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The collage visual we created for our landing page banner is an ode to Kelvin Tong and Jasmine Ng’s seminal film in the late 90s, Eating Air. We tried to create it in the manga-comic style of Eating Air’s film poster.

If there is a film among February’s STOP10 list that encapsulates the spirit of most of the films selected, it would be Eating Air, which will screen at the National Museum on 11 February. When it was first released, it pushed the boundaries of stylistics and directorial treatment among the early Singapore films. In other words, it was a film that stuck up its middle finger at convention or comfort.

Most of the other nine recommended films, by our choice or by the cosmic alignment of the sun, moon and stars, have as much of an attitude as well. Be prepared to feel uncomfortable with films like 1987: Untracing the Conspiracy, The Return and Flooding in the Time of Drought. But expect to be unknowingly rewarded from the experience. Be tickled and yet baffled by Wong Tai Foong (aka WTF). Be even more amused by Time Tomorrow, Singapore’s 1st telemovie, but be thoroughly entertained. To end off February, be all hot and bothered with Siew Lup (烧腊), an erotic thriller that gives you a stronger aftertaste than char siew.
You ready for STOP10?

Wong Tai Foong
Viddsee, Singapore Shorts
A security guard stumbles upon a certain magical power - he finds himself being able to switch lives with the owners of the lost wallets he’s picked up. He gets to experience life as a maid, a bartender, a young man and an old woman. He gets to break out of his ‘zone of security’, get it? Quirky story aside, this short film really hooks you with its staccato-paced editing, music video style visuals and its never-ending stream of oddball surprises. It’s so weird it actually makes sense on its own terms! Not to mention, there are traces of Amelie, the French film that stars Audrey Tatou, in it. Even the security guard sports the same hair bangs as Amelie. No, wait. Actually he looks more like a male version of iconic artist Yayoi Kusama.
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

Closer Apart (團圓)
Viddsee, ‘At the Dinner Table’ – a CNY channel
Local comedian Henry Thia is capable of looking serious as well and this is a rare look at Henry Thia in a serious role as a father. In fact, it’s so serious, he actually breaks down in tears and we realise he slips into naturalistic acting quite well too. This short film is about how a father feels alienated by his family members who do not appreciate the things he has done. His wife nags at home and his children seem to trivialise the things he does. So he decides to do something drastic. Don’t try this at home though.
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

Flooding in the Time of Drought
7,12,13,20,23 Feb, 11am & 3 pm, ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands
The ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands has pulled together a line-up of feature films under its theme ‘Water’, as part of the ArtScience on Screen series. Some of the most exciting director names in Asia are featured, including Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Woo Ming Jin, Charliebebs Gohetia, Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo, Kamila Andini and Sherman Ong.
Flooding in the Time of Drought by Sherman Ong, was made for the 2008 Biennale and has travelled to several Asian and European film festivals. Perhaps, it can go down in history as the local film with the most number of languages spoken. A total of 10 different languages are spoken including Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Tagalog, Mandarin, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Thai, Indonesian, Malay and Hokkien!
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

Time Tomorrow
11 Feb, Sat, 2pm, Objectifs Chapel Gallery
In 1991, Zoe Tay made waves as Bobo in the riveting Channel 8 drama Pretty Faces. In 1994, Channel 5 released its iconic drama series Masters of the Sea where Margaret Chan displayed her cockroach-crushing powers. Triple Nine was in 1995. VR Man (remember VR Man?) was in 1998. Time Tomorrow was in 1993, and that was Singapore’s first ever telemovie, born at a time when producers thought dubbing Channel 8 dramas in English were a good idea. Apart from a trip down memory lane and a chance to laugh at yesteryear’s fashions, Time Tomorrow stars Ng Chin Han, who has gone on to appear in Hollywood flicks like The Dark Knight and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The telemovie is about man who meets the younger self of his murdered wife from 10 years ago. Good if you are into time-warp, paranormal fare.
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

Eating Air
11 Feb, Sat, 2pm, National Museum of Singapore Gallery Theatre
This film belongs to the Sg Film Hall of Fame. It burst into the film scene in 1999 with its suave depiction of youth and its raw energy, personified by gangsters shuttling around in roaring motorcycles, literally chasing air! Eating Air, co-directed by Kelvin Tong and Jasmine Ng, is arguably Kelvin Tong’s ground-breaker, just like what Mee Pok Man is to Eric Khoo and 15 to Royston Tan. Even though he’s built an impressive track-record of commercial hits like The Maid and Rule No.1, many people still remember Eating Air fondly for its inimitable style. Oh yes, Michelle Chong doing accents onscreen had its humble beginnings in Eating Air!
This screening is part of a pairing under the National Museum Cinematheque Selects Showcase. It will be screened with Billy Liar. Both directors Kelvin Tong and Jasmine Ng of Eating Air will be present for a discussion on the film.
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

1987: Untracing the Conspiracy
11 Feb, Sat, 2.30pm, The Projector
This film is not for you if you just want to smell the roses and take your mind on a holiday for the weekend. But sometimes, we experience those mindset-shifting moments in our lives that open up new aspirations and somehow, come back on a Monday finding a sudden burst of energy and purpose. This is one film that could do that. 1987: Úntracing the Conspiracy is documentary film about Operation Spectrum, in which 22 people were arrested under the Singapore Internal Security Act in 1987 and detained without trial. They were subsequently imprisoned for 3 years and then coerced to appear on national television to ‘confess’ in order to close the loop of the operation.
This film is not just about revisiting an uncomfortable past. Like all good documentary films, it poses questions to us about our understanding of history and the social systems around us. As Singaporeans, we owe it to ourselves to generate more healthy debate about issues. So for those who are interested, watching this film will be a potentially rewarding experience. After all, the film won Best Southeast Asian Feature at Freedom Film Festival 2015. There is a post-screening Q&A that features director Jason Soo and some of the detainees.
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

Early Morning Awakening
11 Feb, Sat, 4pm, Objectifs Chapel Gallery
Golden Horse winner Yeo Yann Yann’s first English speaking role on TV was Mayling in Early Morning Awakening, a 2005 telemovie about mental illness, directed by Gozde Zehnder and Russell Zehnder. Mayling has lost her father and has limited contact with the outside world while Mark is an over-achiever who breaks down under pressure during National Service. Mayling and Mark find a common bond with each other and begin to create a world between them. This film was first shown under the Stage to Screen series for the then Arts Central channel (now known as Okto) and is adapted from one of Singapore’s landmark theatre pieces, Off Centre, written by Haresh Sharma.
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

The Drum
11 Feb, Sat, 7.30pm, The Projector
When you see former TV actor Wang Yu Qing (王昱清) of the小飞鱼 (The Flying Fish) fame, playing a grandfather trying to put ‘active ageing’ into action, and you feel something for it, it means you are a Gen-X kid and time is catching up too. But don’t fear, this short film called The Drum, directed by Ler Jiyuan (who directed Channel 5’s ‘Code of Law’) promises to give you a new rhythm to live life to.
The film is about a recently retired man who has to get used to the absence of a work routine. His search for purpose lands him in a Tabla class. The effect is somewhat odd, funny and extremely liberating. The Drum has been selected for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in February. The festival can be considered the holy grail for short films and it is one of 73 films selected out of 8,000 entries.
Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

The Return
23 Feb, Thu, Filmgarde Bugis+
This film made its world premiere to a full house at the 30th Venice International Film Critics’ Week in September 2015, with many members of the audience staying behind for the Q&A session. Made on a modest budget and totally self-funded, The Return by Green Zeng is an example of a small production made big. The film is a fictional story about a political detainee who returns to society after many years of imprisonment and faces an uneasy reunion with his children and has to grapple with a Singapore transformed beyond anything familiar to him. Past and present collide in his journey to move on. The detainee is played by Chen Tianxiang, a veteran actor who has appeared in TV dramas over 40 years, right from his first drama serial, The Awakening on Channel 8 to the more recent 118. The film first premiered in Singapore at the 26th Singapore International Film Festival and this is its commercial run.

Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

Siew Lup （烧腊）
23 Feb, Thu, cinemas islandwide
There are plenty of good reasons to watch Siew Lup and they don’t just come in pairs. Siew Lup is the sequel to Lang Tong, Sam Loh’s erotic thriller, a landmark film for commercial cinema in Singapore. The last time, it was Bak Kut Teh. This time, it’s Char Siew. A Char Siew seller’s wife is trapped in an abusive marriage and starts an affair with a handsome funeral director (didn't we see some hot funeral directors in the news of late?). Then violence and blood ensues.

Director Sam Loh promises this to be sexier and darker. It will also star 22-year-old Melody Low, a freelance actress-model-YouTube star, who shot to fame, for her, erm, cup size, after she appeared in Ah Boys To Men star Tosh Zhang's hip-hop music video Lingo Lingo in 2015. And yes, there WlLL be nudity, just to be clear.

Read more about the film and how you can watch it here.

