Nursery Rhymes (p. 50) 2020. For details, visit Ploy (p. 56) In an intimate closed-door filmacademy.sgiff.com setting, six invited Southeast Dan Koh Asian producers with projects Freelance Producer | Singapore Project: Stranger Eyes in development will share the process of developing their works—the unknowns, shortfalls, and possibilities of stretching the Luhki Herwanayogi Catchlight Pictures | Indonesia potential of their company’s works. Project: Our Son The Tan Ean Kiam Foundation-SGIFF The SGIFF Southeast Asian-Short Film Southeast Asian-Documentary (SEA-DOC) (SEA-SHORTS) Grant aims to be a This year will see greater Grant aims to support the production and launchpad for the brightest, upcoming names interaction among the participants post-production of engaging stories told in filmmaking from the region. This year, Noorahaya Lahtee of Producers Network and through the art of documentary filmmaking we are excited to support four short films Vertical Films | Thailand in Southeast Asia. The grant supports each with a cash amount of S$4,000 and Southeast Asian Film Lab as well Projects: Breaking the Cycle; four mid-length or feature documentaries post-production support worth S$4,000. as Silver Screen Award nominees, Flat Girls; Hours of Ours; I open a annually—two production projects with a as they explore the potential curtain to see a dead bird cash amount of S$30,000 awarded to each for collaboration, exchange recipient and two post-production projects 2020 GRANT RECIPIENTS Lee Yve Vonn with a cash amount of S$20,000 awarded to ideas and inspire one another. Afternoon Pictures | Malaysia each recipient. • Further and Further Away by Polen Ly Project: Oasis of Now (Cambodia) Find out more at filmacademy.sgiff.com 2020 GRANT RECIPIENTS • Father’s Father by Cao Viet Hoai Son (Vietnam) Thaiddhi • Breaking the Cycle by Aekaphong Third Floor Production | Myanmar Saransate and Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn Project: Fruit Gathering (Thailand)
• Sandcastles by Carin Leong (Singapore)
• Small Hours of the Night by Daniel Hui (Singapore) PRODUCERS NETWORK TALK • Worship by Uruphong Raksaad (Thailand) Accessing International Co-production— Why and How?
30 NOV, MON | 7PM | 60MIN | ONLINE Find out more on page 23. The SEA-DOC Grant The SEA-SHORTS Grant is supported by is supported by
80 81 OTHER FILM ACADEMY FILMSFILM ACADEMYIN COMPETITON PROGRAMMES NEW WAVES FILM IMMERSION PROGRAMME WAVES FESTIVAL FILM INTERNATIONAL SINGAPORE A BYPROGRAMME NEW RE-FRAMING ASIAN STORIES: FILM FOR ALTERNATIVE VOICES
Launched in 2016, New Waves shines the this iteration, their works adopting a fresh The Film Immersion Programme aims This year, we have brought the programme spotlight on young filmmakers making waves approach to messages that are familiar to nurture film literacy, cultivate the online, which has seen the participation of in Southeast Asia. Through film screenings yet no less important, with the potential appreciation of the film medium and share almost 2,000 students since August. and dialogue sessions with guest speakers to positively shape the way we look at our the creative process of filmmaking with from different disciplines, the programme communities. youths. Designed for students from upper Find out how you can support our Film centres on their personal approaches in secondary, post-secondary and tertiary Immersion Programme on page 84. using film as a mode of expression. Find out more at institutions, the programme consists sgiff.com/newwaves of three main components: short film Held at Oldham Theatre on 24–25 October, screenings, discussion about the films, and the 2020 programme was expanded to the experience of film festivals. At the end, include works from the broader Asian region, students may choose to get involved with the bringing together young directors with film festival by becoming a volunteer. established filmmakers. Their unique and powerful stories reflect courageously on the past while evoking principles of change. Female filmmakers took centre stage in
82 83 MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN CINEMA
DONATE TO SGIFF TODAY SGIFF Film Academy: Film Immersion SGIFF is a charity committed to championing and nurturing Programme visual storytelling in Asia. Make a difference in cinema by Thousands of students have benefitted from helping us raise $30,000 by 31 March 2021—this is matched the enriching sessions, dollar-for-dollar by the Cultural Matching Fund up to $60,000! which cultivate media literacy, appreciation of the film medium and the creative process.
