I am very excited to be going to Manila. I have never been to the Philippines. I have always wanted to go and now, am going. The occasion is Cinemanila. Invisible City is screening , and I am also on the jury of the Young Cinema Competition. I wonder what Manila looks like?

Yes, the box set is selling well. Thank you

Picture taken at Kinokuniya

Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad and I have been trying to meet forever, first in Pusan, then when she was here in Singapore shooting the MCYS ad, then in Berlin. Always, we would sms furiously, say we would meet, and then something would come in between us, like the sun and moon and the plans would collapse. Last week, I was minding my own business, walking down the street, and who do I bump into but the lady herself. She was waiting for a taxi to take her crew and herself to the airport. We stood on the edge of the street chatting for 15 minutes. I had to commemorate the moment, as I took a picture she screamed “HEY! DON’T BACK LIT ME!” as one director would to another.

The SIFF Festival office will be moving to the Random Room at the ground floor of The Substation. There is much to be gained from this partnership, the connection between the two institutions run deep Yuni Hadi, and Wenjie were film programmers at The Substation before they became SIFF festival directors.

Filmmaker Victric is beautifying the space and he is looking for used (or new furniture) and help for painting the room next week. His message below

Dearest Friends and Friends of Singapore International Film Festival,

We are seeking any good condition
2nd Hand furniture and office stuff
for the new office –
(tables/chairs/sofa/shelves/lights&lamps
and ANYTHING that’s suitable for office).

Do take a clear picture of item and send
to me if possible.

And for those who can lend a hand to
paint the new office, you are most welcome
to join me 🙂

Please send your pictures (with measurements if possible) to victricthng@gmail.com

– – – –

Of course, if you prefer to donate cash to SIFF, do too!

Took this pic of the past Substation programmers at the Moving Images 10th anniversary Party, pix was taken in the Random room itself (Sep 2007)

L-R Wenjie, Kristin now at SFC and Yuni)

And so I meet George Yeo, the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the gym. He is earnestly lifting weights. Everyone gives him a very w-i-d-e berth, just incase and so do I. And then I have the good fortune to meet him again in the gym’s lift lobby. We are by now freshly showered, powdered, and cramped in a small space. Unable to restrain myself, and needing to fill the enormous vacuum, I blurt out what I later realise is the oldest pick up line in the world

“So… you come here often?”

Matsuoka Naomi was in town for her screenings at the Japanese Film Festival whose theme this year was Women. Her two films Pathos and Broken Blossom were screened along side Naomi Kawase’s Birth/Mother. From their titles, you have an idea how they all connect. Just before her screening, I had a chat with her.

Me: You have come all the way from Osaka, why don’t you stay longer instead of rushing back after just 1.5 days

Naomi: I have to go back to my children (6 & 2) My husband is looking after them now. He can’t cope by himself for too long.

Me: Do you work?

Naomi: Now that the elder one is in school, I work part time as a photographer for websites

Me: How do you find time to make films if you have to look after the kids yourself?

Naomi: I make films about my children, my family.

Only after seeing her work, did what she say make sense. In her films, she turns the camera onto her family. Her films feature their deaths, births, her familial relationships in very domestic settings. Getting the tone right for these autobiographical films is always difficult. In less secure hands, it would have been an irritatingly long home video. In her hands, she connected with the wider world.

Outside Tate Modern

Singapore

We were hurdled in this room for a screening of films that would be considered “political”. As political screenings (its kept deliberately vague what this is) aren’t allowed under the Film Act without huge penalties for the organisers (Martyn, Choon Hiong) and the screening venue (Post Museum), we all had to pre-register to give the event a semblance of it being a private gathering which was presumably less culpable.

Martyn showed Speakers Cornered, Choon Hiong showed ????? and Seelan Palay showed a short film of his protest against the Hindraf activists’ incarceration. There were several filmmakers amongst us there as were opposition politicians and their grassroots helpers who were the subject of the videos, we sat crossed legged on the floor alert and watching.

Now that the Film Act will be applied with a “lighter touch” (what does this mean?) on political films, do we need to go through this pre-registration process? I hope they will re-submit the films for censorship so that we can see where each of these films stand.

The re-look into the Film Act wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t persisted. My hats off to Martyn for being so steady when the whole weight of the  governmental machinery bore down on him for so many months. There is definitely a place for civil disobedience in Singapore.

