D8 life happenings | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020 |

John Lui Film Correspondent recommends

MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL

Picks 2020 Presented by the Middle East Institute at the National University of , with support from the Film Singapore Film Society, this year’s edition features seven films – from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey, Israel and Morocco. The Orphanage (right, 2019, NC16, 90 minutes, screens on Feb 14, 9.15pm), selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, is a drama about a street kid living in 1980s Afghanistan, then a nation under Soviet control. The fan of Bollywood, who used to sell cinema tickets on the street, is captured and sent to an orphanage just as Soviet influence is waning. Soon, his new home is caught up in wider social changes. WHERE: GV VivoCity, 02-30 VivoCity, 1 Harbourfront Walk MRT: HarbourFront WHEN: Feb 14 to 19, various times ADMISSION: $13 INFO: www.singaporefilmsociety. com/event/meff2020

UNCUT GEMS (NC16) Streaming on Netflix/135 minutes/

In this bone-dry comedy about a guy who cannot catch a break, Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner (right) is a debt-ridden New York jeweller and gambling fiend who has come to own a rock of great value – one studded with the minerals of the film’s title. By juggling a complex series of deals with hustler and sales assistant Demany (Lakeith Stanfield), a professional basketball player Kevin Garnett (playing himself), loan shark Arno (Eric Bogosian) and mistress-employee Julia (Julia Fox), he hopes to fix everything broken in his life. The pieces do not quite fall into place for poor Howard, who sprints across New York City trying to shore up his collapsing plan, with each encounter more degrading than ACCESSING THE ARCHIVE becoming one, he sees that the PHOTOS: ASIAN FILM the last. Rare gems from the Asian Film group’s love of violence has made it ARCHIVE, MIDDLE Part of the film’s brilliance lies in Archive are released for public an unchecked forced interested only EAST FILM FESTIVAL/ Sandler’s portrayal of Howard as the screenings in the Accessing The in securing more power. LUXBOX, NETFLIX guy for whom everything that can Archive programme and the pick this De Leon’s film, an allegory about the go wrong, will. week is the drama Batch ’81 (above, Marcos regime, has been hailed as a In Sandler’s hands, he is also 1982, NC16, 98 minutes), from milestone in Asian cinema. emotionally vulnerable, capable of acclaimed Filipino director Mike De WHERE: Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning child-like glee one minute and Leon. Rise MRT: Dhoby Ghaut/ sobbing self-pity the next. That University student Sid Lucero (Mark Fort Canning WHEN: Today, 8pm softens his scummy behaviour Gil) dreams of being a member of a ADMISSION: $10 a ticket, $20 for somewhat, though this reviewer will prestigious fraternity known for its three tickets and $30 for five tickets understand if viewers find him brutal hazing rituals, but after INFO: asianfilmarchive.org repulsively glib.

FILMS making the case that ethical WHERE: 04-11 Icon@Changi, theatre, lights and music. Gardeners’ Day Out farming is not only an animal rights 228 Changi Road MRT: Eunos No admission for children aged At HortPark issue, but also one that affects every WHEN: Feb 14, 7 - 9pm below three. This event features a marketplace, The Truth (PG) aspect of people’s lives. ADMISSION: $10 WHERE: Esplanade Recital Studio, free talks and demonstrations, When Fabienne, a star of French WHERE: The Projector, Level 5 Golden INFO: www.simplyreiki.sg 1 Esplanade Drive MRT: Esplanade free garden tours of HortPark cinema, publishes her memoirs, Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road WHEN: Today - Sun; 11am & 2pm and kids’ activities such as her daughter Lumir returns from MRT: Nicoll Highway KIDS (today), 2 & 5pm (tomorrow & Sun) storytelling and handicrafts. New York to her childhood home in WHEN: Tomorrow, 3pm, & Feb 18, ADMISSION: $30 WHERE: HortPark, Visitor Services Pa