Maxi Lim is best known as Aloysius Jin in Ah Boys to Men, the kiasu mummy's boy. What many don't know is that he can play a gangster or a loanshark to perfection. He's acted in more than 100 short films, many more shot form video content, and a string of feature films like Ah Boys to Men 1,2 & 3, The Lion Men, 4Love and Take 2, being the most recent film which just opened in cinemas on 26 January this year. In Take 2, he plays one of 4 ex-convicts who try to start life afresh after prison and gets to display some mean martial arts moves. Certainly an actor who has paid his dues, Maxi shares with me the rocky road and unforgettable moments in his journey as an actor, as well as that La La Land moment before he landed his role in Ah Boys to Men.

I read that you played numerous roles in close to 100 short films. What have you been commonlycast as? When did this journey start?

I finished national service in 2009 and started as a stunt guy. Back when I was in the army in 2008, I was practising some martial arts and I got to know this person who brought me into industry as a stunt guy. As a stunt guy on set, I had to fight with actors without causing any hurt, both on them and on myself.

It was during that time that I felt I could do some of the lines better than the actors, so I thought to myself but I was too shy to express what I thought.

Because on set there were always producers around, so some of them approached me and said “Hey, actually you look quite suitable for this role, do you want to come and try?’’

Following their invitation, I went ahead to audition without any experience, though I knew what was required of an actor, from my experience in directing during Polytechnic. So I marketed myself as someone with directing as well as martial arts experience, but very raw yet willing to try and learn. I gave my best and some of them liked what I did and word got passed around about me. Paid or not paid, I would go for auditions.

What kind of roles did you often find yourself playing at that time?

It was very easy to land gangster roles back then and I played villains most of the time, such as loan sharks. Then I slowly moved on to serial killers and very dark films that required a lot of acting but no dialogiue. It was only later that I started getting speaking roles and I finally got my first break in Ah Boys to Men.

Was Ah Boys to Men the dawn of nerdy Maxi?

Yes, it was. That was the first time I actually played a good guy. (pause) And from then on, I started getting all the goody-two-shoes mummy’s boy roles.

And now you are trying to get back the bad roles? (laughs)

Not exactly trying to get the bad roles but just trying to break away from the nerdy stereotype. With a bit of effort put into research, I can actually do a greater variety of roles. Like last year, I played this autistic guy in a Temasek Polytechnic short film called I Believe. At first I was a bit relunctant because I was thinking why are they trying to stereotype me again with these quirky roles? (pause) Then I had a word with the director and realised what he had in mind was very different. He was actually a cell group leader and the autistic guy I was playing was his cell group member. (pause) On hindsight, I am quite glad that he trusted me with the role, because I think my audition tape was awful! (laughs) Until now, I still harbour a little fear of auditions.

But do you have to audition for most of the roles you play?

Once in a while, I still have to audition. But most of the time, it is more like a sit-down meeting in which they want to chat with you and get a feel of you. They may throw some lines to you or pair you up with certain people and see how to you interact with them. And most of the time when you are called for such meetings, it means you have most likely secured the role.

What have the biggest sacrifices you have made for the roles you have played?

I think one of the biggest sacrifices I made was for Ah Boys to Men 3:Frogmen. This is because I have a phobia of water and I nearly drowned a few times in my life before. So when they told me I have to learn swimming and diving for the movie. I was like huh! According to the script, I had to jump several stories into the water too and I had fear of heights also. But there was a risk of substitution if I could not do those things.

I remember I was 75 kg then and I worked so hard to reduce it to 64 kg. So the weight loss and overcoming the fears were the toughest parts. Thankfully I had very good trainers from the Naval Diving Unit who held my hand and made sure I did the things right. I remember there were some really difficult challenges like going deep underwater to pick things up as well as passing some compulsory tests. We were training almost everyday. Pretty crazy times!

Ah Boys to Men was your first crossover to the mainstream right?

Yes, that right. During a period close to my getting the role of Aloysius in Ah Boys to Men, I had gone for many auditions for various feature films. I was often in the final shortlist but at the last moment, they would drop me. So I was quite depressed at that time and I was actually quite reluctant to go for the Ah Boys to Men audition. In fact, I had already played 5 or 6 army short films that required me to shave my head.

So I said to myself perhaps I would give it one last shot. If it does not work, I would just leave the industry and find other opportunities elsewhere. (pause) So thankfully it has worked out for me.

Have you watched the movie La La Land?

Not yet.

Explains La La Land’s plot.

That was your La La Land moment.

Yes, you could say that. Haha.

I sort of gave myself a deadline. I had already gone to so many auditions. So one day I received a call from the Ah Boys to Men casting directors telling me they really liked me and they asked me to come down for a second audition. At that time, I had auditioned for 3 other roles in other films and was shortlisted. But eventually, I had the same response from these producers – ‘’Oh you were good but we need someone who is a bit more well-known, someone who is already there.’’

So I was very thankful Jack had in mind to cast completely fresh faces. We were actually all quite worried at that point in time. We were not established like Mark Lee or Henry Thia.

When the movie exploded and you had new found fame, how did you deal with it?

I think I was quite apprehensive at first. I had no idea how to deal with so much sudden attention - people coming up to you, getting stopped every 20 to 30 metres. And I had no public speaking experience.

But you still get fan mail?

Yes I do. And they still come down to support us for our subsequent movie promotions. It’s also interesting because back then they were younger. But now they are older, so they have been sort of growing up with me, getting into relationships, entering the army. It was a nice process to see them growing up.

Did the new-found fame dilute your journey as an actor? Did it distract you sometimes?

I admit I was. I was carried away for a bit after Ah Boys to Men 2 was released. I saw good money and fame and thought to myself, maybe it was time to chill. Now looking back, I thought my performances were the worst during this period. I didn’t particularly like how I performed in Lion Men. So that was a lesson for me to work harder for the next project.

What makes you more nervous? Doing a dangerous stunt or acting beside Jackie Chan? (if you had a chance)

I think it would be acting beside Jackie Chan. I mean although we would be çolleagues on set but there would certainly be moments I would lapse into fan-boy mode. Even recently, I had those moments acting with Vincent Ng. I watched many of his shows growing up.

Who is the most famous person you acted with?

I acted with Danny Chan once. He played the goalkeeper in Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer and also appeared in Kungfu Hustle as well. It was for a teaser for a film project but the project didn’t materialise in the end due to certain reasons. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly acting with him. I was his stunt double. I had to learn moves and show it to him.

How different is your role in Take 2 from your other roles?

I think the main difference is for the bulk of the film I still have my hair (laughs). On a more serious note, it is having to speak in Mandarin. That is quite a challenge for me. If you remember, I spoke mostly English in Ah Boys to Men. So that was challenging for me. And it was tough to memorise the lines and lines got changed on the go. There was this scene I had to deliver a long monologue. It was about 3 to 4 pages long. That was an incredible challenge.

What kind of research did you have to do for your role? Did you speak to real convicts?

I did. And also prior to Take 2, I had the opportunity to speak to some people from the Yellow Ribbon Project to understand what kind of problems they had. In my own life, I also have friends who have served time in prison before for various reasons.

Any funny or memorable things happened with you on the set?

In Take 2, I played a teacher. I actually had a teaching stint before - I was teaching filmmaking in polytechnics as well as primary and secondary schools. In this film, I had to teach Maths. Though Maths wasn’t my strongest subject in school, I thought how hard can it be to play a Maths teacher. Then one night, around midnight, the crew suddenly sent me a whole bunch of Maths questions and asked me to memorise them! I had never done A Maths before and my call time was 6am! I was required to solve these Maths problems on the blackboard so I needed to know how the formulae worked. Everything overnight!

Also, initially, I was a bit worried because there was a caning scene. (pause) I was worried about whether I had to bare my butt again.

Haha! And you just bared for the camera in Ah Boys to Men3: Frogmen!

Yes! And the funny thing was the nude scene in Ah Boys to Men 3: Frogmen was not in the script at all and filming had already wrapped for 2 weeks! Then Jack had this idea and the production team called to tell me I had a number of new scenes and one of it was this scene. And you know because we had wrapped for 2 weeks and I had been cheating on my diet for 2 weeks so I started to panick! (laughs)

They told I had to put on a green thong and they will use CGI to complete the nude look. (pause) And when I was there, I realised they bought the wrong thong. So Jack said why don’t you just do it completely nude! Then thankfully, the crew got me some ‘coverage’ using some socks. So I was walking around like this for about 8 to 10 hours. And in this scene, because I just had my shower, I had to keep myself wet constantly.

You could be so awfully misquoted on that last sentence haha!

Yes exactly!

Finally, what would you say to new aspiring actors?

I would ask them what are they in for - are you just in it for the fame or do you really enjoy the craft of acting? These things are always on my mind. You have to be a glutton for rejection - 20 auditions, no roles, finalised for 3 feature films, didn’t get. And as you know in this industry, there are some bad paymasters, and you have to chase for payment. That could kill you financially. I was juggling many other part-time jobs to cover up for the jobs that took a long time to pay. If you are willing to put in the hard work, then you could give this journey a try.

Any plans for the future?

Honestly, as an actor, it is difficult to plan your career. You just give your best, hope it works well and more opportunities come. Having said that, now that I have a new body frame, I am hoping to find new opportunities in action films!

Go catch Take 2 in cinemas now!
Check out our feature on Take 2 under January's STOP10, which includes an interview with director Ivan Ho.

Interview by Jeremy Sing

You know what to expect when it comes to a Chinese New Year movie: some laughs, some feel-good moments, a happy ending — and, as is increasingly the case with local commercial films, copious amounts of product placement.