Left to right Ho Choon Hiong (in red), Martyn See, Seelan Palay

Singapore Film Society is showing a retrospective of her work at this year’s Japanese Film Festival. She will be in attendance for the screenings. Link here. Interesting line up. Her documentaries are very personal in the sense it feels that she is ruminating about her life and the turns they have taken. Her art comes from making the very personal relevant to everyone else.

I just realised we are born in the same year.

Kinokuniya bookstore has been most supportive of local books and films. One of the things they supported last weekend was the launch of two DVDs, Eric’s Remember Chek Jawa and the 3-DVD set.   Thanks to all who showed up and Objectifs, our distributor who organised this event. Next stop Books Actually on 29 August.

Taken by Tym. At times it felt like I was giving a cooking demo, see the floral arrangement

The archaelogists Chen Sian, Sheau Thng and Kang Shuo came too

Eric chatting with a fan, he is donating the profits of Remember Chek Jawa to a conservation group

Two things  tomorrow, launching  the DVD boxed set in a bookshop (meeting and greeting and cajolling random bookshoppers to buy the set) and after that, I am on a panel at the Singapore Theatre festival with two playwrights talking about History. Never launched a DVD in a bookshop before, nor been in a theatre panel. These cross medium activities are making me nervvouus.

At the corner coffee shop watching the Olympic Opening. The man in front jumped up and stood erect when the Chinese national anthem was played

This 3-DVD set is being launched on Sat, Aug 16 at Kinokuniya (3pm, Takashimaya) and on Fri 29 Aug at Books Actually (7.30-8pm). I will be there to give short talk. You are invited! We are giving out FREE Invisible City Posters to people who buy it at this two events. Nice posters, while stocks last!

You can buy it from Kinokuniya, HMV, Books Actually, Objectifs, Banyan Tree Museum shop outlets from 16 Aug onwards, international buyers click here. Its SGD 49.50 (USD 35).

Most of the past few months was spent on producing the Invisible City DVD. It contains audio commentary with myself and script consultant Tan Siok Siok, (possibly a first for a Singapore film to provide that) a filmlet using Ivan Polunin’s sound archives, and our trailer. The DVD liner notes are by Alfian Sa’at. ampulets assisted with the with copywriting and photos. The set was conceptualised and packaged by Mindwasabi/MartinOng, authored by Lillian Wang and distributed by Objectifs. I hope you will like this combination of energies and talent.

Whats inside this boxed set?

Back of Box “If a city could speak of its loves and regrets, Tan Pin Pin’s Invisible City, Singapore GaGa, and Moving House suggest that we would do well by listening to the music its people make, the stories they tell and the silences they maintain. Each of the films questions the relationship between these individual expressions with the collective experience in Singapore. Tan Pin Pin’s voice is thoughtful and generous. The award-winning films in this Collection never miss the humour, warmth and passions of the city-state’s residents.”
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I remember a photograph of Potsdamer Platz under construction. What used to be no-man’s land was now a sea of cranes, not unlike the sea of cranes at our “new downtown” that you see above taken in late June. They are building the new casino there. Imagine a performance with these cranes for the National Day Parade. Our national bird, moving in sync at twilight, a solemn dance.

Taken at the porch of St Andrews Junior College where Invisible City had a screening. A tad too twilight zone

Invisible City is screening in Perth as part of the Perth’s Singapore Association National Day Celebrations. There is a huge community of Singaporeans there. In their flyer, the tag line for the film is “Memories of Singapore: Whose are they & What are they?”

Its screening in Astor Singapore, an Art Decor cinema. See here for the re-mixed posters.

Invisible City and Singapore GaGa are screening back to back at Sinema Old School next week onwards. Its part of a documentary festival featuring Boomtown Beijing and Feet Unbound. Just buy a ticket! Ticket Hotline 6336-9707. Here are the times. Thurs and Sats only. Short run only

Invisible City
Jul 10, 12, 17 & 26
Thu & Sat: 9.15pm – 10.15pm

Jul 19
Sat: 3pm – 4pm

Singapore GaGa
Jul 10, 12, 17 & 26
Thu & Sat: 8pm – 9pm

Strolling along the esplanade of Johore Bahru across the causeway, what do I spy but Singapore’s Senoko Power Station. Bet you have never seen it before, not from this perspective.

Should try it sometime especially when pitching ideas to satorially challenged Singapore Ministers

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So I found out when I went to see Argentum‘s exhibition which ends this weekend at the Substation. I thought it was going to be a jewellery exhibit, it was, but not in the way you’d expect