WITH YOU: WE CONNECT THE COMMUNITY
Our community longs to reconnect and engage. Your pledge to SGIFF WITH YOU: allows us to continue WE GO BEYOND bringing unique, diverse THE SCREENS and independent stories to the festival so we can create new With your help, we can In 2019, Anthony Chen’s highly anticipated create meaningful memories together. Wet Season premiered at SGIFF with sold- out screenings, bringing together the film conversations through community and viewers from all walks of life to masterclasses, panel support and celebrate homegrown talents! discussions and post- show dialogues, as well as recognise cinematic excellence with the annual Prolific cult Japanese director Takashi Silver Screen Awards. Miike conducted a masterclass to a WITH YOU: large audience in 2019, sharing about his WE SUPPORT approach to storytelling and his craft. THE INDUSTRY
Your contribution helps support the SGIFF Film Academy, the region’s first holistic training SCAN TO DONATE via your banking app initiative for Southeast DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT TODAY! Asian film talents. Whether you choose a one-time or monthly contribution, The Academy aims to SGIFF Film Academy: every bit counts! All donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar Southeast Asian Film Lab through the Cultural Matching Fund. A 250% tax deduction enhance the capabilities A nurturing and collaborative of the regional film scene mentorship programme that has is available upon request for donations above $50. collectively and nurture produced projects that have gone on to thrive in other prestigious young filmmakers. For more information, please visit sgiff.com/donate-to- workshops and markets. the-festival or email us at [email protected]
84 85 “Cinema is the greatest mirror of The Singapore International Film humanity’s struggle. You see this Festival was established in 1987, alternative world, but you’re part of it. and is the longest-running film Everybody is part of it. This is our world.” event in Singapore. Now in its 31st Lav Diaz edition, the Festival would not have been possible without our audiences, patrons, supporters and the devoted film communities in Singapore and the region.
ABOUT
THE FESTIVAL
Genus Pan FILMSABOUT IN THE COMPETITON FESTIVAL 89 Festival GuideFestival Design MAKE Design Web AtelierA&C EDITORIALTEAM Editor FionaLim Writers AishahBakarAbu EisabessChee Chiu Alfonse Chua Vess HooShawn Ming-JungKuo Wei Sze Lee FionaLim LimRyan MericanSara NathanGayathrii VisualFestival FindingPictures
MEMBERS
Kelly Phua | Executive| PhuaKelly Hospitality SeniorManagerMabelyn| Ow Coordinator| SelenaTan Houseof Front Ticketing& Manager| Debbie Ng Coordinator | MostafaVanessa EXECUTIVE TEAM EXECUTIVE ExecutiveDirector HoeJ.Emily ArtisticDirector Ming-JungKuo Programming Executive| Chua Vess ExecutiveMericanSara| Intern | Lau Vera Assistant| LimRyan Assistant| YingBao Tan BusinessDevelopment Manager| Jolyn Wu ExecutiveMelissaErny| Marketing Manager| SinPhyu May FESTIVAL TEAM FESTIVAL
Yvonne Tham | Chair| ThamYvonne EugeneChang Kwok Kenneth RichardHarding CommitteeAudit Chair| KinJi Loh BryanGhows Loh Ji KinJi Loh WinifredLoh SeahAlan HareshSharma JacquelineTan ThamYvonne COMMITTEES MarketingCommittee& PR ChairJunfeng| Boo LindaLocke Tan Eugenia FundraisingSponsorship& Committee Chair| SeahAlan SimranBedi JunfengBoo FionaGoh RampuriaBina JacquelineTan ThamAlex ProgrammesServices & Committee ChairHareshSharma| JunfengBoo Ng Jasmine HumanResources Committee BOARD, COMMITTEE BOARD, & CHAIRPERSON JunfengBoo MEMBERSBOARD Minli(Treasurer)Han
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ABOUT THE ABOUT • 1998 • 1997 1995 • • 1994 • with 1992 • 1991 1987 • film lovers around the region direct access to the best of what cinema has to offer. to cinemahaswhat of bestthe regiondirectaccessaround to thelovers film culture, SGIFF aims to ignite public interest in the arts, and to give thousandsgive of to arts,andthe publicignite ininterest culture, to aims SGIFF nurture and champion homegrown talents, and be a platform for new voices.new nurture championplatformfor and homegrowna talents,be and experiencedeepervibrantfilmandappreciationproviding cinematica By for Over the years, SGIFF has been an integral contributor to the independenttheintegralcontributor an to been filmhasSGIFF years, the Over missionits to insteadfast is industry SingaporeFestivalregion. theTheinand 2008 • • 2006 2005 • • 2000 • 88 FESTIVAL TEAM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FILMSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN COMPETITON