And The Fortune Handbook, directed by Kelvin Sng (Taxi! Taxi!), sticks to the formula dutifully.

In the film, Mark Lee plays the Huat god, a fortune god-in-training who needs to earn his way to the position by getting people to worship him. He and other apprentice fortune gods get people to worship them by granting wishes, to the best of their ability. He winds up in a household comprising Soh Hock (Christopher Lee), a good-for-nothing bum; Ah Zhen (Vivian Lai), Soh Hock’s wife; and their perpetually squabbling son and daughter and starts fulfilling their hearts’ desires.

Soh Hock doesn’t get along with Ah Zhen’s hardworking brother, Hao Xing (Li Nanxing), who runs a successful pastry business. Deep in debt, Soh Hock tries to steal Hao Xing’s secret recipe for his Teochew pastries, hoping to sell it off and make a windfall. When he fails, he decides to enlist the help of the Huat god to turn his fortunes around.

Many plot elements in The Fortune Handbook make no sense. Why does one wish granted by the Huat god override another? (And I can't go into specifics without giving away big plot details.) If the fortune gods can travel freely to anywhere they desire, how do they get “caught” by an ipad app, and why do they have to be tethered to particular place? If Mark Lee wants to get people to worship him, why does he require Soh Hock to help him distribute flyers to get the word out? Why can’t he get out on the streets and start performing miracles? The Fortune Handbook is so heavily riddled with internal inconsistencies that it’s best to stop trying to make sense out of everything.

Logic may be in short supply in The Fortune Handbook, but not so product placements, which are shoved in audiences’ face aggressively. In one particularly shameless sequence, Vivian Lai’s character even breaks the fourth wall to wax lyrical about a particular product to the audience.

Despite all the film’s shortcomings, it was still a largely buoyant affair thanks to the commitment of the cast. The high jinks in the movie are performed with such energy that it’s hard not to crack a smile here and there, and Christopher Lee’s Soh Hock, with his over-the-top antics (and compulsive hair-spraying), is a hoot to watch. Some individual segments, such as a beauty pageant scene, score high on the laughs-a-minute meter.

The movie carries such a joyous spirit throughout its run time, bouncing from crazy skit to crazy skit with such infectious energy that it’s hard not to enjoy and be entertained by it at parts. It’s ultimately still just your typical local CNY movie — that is, not a very good movie — and it certainly tanks hard in the storytelling and coherence departments, but at the very least it doesn't over-promise, and delivers on what it sets out to accomplish: offer a few laughs and moments of warmth.

Review by Raymond Tan

The Fortune Handbook is still showing in cinemas.

Check out our STOP10 Jan 2017 article on The Fortune Handbook, featuring an interview director Kelvin Sng.

Winner of the DBS Best Picture Award at NYFA 2016, 'Han' by Shammini Gunasegaran

The National Youth Film Awards (NYFA) is back for a third season and submissions are open now! Previously open only to Singaporean and PR students enrolled in a media-related course at any Institute of Higher Learning (IHL), this year’s competition widens its reach, welcoming submissions by non-media students aged between 18 and 35, as well as foreign students enrolled in local schools.

Setting out to establish and raise the national benchmark for excellence in film, NYFA was inaugurated in 2015, and attracted a record 260 submissions across 20 award categories in its last edition. This year, three new awards with cash prizes of up to $1,500 have been introduced under the competition category for non-media students, bringing the total number of awards up for grabs to 23.

Christopher Pragasam, Executive Director of *SCAPE – which organises the annual marquee initiative – said, “Singapore has seen a huge revival and burst of energy in the local film scene, and this is evident even amongst our youths. Many are picking up technical film skills like scriptwriting, editing, and photography in school, but with the accessibility and ease of technology, many more are developing their creativity and cinematic talents on their own. It is important that we continue to engage and elevate their passion, and empower a new generation of auteurs and storytellers, making filmmaking rewarding for as many young people as possible.”

Jonathan Choo receiving the Best Director award in 2016. Picture courtesy of *SCAPE

An 18-member jury panel has been appointed to assess the submissions, consisting of industry stalwarts from diverse backgrounds. New jurists include Yuni Hadi (Objectifs Centre of Film and Photography; Singapore International Film Festival), Jocelyn Little (Beach House Pictures), Kristin Saw (IMDA), Tan Fong Cheng (Zhao Wei Films), filmmakers Daniel Yam and Don Aravind, and Rennie Gomes (Yellow Box Studios); among other heavyweights.

NYFA 2017 Awards Director, Nicholas Chee, shared, “With the recent spotlight and celebration of women in film, I am especially glad to have Yuni, Jocelyn, Kristin and Fong Cheng on board, who bring a wealth of industry experience and fresh insights towards the art and future of filmmaking. Together with the rest of our jury, they are a reflection of the diversity of voices and talent that make up Singapore’s vibrant cinematic landscape, and I am confident that they will also serve as inspiration for our youth.”

The public will be able to weigh in on this year’s competition too – shortlisted films under the non-media student category will be open to public voting for the first time, with the three films receiving the highest votes being awarded accordingly. Youths who are interested in the film industry and want to expand their knowledge on filmmaking will also be able to participate in NYFA workshops, masterclasses and film screenings held between May and June 2017. Details will be announced at a later date.

NYFA 2017 is open for submission from now until Saturday 15 April 2017, 2359hrs (GMT +8), and will culminate in an Awards Ceremony on Saturday 22 July 2017, with Ms Grace Fu, Minister of Culture, Community and Youth, attending as Guest-of-Honour. For more information, visit www.scape.sg/nyfa.

There is an emerging trend among commercial films in Singapore to be like mini-variety shows or pantomimes in which the fundamental pillars of a good storyline and characters play second fiddle to random celebrity appearances, gimmicks, stunts as well as token drone shots and a touch of crossdressing. All these seem to be pointing to the recent CNY movie Take 2 遇见贵人. It cannot be denied that the film followed this particular entertainment formula but thankfully, Take 2 遇见贵人 has somewhat a credible storyline and some noble intentions.

The film is written and directed by Ivan Ho, screenwriter of Ah Boys to Men, and produced and co-written by Jack Neo. Needless to say, it retains many of Jack’s signature directorial trademarks like the comic language but Ivan gives it a punchier pacing (not to mention a fresh French and Latin beat literally in the soundtrack!). Take 2 遇见贵人 borrows from a premise already familiar with local audiences, ex-convicts trying to re-integrate into society. It seems to mirror the psyche of Jack Neo’s 2005 prison flick One More Chance with a similar ‘band of brothers’ framework. But Take 2 takes away the heaviness and looks at reintegration pains in a more light-hearted way.

Take 2 遇见贵人 follows the reintegration journey of four ex-convicts, namely serial convict Mad Dog (played by getai veteran Wang Lei), Panther (played by rubber-faced comic actor Galdrick Chin), Tiger, who is the narrator as well (played by Ryan Lian who made his big screen debut in Long Long Time Ago) and Jian Ren (played by Maxi Lim of Ah Boys to Men fame). The crimes committed by the first three are as predictable as loansharks appearing in a Jack Neo movie but Jian Ren’s crime of underage sex is somewhat of an accident. It is a shrewd observation by the creators of Take 2 遇见贵人, that not all recovery journeys will be even, and some ex-inmates bond with certain people better than others. Though they called themselves a band of four brothers inside prison, post-prison, the ‘pai kias’ (bad boys in Hokkien) continue to interact with each other while Jian Ren decides to distance himself and try to ‘sneak’ himself back into the more strait-laced world of the education industry and kiasu parents.

On the side of Mad Dog, Panther and Tiger, there is also the treacherous world of gangsters and unresolved feuds and debts that they have to deal with. The lack of job opportunities drive the ‘ex-triad’ trio to operate a ramen shop in a canteen, taking over the operation from an old lady whose bland-tasting Hokkien mee appeared in a madcap blogger’s ‘Top 10 Disgusting Hokkien Mees’ in Singapore story. Through song and dance and a dozen other gimmicks, they try to win the attention of customers but end up generating more YouTube moments more than real business. Things are also not looking too rosy on the side of Jian Ren as the tuition centre’s parents discovered his criminal background and decided to complain against him. This leads us to the convenient situation of the entire band of four brothers reunited at the ramen shop.

There is no denying that developing full character arcs for four characters is quite a challenge given the time constraints. As the movie stands, only the protagonist, Tiger, has a convincing and meaningful story developed around him. Essentially, he is caught in an offender’s trap. His history with the secret societies is a bad influence for his son and being in prison deepens the alienation between him and his son which leads his son down the same seedy path of getting into gang activities. When he is out, he tries to control his son but his criminal record is an impediment.

Unfortunately, the other three characters appear more as sidekicks. Panther appears more like the token clown in the show dishing up countless slapstick rubber-faced antics. Mad Dog, due to his ‘old dog’ status, had the potential to be a plot driver but ends up being yet another hit-and-run jester. Jian Ren’s background as a teacher, would have been an ideal counterpoint to the world the other three inhabit but his backstory remains undeveloped. The only time the film dedicated to letting us privy to Jian Ren’s psyche was his spiritual pleas at the church. Yet the acting in that scene was hammed up in a such a way that it served to condition the audience for the landing of another joke more than to allow us to understand Jian Ren’s character.

