When will a design magazine/book anoint the HDB point block as a design icon? Its the most graceful, elegant and self-evident design object. Logically flowing rooms, well ventilated, well lit and it packs into a very small space. 100% utlitarian and gorgeous because of it. Will the PWD architect who came up with this amazing troupe please stand up. You deserve the cultural medallion, a Pritzker award. I have so many questions for you.
My friends director Ying Liang and his producer co-writer and partner Peng Shan will be in Singapore this weekend to premiere their film The Other Half at Singapore International Film Festival on 22 April, 9.15, National Museum. This film is one of the nominees for the Silver Screen Awards. Their previous feature “Taking Father Home” was also honoured in the Silver Screen Awards last year but they could not make it here then. Much has been said about the video movement that sparked the Malaysian new wave. A similar video movement is also taking place in China (non government sanctioned of course) and their works, ultra low budget, self funded videos are finding their way beyond the university campuses, where these films are normally screened to festivals overseas. Pic below taken at Rotterdam 2006
Heard that Said Zahari 17 years has been banned under section 35 of the Film Act which gives the Minister of Information a discretionary power to prohibit the distribution or possession of any film he deems against the public interest. It is a pity. This film should be seen, especially by Singaporeans. For the documentary is about the price of our present day efficiency, wealth and ennui. In the early 60’s, during Singapore’s formation, at the height of the red scare, a whole echelon of politicians, intellectuals, artists had their lives brought to a standstill when they were incarcerated without trial as they were considered too far to the left. They were inconvenient to have around, too unruly and uncontrollable. On a craft level, I admire this documentary for its simplicity. Martyn See could have added so many other kinds of shots, but he does not. He focuses on the basic talking head, keeps it tight, and as one watches the Said Zahari speak, it all makes sense why this simple device was chosen. Its our loss.
Other good news around the region, Amir Mohammed’s Village People Radio Show is banned by Malaysia’s censors but can be seen at SIFF next week (just as Said Zahari 17 years could be seen at Freedom Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur last year)
A piece for the Institute of Policy Studies eNewsletter
“When public money is used to support the arts, it is often justified on the grounds that the arts, because it is one of the most direct expressions of a society, plays an important role as it enables that society to learn about itself. Since it is a public good and the free market does not consistently encourage its practice, government funding is necessary to sustain it.
While this is plausible in theory, its practice is fraught. Although national grant giving institutions give in the name of the citizens whose taxes support the funds, there are times when the criteria used to decide who to support are not as diversified as the constituents. There are several reasons for this…..” Read more
Watching Cages, I was particularly struck by the actor Mokoto Iwamatsu who plays the grandfather. Very quickly, I got over the incongruity of Mokoto playing a Montagut shirted Chinese Ah Pek in Singaporespeaking with with a western accent . All good actors have that effect, the ability to suspend one’s disbelief in all kinds of inconguous scenarios by focusing on the emotion of that scene. Check him out.
The Grand Cathay hosted the premiere of Pink Paddlers at the Grand Cathay last night. All the 500 charity tickets ($30,$50) in aid of UNIFEM/Breast Cancer Foundation were sold out. It is a 62 min documentary, directed by Jasmine Ng about breast cancer survivors of all ages who dragon boat race. Through the device of the race, I learnt alot about what going through this cancer entailed. The characters spoke for themselves, simply and clearly. Kudos to the filmmaker and the producer. I hope they show it on TV very soon. It is a must watch. I wish I had my father along to see it.
We are in the middle of making Invisible City, editing, shooting, editing and shooting some more. We have spent the past week throwing out all our favourite scenes in an attempt,ironically, to find the heart of the film. It is a brutal process, if personal fancies are not aligned with the thrust of the documentary – out it goes. We are much lighter now, leaner, more emotionally focused. I tell Inez Ang, the editor that we have to make another film with all the discarded footage because I just can’t fit them all into this film and still have it make sense. So, I will think of Invisible City as a chapter of a long scroll with more chapters to come, Invisible 2, Invisible 3, Invisible 4. Below, Ryan Seet the camera man for Invisible City, he also shot Singapore GaGa
Watch films by Naruse, Ozu and Mizoguchi in a 3hr screening on Wed, 21st March. They were all studio hacks, films were all made in 1933-1935, all silent, all on 35mm prints. Watching them all side by side, you will get a sense of the strength and weakness of each and the milieu in which they operated. Ozu is the most well known, and rightly so too. Even though they all worked with the same melodramatic material (long suffering female protagonists used by hapless men) Ozu had a surer command of the craft and could with a simple still life positioned at the right time, kick you hard behind the knees, harder than Naruse. Don’t believe me? See it for yourself. Organised by Asian Film Archive and CFA. More info. Sistic
Date: 21 March 2007, Wed, 7.30 pm
Venue: University Cultural Centre Hall, NUS, Ticket: $25 (3 films with live Gamelan performance)
Continuing on from film school confidential, if you are looking for short film courses, apart from those conducted by DMA, Objectifs‘, look to the plethora of short film/video courses conducted by Australian Film and TV School . I attended the course by Rob Marchand on directing using Mike Leigh’s method of improvisation, it is highly recommended. He was able to articulate the craft very well. NFTRS (UK) has a similar short course programme. Singaporeans/PRs can apply for MDA’s Capability Development Scheme for partial funding.