A&C Atelier Special Thanks Alexandra Ng, Craig Neo, Angel Ng Bryan van der Beek Fran Borgia Anticipate Pictures Anthony Chen Vincent Quek Alex Chua EMILY J. HOE KUO MING-JUNG VESS CHUA SARA MERICAN Sanchai Chotirosseranee Executive Director Artistic Director Programming Executive Programming Executive Asian Film Archive Jeremy Chua Karen Chan, Viknesh Kobinathan, Amelia Hapsari Love that film brings I hope that together we I used to watch films for Images flicker. We laugh, Lim Si Qi, Thong Kay Wee Sarah How people on a journey, find some great films, fun, now its my job! we cry, we gasp. Long live Katrina Hsieh giving voice to stories and and a fond memory for a cinema! Clover Films Huang Junxiang perspectives. difficult year. Lim Teck Anderson Le Gwend Lim Finding Pictures Jasmine Ng Jerrold Chong, Jia Lee Tan Pin Pin Renee Tan First Printers Sharon Tan Leslie Yew Teh Su Ching Thaiddhi VERA LAU JOLYN WU ERNY MELISSA MAY PHYU SIN MAKE Design Olivia Tay Programming Intern Business Development Business Development Marketing Manager Daryl Ho, Cheryl Tan Paolo Ty Manager Executive Claude Wang Mocha Chai Laboratories Wu Fan Extremely excited to Shhhh… The film is Now, more than ever, Hope is about seeing Chai Yee Wei, Michelle Chang, Alicia Ho, Therese Ching-Hsu Yang watch every single film... starting… we need a dash of the light at the end of the twice! hope and cinematic tunnel—just like in the Jerlyn Koh, Lim Ting Li, Wu Chin Long Danny Yeo magic in our lives. cinemas after the show. NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nikki Draper, Lee Sang Joon
Rice Media Mark Tan, Julian Wong
*SCAPE KELLY PHUA MABELYN OW SELENA TAN DEBBIE NG David Chua, Goh Kok Wee, Marketing Executive Senior Hospitality Hospitality Coordinator Ticketing & Front of Lingual Tan, Shirley Tan Manager House Manager Film marks periods in our Film People are My Maybe there’s no answer; Needed the job. Sony Pictures Releasing lives; images take root in People. Always have been keep making, keep Singapore Pte Ltd our minds. So does the and always will be! watching. Irene Tay, Sharon Yee Festival! The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte Ltd Rachel Fong
Ying Communications Emilyn Ang, Naeema Ismail, Trisha Lim, Judy Ong, Magda Niewczas VANESSA MOSTAFA Ticketing & Front of House Coordinator Seeing the world lens by lens.
90 91 FILMSFILM INDEX IN COMPETITON 93 , ,
Y T U V W S You and I and You Yellow Cat Yellow Have a Submarinea Have Window Boy Would Also Like to to LikeAlso Would Window Boy A Weirdo Never Fever OverRyFever Never Weirdo A Spy a of Wife The Woman Who RanWho Woman The Watermelon PleaseWatermelon The WastelandThe Veins of the World the of Veins The UnseenTheRiver The Truffle Hunters Truffle The True Mothers True A Trip to Heaven to Trip A To Calm the Pig InsidePig theCalm To Tellurian DramaTellurian TiongBahruSocialClub Sunrise in My MindMySunrise in SpiritFilm The Smell of Coffee Smell of The Silk Slalom The ShepherdessTheSongsSeven the and Sexy SushiSexy Saudade Party-statethe by Saved Sementara The Salt in Our Waters Our in SaltThe
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No Love for the Young Young the for Love No Keep RollingKeep Malmkrog Milestone Monographs BrotherMy OrderNew Newborn Kingsthe of Night Her Five LivesFive Her ThereNot IsHere Are We Here HoldingGoLettingOn, Manilain Young Die to How IdentifyingFeatures IraniBag JudyFree P R K M N H I J Reminiscences Rocketship Nomadland BakingMother’sMy Not NurseryRhymes SundayPeopleon PerfectlyNormalFamilyA Ploy Pulang theTiptoeingonAninsri; Red Or, BerlinWall TremblingStill
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G F E D C B A # Ghost Like Us GhostLike Gagarine GenusPan Geranium First CowFirst ShadowSerenadeFlower Faces PlacesFaces ShadowWanderedMy Faraway Filipiñana East Coast Park LoversParkCoastEast Estate DeniseBecomingHo:Song the KinshasaDownstream to Days Soldiera of Death Citizen HustlerCitizen RoomHerCloud inThe CupThe Casting a Spell to Alter RealityAlter Spell to Castinga A BalanceA Beginning Bình RevolutionaryBrave Redubbed Aswang After NoonAfter Ammonite RoamedTheyAnd TimesReproductionDemocracy of Days
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