For the gaping holes in the plot, the film makes up for it with a collective of highly-engaging performances from all members of the cast, with some of the best show-stopping moments delivered by characters outside the band of four. Ryan Lian anchors the soul of the film firmly with his sincere performance and a certain moral tenacity as the de facto lead. Galdrick Chin and Wang Lei never fail to give the film a kick in the butt with their comic punctuations when the tempo starts to dip. Maxi Lim, though not given ample room for his acting chops, impressed with his kungfu chops and those mean-looking nunchuck swirls. Dennis Chew proves he will never be a one-hit-pony, I mean, Lucy, with his 6 show-stopping impersonations, which include a flirty tuition centre lady boss, an assertive PRC female noodle seller and God, as the most memorable ones. Henry Thia entertained by being Henry Thia but instead of playing a goofy henchman, he plays the boss now. Finally, one cannot fail to notice Chen Tianwen’s electrifying performance as the big bad triad boss with a wardrobe malfunction, straddling between being menacing and funny.

The film manages to end with a suitably high-octane finale, a final showdown between the band of four and Tiger’s rival gang. Somehow, the scene seems to show that director Ho had it all planned out at the beginning that all roads would lead to this point. On suspicion that Ho is a Bruce Lee fan, this is also like a fanboy tribute to Bruce Lee and his martial arts genre, nunchucks and all. But yet, this is still done within the realm of reason and the plot is clever in using Tiger’s son as the bait that brings the gang to the showdown, hence coming full circle. With the combination of sharp fighting-choreography and comic timing, this segment proves to be rather entertaining. I guess if one expectsTake 2 遇见贵人to be a version 2.0 of the emotional and moral struggles of reintegration seen in One More Chance, one might be disappointed. But releasing this as a CNY movie, I think the filmmakers had a much simpler objective in mind and that objective was met.

Review by Jeremy Sing

Check out our interview with director Ivan Ho on Take 2 in our January 2017 STOP10 article.

From left to right: Directors Roy Andersson, Karin af Klintberg, Lukas Moodysson, and Anders Helgeson.

Returning to The Projector for its 2nd Edition from 16 to 19 February, the Swedish Film Festival 2017 boasts a compact but powerful line-up. From a retrospective on the sparse and occasionally polarizing Swedish auteur Roy Andersson, to the works of established Swedish filmmakers, the Festival has something for everyone.

We Are the Best! // Vi är bäst! (2013)

Adapted from the graphic novel Never Goodnight by his wife Coco Moodysson, Lukas Moodysson's We Are the Best! is a warm Bildungsroman of three tween girls who decide to form a punk band.

Showing on 20 Feb, 8 pm. Tickets availablehere.

A Swedish Love Story // En kärlekshistoria (1970)

The stunning and successful debut of Swedish auteur Roy Andersson, A Swedish Love Story is a kooky romance between two teenager who falls in love despite the dismissal of adults who thought them nothing more than love drunk.

Showing on 19 Feb, 8 pm. Tickets available here.

World of Glory // Härlig är jorden (1991)

The work that marks the return of Roy Andersson into the film scene after the commercial and critical failure that was his sophomore feature Giliap, World of Glory is darkly comic look at a bleak world commissioned by the Gothenburg Film Festival for its 90 minuter 90-tal short film series.

Showing on 16 Feb, 8 pm with A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. Tickets available here.

Nice People // Trevligt folk (2015)

A documentary in the spirit of the 1993 comedy Cool Runnings that follows a team of Somalian immigrants as they trained to compete in the Bandy World Championship, Nice People is a thoughtful window into a social phenomenon that received much attention yet little understanding.

Showing on 18 Feb, 8 pm. Tickets available here.

A Separation // Att skiljas (2013)

A tragicomic look into her parents' divorce, Karin Ekberg's A Separation is a documentary that is at once heartbreaking and heartwarming as it traverses terrains and all its pitfalls of love.

Showing on 19 Feb, 2:30 pm. Tickets available here.

Songs from the Second Floor // Sånger från andra våningen (2000)

The first of Roy Andersson's Living Trilogy, Songs from the Second Floor is a compilation of vignettes centered around themes of modernity viewed with a tinted lens

Showing on 19 Feb, 5 pm. Tickets available here.

You, the Living // Du levande (2007)

The second work in Andersson's Living Trilogy, You, the Living too is a collection of sketches based around the tragicomic nature of life and living.

Showing on 18 Feb, 2:30 pm. Tickets available here.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence // En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (2014)

The winner of the Gold Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is Roy Andersson's final entry in the Living Trilogy. A series of tableaux that follows the attempts of two traveling novelty salesmen in selling their products, the film features Andersson's signature meticulous set designs and the existentialist comedy of being.

Showing on 16 Feb, 8 pm with World of Glory and a post-screening Q&A with Line Producer Johan Carlsson, and on 18 Feb, 5 pm by itself. Tickets available here (16 Feb) and here (18 Feb).

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Beyond the lineup, here we also had a quick chat with the Swedish Ambassador to Singapore, Mr. Håkan Jevrell, on the work it took to make the Festival happen.

The Swedish Film Festival is now into its second edition. What prompted the initial collaboration?

In a way, it kind of just happened. It started with having an interest in doing something more substantial within the region, and seeing that film festivals seem to be doing well everywhere. Then, we met up with The Projector and came to the conclusion that they can be a really good partner—it was easier to work with them than the big players, because they are niche, well thought-out, and not really bound to the big blockbusters and popcorn flicks going on in the cinema world. For us, we thought it was quite a perfect match, and thus this came out quite early in the discussions

As we celebrated fifty years of diplomatic relations between Sweden and Singapore last year, we were driven to do something bigger. Since then, we have seen the warm responses and we realized that it was a good thing, so why not continue this endeavor?

Now, we really look forward to it and we hope we could keep on doing it. I thought it was a lot of fun, and it is incredibly gratifying to see that Singaporean audience seems to appreciate Swedish films.

What were your biggest helps or obstacles to holding an event such as this?

We are actually really lucky that the Swedish Institute back in Sweden worked with the Swedish Film Institute to present a selection of Swedish films every year that we at the embassies and other Swedish entities can use for purposes like this.

This selection is a box of eight films that the Swedish Institute have negotiated with the Swedish filmmakers and producers to provide for free to embassies and other institutions abroad for events whose only purpose is to further Swedish culture. The advantages of having this box is that all legalities and administrative processes were already resolved by the Swedish Institute and Swedish Film Institute in Sweden, which allowed us to skip all the complications regarding the films and focus on organizing the film festival.

Of course, to run a film festival requires us to broaden the breadth of what films we screen, but I think that we have been able to manage as far as ideas go, and there were good collaborations with the filmmakers and distributors, so the entire process has been relatively smooth.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, since not many Swedish films have actually made it all the way here to Singapore the normal commercial way, we did not need to be in discussions with the big cinema companies and distributors regarding screening rights and other sundry details, because we are not competing with them. This also made things easier.

One hurdle we did face is that because we are a very small embassy, we do not have a huge amount of resources to spare—we all had to work till the final moments right before the opening. Thank goodness that The Projector is such a trim and flexible organization, that our collaboration really did go as smoothly as it did.

If you are a student aged 16 and above and would like to try your hand at filmmaking, here is your chance to make a short film and win prizes totalling S$8400!

Point & Shoot is a competition whereby participants have a weekend to produce a 3 minute short film. Teams must plan, shoot, edit, and submit the best short film in fewer than 55 hours upon the release of a given theme.

It will take place on the weekend of 10-12 March, while the Awards Ceremony will be on the following Sunday, 19 March 2017.

The prize pool for Point & Shoot is a total of S$8400, including cash and various products such as a Blackmagic camera (worth $1425), and 6 Zhiyun-tech gimbals!

Who can participate in this competition?

The competition is open to:
A. Full/part-time student(s) aged 16-30 (before 31 December 2017)
B. and is/are currently enrolled in any post-secondary or tertiary institution in Singapore. Examples; Junior Colleges, Institute of Technical Education, Polytechnics, local Universities, arts institutions, and private Universities.
C. or is/are a foreign student on an exchange programme at a local (Singapore) tertiary institution for the duration of the competition

The fees per team is $25 during the early-bird period (ends on 28th Feb), and will be $40 per team thereafter.

To sign up or get more information about the event, please visit the event website here.

Questions? Contact us at pointandshoot@nustudios.org or enquiries@nustudios.org

Who are the judges?

Juan Foo
With career beginnings in freelance production work and then producing, Juan Foo went on to pioneer digital filmmaking in Singapore; using technology and technique to deliver screen content. He produced horror and cult films Return to Pontianak and Perth, as well as several others. Juan is also one of the first few in Singapore to have sold a developed script project to Hollywood. Juan’s varied background has led him to write, teach, develop, and promote screen content in several training schools and universities. His previous work has included media training, talent development and content quality assessment. Juan is also the Principal Tutor for nuSTUDIOS Film Productions.