I hope this film from Mali, Bamako, which uses unusual theatrics often employed by third world directors to air weighty topics is shown at SIFF. A review by JR
I was looking for Farocki’s Inextinguisable Fire (1969) and lamenting that it would be impossible to find it in Singapore when I stumbled upon an amazing trove ubuweb.com. It hosts works by Robert Frank, Peter Forgacs, audio of Om Kawara reading One Million Years amongst many others. With this site, one peeps into film from a parallel universe. Link
Substation News Flash: The Substation has a new website, clearer and easier to navigate.
Thomas Yeo holds an exhibition for the Substation, proceeds of sale go to Substation. Buy a painting or donate online here. Every dollar counts. Don’t take your independent arts institutions for granted. Thank you.
Closer to this house, the only full time film programmer in S’pore Kristin Saw is organising the 2nd Documentary Festival, our very own, starts next week, you even get a free preview (what more do you want?)
6-10 Mar 07
Free preview on 3 Mar 07
Tickets from Gatecrash.com.sg (hotline: 6222 5595)
Evening screenings at The Substation Theatre ($7/$5 concession) Call 6337 7535 for more information.
Jasmine Ng co-director of Eating Air and award winning Lonely Planet documentaries is premiering her new documentary PINK PADDLERS, about a gang of Singaporean Breast Cancer Survivors’ bid to win the International Dragon Boat Competition. I have seen it and highly recommend it, it is moving, unexpectedly funny and I learnt alot. It is premiering on 26 March, 8pm ($30,$50), all proceeds go to Unifem and the Breast Cancer Foundation. If I had enough money, I would buy tickets for all my friends and family, male and female, its essential watching. Buy a ticket Trailer, Ticket info
NYT 14 Feb, “Filmmakers, film-industry types and the journalists who love them often refer to something called the festival circuit, a sequence of hectic, semi-glamorous events that crowd the calendar and circle the globe. But it might be more accurate to speak of a festival system: a complicated, ever-expanding web in which the interests of commerce, art and criticism converge, sometimes in harmony and sometimes at cross-purposes.
Any festival is contingent, ephemeral, something of a pseudo-event. When it is over, there is a brief flurry of evaluation — Toronto was strong this year, Sundance was disappointing, whatever — but those judgments tend to fade as the movies themselves, the ostensible point of the whole enterprise, make their way in the world, or into oblivion, or onto the next festival.” Cont’d reading NYT
I am pleased to announce that Singapore GaGa is now available at HMV (Heeren and Citilink) in addition to it being available at Earshot, Kinokuniya, Books Actually, Objectifs, Asylum. As I said, we are BIG! Full listings here
There is always a department in film festivals called “Film Traffic” which has an army of people, usually volunteers, who make sure that all the film reels are in tact, cleaned and taped together in the right order for its screening. It is a thankless but a very very important job. I know this because years ago in the 90s, we had a rare screening of Edward Yang’s, A Brighter Summer Day in Singapore. Its rare event anywhere because the film is 3 plus hours long and the film hard to get. Anyway, the projectionist played the reels in the wrong order, for the three parts of the film, parts 2,3 were switched around. Sadly, a swathe of Singaporean’s know the film the wrong way round. The funny (though inexcusable) thing was, even in the wrong order, the film was still great. Now that takes real skill. This post is dedicated to them tape traffic people. The stills below are from the Rotterdam Film Festival 06 Film Traffic Room
I asked my father what he was doing during the Hock Lee Bus riots, he said, “I was watching from the sidelines, too chicken to participate, I wasn’t brave like them”. Them being students from Chinese schools. What was it about those English medium schools that bred folks like him.
A Forum in Mandarin and English – Presented by THE TANGENT
“The aftermath of the World War II witnessed in Asia a surge in national consciousness and the desire for decolonisation. Despite being confronted with the laborious tasks of tackling poverty and the rebuilding of economy and society, Singapore exhibited remarkable cultural, intellectual and political vibrancy. How did it feel like to be a student in this age characterised by both great uncertainty and hope? What were students preoccupied with then? What were their general concerns and interests? How did they respond to major social and political developments? Did students engage in “star-gazing” then? Where were their favourite haunts? Find out more from our two speakers who have lived through that tumultuous but exciting era.
Speakers:
Koh Tai Ann (Professor, Division of English, Nanyang Technological University)
Han Tan Juan (History Researcher/ Retired Journalist)
3rd February 2007, Saturday 2.00 – 5.00 pm, FREE
The Pod, Level 16, Lee Kong Chian Reference Library
National Library Board, 100 Victoria Street, Singapore 188064
Yes, these recent posts are tangentially related to Invisible City
“The 1950s and 60s were not just post-war decades for Singapore, but also marked a time of transition from colony to independent nation-state. How were artists from this period responding to changes and developments in society around them? How was art practised and why was there a need and purpose for the formation of art societies? Come hear from a wide range of scholars as well as accounts from artists themselves on art-making during these significant years in this forum and learn about the history of art societies and interesting aspects of Singapore’s artistic heritage.” LINK
Starting Anew: Art and Art Activities in Post-war Singapore. 27 Jan (Sat), 9.30am – 5.15pm, SAM Auditorium. Free. In English and Mandarin.
How indeed do artists respond to upheavals, major or minor?
I have been following Ho Yuhang’s career from across the causeway ever since I saw his first feature Min in 2002 at SIFF. Min, a bare bones DV feature is a quiet film about a Malay bred young woman’s search for her Chinese biological mother. It was an assured first feature and I wondered what he could produce with more resources. Two years ago, Hong Kong company Focus Films, also the sales agent for Singapore GaGa, produced his third feature Rain Dogs. I saw it at Pusan International Film Festival in a cramped video booth and I am still in admiration. Book now, am afraid that it will disappear from GV cinemas without a blip. Rise of Malaysian Chinese Cinema