Gladys Ng
Gladys’ films reflect her nature, often nuanced and subtle, interspersed with wry humour. Her short film, My Father after Dinner, was presented Best Singapore Short at the 26th Singapore International Film Festival. Gladys was trained in writing and directing at the Victorian College of the Arts and participated in FLY ASEAN-ROK. Her latest short, The Pursuit of a Happy Human, a commission of the festival, was developed during a film residency in Thailand with Objectifs. She was mentored by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit.

Zhang Wenjie
Zhang Wenjie is a film programmer in Singapore. From 2003-2005, he headed the Moving Images programme at The Substation and from 2005-2013, he was head of the Cinematheque of the National Museum of Singapore. Wenjie was part of the project team that led the restoration of Usmar Ismail’s 1954 classic After the Curfew, which premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival in 2012. In 2013, he organised the first Film Restoration School Asia in Singapore in collaboration with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, Cineteca di Bologna and L’Immagine Ritrovata. Wenjie is currently the Programme Director of the Singapore International Film Festival.

Taufik Batisah, a well-known local music figure with hits like Usah Lepaskan and Sky’s the Limit, and a dozen awards, seems to have an uncanny ability to galvanise spirits in a room. He is articulate, composed, yet not without the occasional pocket of earnest energy. Most of all, he came across as wise without sounding too measured. This is Taufik, more than 10 years after Singapore Idol, having seen his fair share of ups and downs in showbusiness, sitting down with a small group of reporters, telling us in the most casual way, his latest foray in show business - movies.

Soulmate Hingga Jannah, marks the first big step Taufik has taken into the world of moviemaking (sort of, he’s been involved in an earlier film but in a smaller role). Having played to hordes of audiences in cinemas across Malaysia, the movie finally makes it way to Singapore, thanks to newly-formed local film distributor DLUX Entertainment, which aims to bring in more Malay films, from the region into Singapore. Some have called the film one of the best Malay romantic comedies ever in recent times. It opened at Rex Golden Mile Tower Cinemas last week on 16 February and Taufik made an appearance for a Meet and Greet session with his fans on 17 February and actually watched the full film for the first time with his fans.

Directed by Prof Madya A. Razak Mohaideen and filmed in Thailand, Soulmate Hingga Jannah is about a high-spirited country girl, Rokiah who has been offered to work at a corporate company in Kuala Lumpur. Unluckily for her, she has to work under the cold-hearted Azmeer who thinks of himself as "Mr. Perfect". As the two spend more and more time together, Azmeer begins to warm up to Rokiah, as she reminds him of his late wife Khalisa. However, he is in a dilemma as he has made a promise to his wife that he would never fall in love and marry another woman besides her.

Apart from Taufik Batisah, the movie stars Malaysian superstar Erra Fazira, Raja Ilya, Reen Rahim, Malaysian comedian Douglas Lim & many more. For Taufik, this is a challenging role as he plays someone totally different from his own character. For his fans, brace yourself for a crying scene with him. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

We spoke to Taufik at the special screening and Meet and Greet session with fans last Friday 17 February, to get the scoop on him taking on the big screen.

How was it like working in your first movie?

This is actually my second movie. But overall, I can honestly say I am still a newbie to the movie industry or even in the acting industry. Especially if I compare myself to my cast. Because Raja Ilya to me, from what I see of her on TV, she is such an amazing actress. And Erra Fazira, obviously a lot of people from my community grew up watching her act. She is amazing. Reen Rahim is also an amazing actress. I had a bit of worry acting alongside these women who are so seasoned and wonderful. So that was a challenge that I had to take.

But for me, ultimately what I gather from any projects that involves any kind of acting that I do is a learning process. And I will absorb as much as possible from my cast and crew. As much as they allow me to. And as much as the director imparts on me. I try to learn as a I go.

You’ve had such an illustrious music career, what took you so long to get into acting?

I’ve been doing so many different kinds of music over the years. I’ve even done a musical before. And the last drama that I did was called Shooting Stars in 2005, in English. Back in 2015, I made a conscious effort to do other things, other than singing or music. I said to myself, man I’m getting older, not getting any younger. Put the fear aside and just try it! You will only learn things from your mistakes if you try something. You will only learn if you want to. So I decided that if the opportunity arises, I would grab it. (pause) And I think I am so fortunate to be given two opportunities to do film. So I just took it and try to see how it goes. And I’m going to keep learning from there.

Raja Ilya, Taufik Batisah and Erra Fazira huddle with director Prof Madya A. Razak Mohaideen

Do you enjoy the learning process?

Yes, I enjoyed the process though I always found it weird to see myself on the screen, even on TV, when it is not music, something else. For example, hosting or acting. Macham Janggal. When I’m watching myself, I always find it weird. So I don’t know if that’s me being critical about myself or me just not used to looking at myself doing other things? (pause)I will definitely take constructive criticism from the masses, my family, my friends, the viewers, to better myself, because that’s the only way to improve.

By the way, I am thinking of putting together a concert for my fans. I think they have not seen a full concert from me in many years. So I would like to plan a concert for my fans at the end of the year. Ultimately, if you ask me, music is still my first love. So that is something I can’t forget about. Like when I do these projects, I would actually ask them, can I do the music? Can I write the songs for you? Can I do the soundtrack?

For this film, abang Azmeer, originally from Singapore, now based in Malaysia, wrote the songs for the soundtrack of this film and I sang Memilih Mencintaimu with Adira from Malaysia. I also sang another song, Teman Jiwa, with Erra Fazira. I think it’s pretty dope to be singing with Erra Fazira! It feels so weird in my head because I listened to her songs when I was growing up. So that was pretty cool. (pause) Music is definitely still a part of the projects that I do. Even in the film before this, I asked if they wanted to use my music?

Any juicy stories/gossips on set?

Ok. This is the coolest thing about Erra Fazira. Everybody knows Erra Fazira. She’s a beauty queen. She is so pretty. We were in Thailand in Chiangmai. So we were waiting at the side of the road for the vehicle for a very long time, but it came finally. It was this big van in which you can just jump in. Somewhere along the way, the vehicle and the engine stopped. And we all had to push the vehicle. It was like a big truck on which at least eight people could sit at the back. Bigger than a Tuk-Tuk. So me, my wife and Ilya starting pushing. We didn’t expect Erra Fazira to do it. But she was like the first person to go beside the driver and push. ‘Come come, I will push,’ she said. And I was like whoa! So she started pushing and we all followed as well. And that was only like two or three days into filming.

The other thing I remember about filming in Chiangmai was that it was super cold. It was so weird. I know it’s the altitude, high up in the mountains, but I didn’t expect it to be so cold. There was one particular scene we had to film along the river. It was drizzling. With the wind and the chill combined together, OMG, I think Ilya almost had Hypothermia. She was freezing.

What are the most memorable scenes for you in 'Soulmate'? Why?

In fact there’s quite a number of moments that were memorable for me. From filming in the elephant park in Thailand to braving the freezing cold on the boat ride with just a jacket to the part where I was literally kicked into the pool. The one that stood out for me would have to be the fight scene where my character rescued Rokiah (Raja IIya) – that’s the FIRST ever time I filmed a fighting scene! It was a night scene and it took hours to film. I had no previous training on martial arts, so with some crash course training on set (which was just before the actual filming took place), I tried to execute the moves as much as I could without showing my awkwardness, haha! But that really did took a toll on me as I exerted a lot of energy to control my strength for fear of accidentally hurting anyone in the process.

Would you consider acting more difficult that singing? Why? Which parts of acting are the most challenging?

I've been singing for more than 14 years and it is something that I'm very much comfortable with, so naturally acting is a lot more challenging for me. I feel the most challenging aspect of acting, at least for me at this point in time, is to be able to portray the character convincingly. It is really not easy, especially when the persona of the role is very much different from who I am in real life. But it has been enjoyable thus far and I do look forward to other opportunities.

If you could make your film, what story would you like to tell?

It will be the story of my mother.

Interview by Jeremy Sing

Soulmate Hingga Jannah is showing at Golden Mile Tower Rex cinema. Do catch it soon!

For more information on the film, please visit the Facebook page of DLUX Entertainment.

Here are more pictures from the Meet and Greet session on 17 February.

Fiknatics, fans of Taufik rehearse their welcome greeting for Taufik

While the fans waited outside, Taufik entertained the media in a group media interview

Fans go trigger happy as Taufik appears

Click. Click. Click!

Blue seems to be the most popular colour

3 Taufiks in one picture

“精采而且情感真摯” - 侯孝賢导演

"Exciting and full of genuine feelings", Hou Hsiao Hsien on Absent Without Leave

In Malaysian filmmaker Lau Kek-Huat’s debut feature documentary Absent Without Leave 不即不离, the tracing of personal anecdotes becomes an act of mining collective history. In trying to reconnect with his absent father, his grandfather’s forgotten story is slowly unravelled: an absent father to the filmmaker’s own absent father, but also a guerrilla Communist soldier, a protector, a martyr of Malaya during WWII.

Intensely heartfelt without being overly sentimental, Absent Without Leave navigates the murky waters of Malayan history that appears far removed from the present. It reminds us not only of Malaya’s tragic past, but also our collective amnesia, of how quickly and seamlessly these narratives are thrown into physical and psychological exile. In this journey into forgotten consciousness, we are offered a glimpse of reconciliation and a possible redemption for those who have been absent.

The film was screened at the 2016 Singapore International Film Festival and received an Audience Choice Award. However, it has been banned completely during a review by the Malaysian Censorship Board. The reason given for the ban was its dealing with the Malaysian Communist Party (MCP) - a sensitive of part of Malaysian history.

Lau, whose grandfather was a member of the MCP, released the film in Taiwan but had hoped to bring back to Malaysia to be screened at the first ever Malaysian International Film Festival as the opening film.

Following the ban, Lau has decided to share his documentary for free with Malaysian audiences through the web. The documentary will be available on the Facebook fan page of Lau's Taiwan-based production company, Hummingbird Production starting from February 28th and up to March 5th. The links to view the documentary on Malaysian territory will be posted through several website and announced on Hummingbird's Facebook Page. To know more about this event, please visit Hummingbird Production's Facebook page.

大马导演廖克发的拍摄的纪录片《不即不离》，因为内容涉及马共题材，本月确定電檢未過，在马來西亞全面禁映。廖克发今决定提供在线连结，让大马观众免费看片。

《不即不离》从导演家庭出发，自追溯祖父因参加共产党后消失的故事，一步步带出马共的历史，這段历史是对于多数的马来西亚人来说是陌生的，也是一个禁忌的话题。本片 2016 年在台湾上映，并入围台北电影节、釜山电影节、新加坡电影节观众票选奖，廖克发也因本片获选 2017 年第 15 届柏林影展新锐营。原本《第一届马来西亚国际电影节》也计划以本片作开幕影片，如今因送审未过，让观众错失看片机会!导演也难掩失望。

廖克发最大的心愿还是能在大馬放映这部影片，因此他决定在 2/28 日-3/5 日期间，免费提供在线连结，给大马地区的观众看片。有兴趣的观众可到 Facebook 搜寻《不即不离》大马首映活动网页，按“参加活动”，主办方蜂鸟影像有限公司将会于 2 月 28 日主动寄送影片连结。影片连结也会于 2 月 28 日同步在蜂鸟影像脸书粉丝页发布。

如果在新加坡地區的觀眾，渴望於 3 月中下旬後，在付費頻道觀賞本片。

Absent Without Leave Online Malaysian Premiere
Dates: Feb 28th to March 5th
Free screening on Malaysian territory
The screening link will be posted on the Event Page on 28 Feb 2017.

Official Trailer

About Lau Kek-Huat

Lau was born in Malaysia, worked as a primary school teacher in Singapore for four years. He enrolled at the National Taiwan University in 2006. He was awarded the Best Short Film Award twice (2009 and 2013) as well as the Best Director Award (2009) by the Taiwan Golden Harvest Festival. He has directed a few short films and is currently developing his first feature film.

Director Sam Loh is busy selling Char Siew these with his latest erotic thriller Siew Lup 烧腊 sizzling up cinemas islandwide. But before selling Char Siew, Sam was serving up wicked bowls of delicious soup with Lang Tong 靓汤, the predecessor to Siew Lup. If you have not tried Sam’s ‘Chicken soup for the tainted soul’, here’s your chance. Lang Tong will be screened by *SCAPE as part of the *SCAPEmedia Spotlight feature on Sam Loh - ‘Sam Loh: from Kids Central to Lang Tong, making films as an Outsider’ (What a long event title!).

Lang Tong is arguably Singapore's first commercial R21 movie with sexual content and attempt at the erotic thriller genre. No other commercial feature film in Singapore has grazed this fine line between pornography and narrative action. Maybe not a fine line, after all, it had a legitimate storyline. But still, it was a risk taken for the potential controversies it would court with the moral police among decision makers in our civil service. And that risk paid off. Premiering to a full-house audience at the 25th Singapore International Film Festival in 2014, it had a subsequent commercial release the following year with the help of mm2 Entertainment.

In the film, Zack (played by William Lawandi), a remorseless serial womanizer and con-man meets his match in Li Ling (Vivienne Tseng), an alluring and well-to-do woman who makes a wicked bowl of pork rib soup. Things take an unexpected turn when Zack begins an affair with Li Ling's younger sister Li Er. Soon, Li Er convinces Zack to help her execute a heinous plot to murder her older sister, whom she blames for causing her mother's death. However, things are not as simple as they seem.

In our ‘Production Talk’ series interview with Sam Loh in 2015, he recounts his uphill task of finding actresses who would want to be in the film due to the explicit sex. Having completed the script about 7-8 years ago, Sam spoke to numerous actresses and most turned him down. This was until his actor Alan Tan introduced him to Angeline Yap, who took the leap of faith and decided to give the role a try. Read the full interview here.

Also read our review of Lang Tong here which we rated Bak-Kut-Tehlicious.

Director Sam Loh has cleverly placed equally ample baits for both genders to watch his first feature film Lang Tong. Touted as Singapore’s first commercial R21 movie, it features enough boobs to make guys say ‘yes, this is no lightweight Singaporean attempt at something risqué’. It also features enough female smarts to girls feel winners in the battle of the sexes. At the very best, this film knows just how to press the right buttons for a dirty little adventure. At the very worst, it is simply jogging an old formula, offering a story that’s essentially empty at its core…....

Here are details of the screening event, jointly organised by *SCAPE and The Filmic Eye.

Date: 3 March 2017
Time: 7.30pm to 10pm
Venue: SCAPE Gallery
Admission Fee: $5
Rating: R21 (Please note that organisers have the right to check your identification upon entry)
Please get your tickets from Peatix at this link.

The screening is followed by a dialogue with Sam Loh in person. Tap into Sam’s memories of his journey as a filmmaker. Sam built his career from years of television directing. His works display a formidable genre range. They include Channel 5 dramas like Lions Mums and In Cold Blood, Channel 8 dramas like C.L.I.F 4 and Dream Coders, 9 Lives on Suria and even Kids Central! Learn about how he toggles (pardon the pun, Mediacorp!) between the PG family man personality to the R21 devil within. Find out what happened to his debut independent feature Outsiders, which he withdrew from the 2004 Singapore International Film Festival, following MDA’s requirement of several cuts to the film. The film has still not been publicly screened in Singapore so far.
About Sam Loh

Sam Loh has more than 18 years of film directing experience. He began his career at Caldecott Productions directing TV commercials. Currently, he is a freelance film director who works regularly with prominent production houses that produced dramas and programs for MediaCorp. He started Outsider Pictures to make independent and original movie content for the local and international market. Lang Tong 靓汤– his R21 Chinese independent movie was well received and had a sold out screening at the 2014 Singapore International Film Festival. It was also screened commercially at all local cinemas in March 2015. Siew Lup 烧腊– his follow up to Lang Tong and part of his femme fatale trilogy was also the first film to sold out at the 2016 Singapore International Film Festival. Its general theatrical release was on 23 February 2017.

Written by Jeremy Sing

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

A Singaporean love story that will break your heart before putting it all together again, Hooped On You is a mini movie released on YouTube recently. Released by Butterworks, a Digital Content Producer, in collaboration with mm2 Entertainment, the film was made in celebration of the channel’s second anniversary as well as do what they do best – share a story with their viewers.

This particular mini movie follows two main characters, Jia Min and Wei Yang as their lives start to intertwine with one another. Through the girls working at a bubble tea shop that the basketball boys visit, feelings start to brew and drama unravels as life happens. Is it possible for romance or is that just asking for further trouble?

The storyline is simple to follow and has its fair share of humour to counter the emotionally charged scenes. Even though there seems to be many subplots or elements abruptly introduced that leaves certain gaps in story-telling, the viewer can easily suspend his/her imagination to just go with the flow. With that being said, perhaps the mini movie might need to run longer to accommodate all the ideas introduced or be more selective about what actually goes into the film.

Being their first mini movie that runs for 65 minutes, it is quite a commendable feat in terms of script, shooting and editing. Watchable and completely heart-warming, Hooped On You proves that the channel has plenty of potential and surprises up their sleeve.

We spoke to one of the founders of Butterworks, Lun, to learn more about their YouTube channel and of course, stories behind the making of Hooped on You.

How did Butterworks come about as a YouTube channel?

Previously, Rachel and I (Lun) joined several short film competitions like Cathay Motion Picture Awards and ciNE65 and we won some awards. People around us came to us and encouraged us to produce more short films as they wanted more. We gathered our 8 good friends who love filmmaking and inspiring people just as much as we do, and formed Butterworks.

What more can be done to grow the Singapore YouTube community, in your opinion?

As long as everyone tries his/her best in whatever they do, there will come a day when all efforts will be paid off.
What inspires the making of your mini movies?

As a team, we like to explore new challenges and pushing ourselves beyond our limits.
Has your work evolved from your first movie to the most recent Hooped on You? How so?
Yes definitely. Our shoot hours increased from 100 hours to 150 hours. In all aspects of filmmaking, the workload doubled as we took that leap from a 30 mins film to a 60 mins film. We are very humbled that this mini movie has received great audience responses.

Tell us more about how the idea came about - the creation of script, casting of actors, etc.
We, the 90s generation, love the classic drama, MVP 情人. Hence, we decided to do a throwback to the topic "篮球 Basketball" combined with the modern and relatable drink "泡泡茶 Bubble Tea"
This film revolves around the message of "looking beyond what you can see" and we hope this message will inspire people to not rely on their first impressions or judge people based on what they have done. Instead, they should take a step further to understand what are the intentions behind those actions because sometimes, people do the wrong things for the right reasons.
This movie has plenty of support from brands, which is great. How difficult is it to garner such support and does it play a huge role in the budgeting of the film?
It definitely helped us. We are very thankful for the amount of faith these brands and partners have in us and our visions for the film.
What was the most challenging part of filming Hooped on You, and how was it overcome?
It is easy for a freelancer to fork out 3 - 4 months of commitment, but for our team members to squeeze out their time and energy for this project amongst their busy schedule filled with studies, homework & work, was the greatest challenge for Hooped On You.
Because of this hectic filming period, most of us fell sick. But as good friends, we pushed each other to try more than our best, and with one steady step at a time together as a team, we finally reached the finish line.
What other works do you plan to explore in the future?
We will continue to push ourselves. I guess we are "hooped on" new challenges. Haha.

Written by Dawn Teo

Finally, here is the piece-de-resistance, the actual movie itself. Get your popcorn ready!

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

A boy, unexpectedly, meets a girl in a Hong Kong back alley. A series of unfortunate events turned their night around and they realized that they just might have been what each other's looking for all this while. Goldfish is a YouTube short film that takes a look at long distance relationships and the concept of 'love at first sights'. What might not be perfect, could actually be.

The short film belongs to Cheokboard Studios, a YouTube channel created by Jonathan Cheok, which has 215,000 subscribers and more than 37 million views for all its videos created since 2013. Goldfish stood our hearts and we want to pass it on and share the lurve. Here's our review of the film:

Goldfish is a brave attempt at a romantic short film by Jonathan Cheok of Cheokboard Studios, a YouTube personality mostly known for his sensationalistic over the top comedy sketches.

The film is relatively interesting, considering it is a Singaporean production set and shot largely in Hong Kong, over a period of only two days, which is a considerable feat. Furthermore, Jonathan had recently become part of the MM2 Digital Content Producer and it was interesting to see how his YouTube channel is growing under this new partnership. Goldfish is one of the projects that had been supported by MM2 and has been a more serious and personal departure than his usual work of constant slapstick videos, which to me is a small but commendable step for the development of local media content in general.

Other admirable aspects are the brave cinematography risks being made in Goldfish. The film was shot with a DJI Osmo, a handheld stabilized camera system to create dynamic unshaking running sequences and a Sony A7sii to shoot Hong Kong in the glory of the night. These are brave and bold steps, though some of the risks do not pay off. Some shots feel convoluted and forced and image quality is at times strangely poor. One reckons the difference in low light capabilities between the Osmo and A7sii is to blame. Or more accurately, the cinematographer that made those decisions. That being said, again this is a different style than what Jonathan has done before and usually technical quality can always be forgiven with good story.

However, it is not so good on that front either. The characters here are hollow stereotypes with the female character initially engaging with her own worries becoming an instantaneous misogynistic fantasy cliché. In the presence of the romantic interest, she mind-bogglingly becomes completely trusting of him despite him being a complete stranger. She instantly transforms from relatively interesting to becoming some sort of video game reward for the male character for doing something barely decent. This lack of any coherent real world logic and clichéd story is the biggest issue with the film, which affects the acting as well, where the dialogue and actions feel shallow and unmotivated.

Romantic films are built on the charisma and chemistry of the two leads, and in this case, it largely fails. Whilst Jonathan Cheok probably succeeds regularly with his guests in his fast-paced, gag-a-second YouTube sketches, in a narrative and non-comedic format it is clear when the sparks are missing. I found this an issue with his appearance in the 2016 film 4 Love as well. In those stints, we can see that his natural charisma which he uses to power through his sketch gags is not yet engaging enough to be sustainable, whereas the rapid pace and constant change in his usual sketches allow viewers to ignore any annoyances we have with his caricatures before long.

Overall, whilst the film is not perfect, it is interesting to see what online digital creators in Singapore are doing as media becomes more diversified.

***

We caught up with Jonathan to get behind the scenes of Goldfish.

What inspired you to develop, Goldfish? How did this idea start from?

It started from me falling head over heels for a Hong Kong girl and planning a trip there to be with her. Funny thing is, this was only conceptualized, written and produced the time I was in Hong Kong. I had 2 days to do this on my own.

Your short is shot in Hong Kong? What is your connection to Hong Kong and why did you decide to set it there?

Hong Kong brings back both very happy and very sad feelings for me. It is a sensitive topic and one I hold close to my heart. My only connection to Hong Kong is the girl I'm madly in love with (which unfortunately did not work out), the nostalgic old Hong Kong films I've been a fan of since young like Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan, Wong Kar Wai, Johnnie To, and I think one of my Mum's cousin is apparently from Hong Kong! I have family there I think.

Some of the shots look interesting and dynamic. What kind of equipment did you use for the shoot?

It was hard finding crew there, being all by myself. Apple did help me source for a couple of extras from TVB, we paid HKD$1000 to rent that specific fish shop because I knew it would fit the look of the film in terms of colours and set. The shop had a red and blue hue to it and just felt very Hong Kong! I begged the Uncle three times, saying I was doing a student project, Apple asked in Cantonese too. I went back a last time, and offered money. It worked!

Besides locations which I had to find. We faced difficulties with audio and the sound guy that helped didn't use the -20DB settings with my Zoom H6 so I had a lot of post audio fixing and cleaning up when I came back. I shot the entire thing with my Sony a7sii and a Osmo that the Hong Kong Director of Photography (DP) rented. We practically just found places to shoot at, I tell the DP what type of shots and framings I wanted, bam bam bam! Shoot and move, run and gun kind of project. We shot this in just 2 days. Hell of an experience man!

How has becoming an MM2 Entertainment Digital Content Producer changed the way you work? How have they supported you?

Well, mostly they just source for sponsors or fund my videos like Goldfish. I sold it to them and they loved it so they support me in that sense. I am close with them because I acted in their film 4 Love last December. We are also working on an action web series soon.

What’s the most memorable scene in Goldfish for you?

The slow motion montage of Apple and I in the middle from the night market to the cycling (we had to borrow a bicycle). Those were good times. Huge shout out to Spencer, my Irish producer friend who helped me out in Hong Kong.

Any plans for another short film either as a director or act or both? Which is more difficult and which do you enjoy more?

Yes of course. My producer, Isaac and I are planning more of these. We want to make nice films with messages more than just slapstick funny videos on YouTube. I definitely love both aspects and I'm huge on editing all my videos myself. I love editing too.

Any advice for young filmmakers and those looking to get their work seen online?

Just do it. Talk is cheap these days. Millennials have to just get a camera, start shooting and experimenting and getting more experience under their belts. I'm not very good yet and am constantly improving daily. A tip is to watch a lot of movies and films. Draw your inspiration from events that happened to you. For example, Goldfish was a true story based on me. Except no fishes we harmed in the making of this film.

Have you considered sending some of your films to film festivals?

Do you think film festival success and online success is mostly mutually exclusive (i.e. you cannot have both)

I would love to send them but I need to find out how.

Catch Goldfish, here:

Written by Rifyal Giffari

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

The Longest-Distance Relationship is a light-hearted Singaporean documentary on a serious topic. Its premise is that a team of four film-school friends—one Buddhist, one atheist, one Christian and one Taoist—take turns to explore each other's religion and their personal takes on their faith. The documentary is made with the lightest of touches, peppered throughout with a casual humour about the contradictions and confusions that each of the four filmmakers has in their relationship with their faith.

This buoyant personal approach means that the documentary does not seek to be comprehensive in exploring the state of inter-faith relations in Singapore. Yet, as it turns out, this approach pays off with huge dividends, offering a glimpse into how Singaporeans can broach such a sensitive topic with thoughtfulness and curiosity, but without crossing over into offence.

Here are three key insights to be drawn from the film's approach:

1) The film shows how it can be okay to start out without a comprehensive knowledge of others' religions—or even of your own. In one unforgettable early sequence, the young filmmakers visit a temple and ask an auntie selling joss sticks why there is a statue of Confucius for visitors to pray to, even though Confucius was a mortal. This one earnest question leads to a hilarious pile-up of people being drawn into the scene, as the auntie asks her various acquaintances in turn about the statue's theological significance.

Religious sceptics may be quick to scoff this scene as a sign that people can believe in things and engage in practices that they don't even understand. Yet, on the other hand, the scene also reveals how many of us don't need to have a full picture of everything in order to start making meaning out of what we're given. Likewise, it shows how a single harmless question about an under-examined practice can spiral into a far longer journey of interrogating what we don't know. In other words, the film tries to be sweetly forgiving in its recognition that not everyone has the answers or wants to seek them; but it also manages, at the same time, to insist on having the curiosity and courage to ask.

2) The film also shows how we can adjust our beliefs for the people we love. Another sweetly forgiving (and funny) scene comes courtesy of one of the filmmakers' Taoist mothers, who initially disallowed her children from eating beef at all. Gradually, however, she loosened her restrictions because of her daughter's anaemia—to the point where she would even buy the braised beef cup noodles for her children, but insist that they not eat it at the coffee table in front of the goddess' altar. (Yet, as one of her children jokingly points out, it isn't as if the goddess wouldn't know!)

Again, a harsh interpretation of this scene would harp on the mother's lack of consistency, and on the arbitrariness of the religious rules in the first place. This harshness can be understandable, especially when it comes from people who have bore the brunt of such arbitrary rules from others who don't know them well. Yet the scene also teaches us that harshness may not always be the solution, because it is the loving relationship between the mother and her children that led to her eventual shift in her beliefs, even as they extend her the dignity of letting her keep a smidgen of her rules intact.

3) But the film also shows how we might not always come to a consensus, and must sometimes accept that we disagree. The film isn't so naive as to believe that people will always adjust their beliefs in the name of love. Instead, it dares to dwell willingly on some of the more fraught aspects of loving people who share different beliefs. For instance, in an uncharacteristically tense scene of this film, one of the filmmakers admits her struggle with her belief that her friends are headed to hell. How can one respond to that? Her admission, after all, is made from genuine concern for people she cares about, and not from the heinous dismissal of strangers who play no real part in her lives. The film dangles at this moment, unsure of how to proceed—perhaps understanding that, within the scope of its shooting schedule, the issue is not something that can be so quickly resolved.

From these insights, we can thus see that The Longest-Distance Relationship is a crucial first step in raising the level of discourse that Singaporeans need to have about our nation’s melting pot of various religions and faiths. We need that discourse more than ever, now that we find ourselves in a global age of rising sentiment against feared minority groups. We cannot assume that Singapore is immune to this trend just because we have yet to encounter a state of emergency—an economic recession, an immigration crisis, a terrorist attack—that shuts down our rational selves and unleashes our unfounded suspicions against the other. The efforts made in The Longest-Distance Relationship take us some way into addressing this danger.

But we need to take these efforts a step further. For all of its strengths, The Longest-Distance Relationship is still centred only on four Chinese women; does not touch upon Islam, Hinduism or other faiths; and doesn't quite have the scope to answer all (or perhaps any) of the questions that it has the boldness to pry into. Nonetheless, it achieves enough to absolve it of the charges of 'egotism' and 'narcissism', two labels that the filmmakers pre-emptively slap on themselves in their film's opening moments, to ward off accusations about the film's limits. If egotism and narcissism can lead us to such witty and revealing insights about a topic that Singaporeans don't explore enough, then perhaps our film scene only deserves a lot more of it.

The film is available for viewing from Viddsee's Singapore Film Channel.

Reviewed by Colin Low

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

The Lying Theory starts with a simple premise: that a mistrusting girl has developed an ability to see a counter floating above everyone's heads that clocks the number of times that they tell lies... except that one day, in culinary school, she encounters a boy whose counter remains firmly at zero. Will she stop thinking everyone is a liar? Will the boy remain the angel he appears to be? That premise earned writer-director Lauren Teo a nomination for Best Script at the 5th Singapore Short Film Awards in 2014. We can’t stop getting amused with the child actors in this film who blatantly stole the show.

You can actually watch the film on Viddsee. We’ve linked it here. It is showcased under the Viddsee Singapore Film Channel.

We actually spoke to Lauren back in 2014 about her film. Here was our little conversation.

That’s quite a lot of effort for a short film, given the variety of scenes (a home, school, culinary institute..). How many days did you take to complete filming and do post-production work?

We shot for about six days in total and took approximately one and a half months for post-production

As we know, casting child actors can be really challenging. How did you/your team manage to get such a convincing child actress to play young Claire and direct her into her role so well?

Kyra showed up to our auditions all confident and eager to to perform her role as Claire. Ever since that first meeting, I was won over by her natural flair for acting and her charisma - I knew she had to be young Claire. Directing Kyra was a rewarding experience: I would run through the scene with her and she'd understand what I wanted to achieve, always asking questions and giving suggestions of what she thought her version of Claire would do. It was really fun and engaging to in discussions and directing her.

What were some of the bigger difficulties you/your team encountered during production?

The biggest challenge would have to be getting everyone’s understanding and co-operation throughout the shoot, and managing time and forces beyond our control. For example, shoot time overran for about two to three hours for the classroom scene and we were supposed to move on to the house scene, but it rained quite heavily so we had to postpone the shoot. It was a huge effort to reschedule everyone’s time.

Were the actors playing Larry and Claire really culinary students or did you/your team have contacts in the school which allowed filming within the premises?

Our actors were not culinary students. TP's culinary school generously provided us with facilities to shoot, as well as some insight to the culinary environment so we could ensure our film was true to industry.
Could you share with us the type of equipment you/your team used for shooting ‘The Lying Theory’? Would you also mind telling us a rough cost breakdown for the production? (We understand that it was a student final year project.)

We used 5dm3 and zoom h4n for the camera and sound respectively. We rented a circular dolly to achieve the 'transformation' shot and other basic lights.

What inspired ‘The Lying Theory’?

Growing up and having experienced the ups and downs of friendship just as everyone else has, I'd always wondered what it'd be like if I could just have some sort of spidey sense or super power that could tell me which person I could trust... that led to the conception of The Lying Theory. I wanted to make a film about friendship and trust. I was inspired by the style of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie, which tells the tale of a lonely misfit in such a whimsical and surreal manner - it touched on heavy topics but never was it dreary or depressing.

Written by Colin Low

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

Aik Khoon, an old short film from 2005, by Chris Yeo and Andie Chen, will be screened as part of the National Museum of Singapore's Cinémathèque Selects programme.

The short film centers on the friendship between a taxi driver and his childhood friend. In an unusual arrangement, Chong Hua rides shotgun in the taxi even as Aik Khoon picks up customers. They keep up a banter throughout the film, with Chong Hua being the more talkative of the two. A female customer leaves the taxi after being stared at lewdly by Chong Hua, a moment of sexual harassment that is played for laughs. Chong Hua is like a parasite that Aik Khoon can't shake off, one that he picked up in primary school and that has been with him ever since. Yet the other side of the coin is he probably knows Aik Khoon better than anyone.

The film takes a turn in tone after showing the strained relationship between Chong Hua and his son. The shallow babble concerned primarily with objectifying women past and present, suddenly falls away into something heavier, the weight of lost dreams and ambitions.

Chong Hua is a provocative character, irreverent and politically incorrect. He is perhaps a caricature or larger-than-life version of the 'chikopek' (perverted uncle) who hangs out at kopitiams. His son's response to him is a mixture of revulsion, sympathy and secondhand embarrassment. Aik Khoon, on the other hand, is turned inward, with controlled facial expressions and a less frenetic movement. His back story is implied to be one of a fall from societal prestige. The thoughtful sound design helps to prop up his character's emotions in the film.

***

We spoke to director Chris Yeo and got him to jog his 12-year old memory of the film for us.

Your father plays the main character in the film, how was the experience of directing your father?
It's not hard to imagine the kind of awkward situation directing one's parent, especially when the script is based off a certain reality and for him to confront the image of himself as characterized by his son. The arrangement was also that Andie did most of the direct communication with the actors while I kept a necessary distance behind the camera as the writer/cinematographer. In a sense, it was therapeutic, without us speaking too much. I reached out to him through the script and he responded back to me by his performance through the camera.

Why the decision to make a film about him?
My family was in bad financial shape at that point of time. I saw a proud man falling from grace and how it had affected the relationships around him, between his wife, his children, his friends and himself. At that age, I could only use the tools that I had at hand to deal with this. So I made a film.

Did a real friendship inspire the film?
The friend in the film was a collage of the colourful friends my father kept around him. When he was still driving a taxi, he would sometimes give me a lift and there was always a friend in the front seat who would tag along, even when he was on duty ferrying passengers. I could quietly observe their interaction from the backseat with a certain invisibility - a writer's dream. I remember, there were two of them whose name was both "Tony". It was quite absurd.

Greatest challenge making the film?
It's hard to emphasize one challenge over the other (we were still shooting on film then) but since we are on the topic of my father, I remember a time when he saw in the script that I have come to understand things that he would not have wanted me to know, not yet, not then. But still he managed to bare himself to the camera - with me hiding behind it. I cannot imagine that to be easy. It was only after some years, maybe five, that we spoke about this film again.

This month's Cinematheque Selects focusses on sound design and showcases the short films works of sound designer Lim Ting Li. Aik Khoon is one of the short films she has done sound design for and she has this to say about her work in the film....

Aik Khoon was one of my first works and I think I was trying to fill it up with as many sounds as I could. It was also one of my first time working with a composer (the very talented Teo Weiyong) and it forever cemented the way of how I think sound and music must work interwoven and hand-in-hand together.

Event Details

Date: Saturday 11 March 2017
Time: 2 pm
Venue: Gallery Theatre, Basement, National Museum of Singapore

Cinémathèque Selects is a monthly double-bill screening that brings together a Singapore film and a second film that inspired it. Each double-bill is accompanied by a “Question and Answer” session with the Singaporean film-maker. Focusing on diverse aspects of film-making, from directing to producing, script writing to cinematography and art direction, the series is a study of important local productions.

For the latest classification ratings and information, please visit www.nationalmuseum.sg.
Ticketing Information
Standard Ticket: $11 for one film, $16 for both films
Concession (for student, senior aged 60 & above & NSF with valid ID): $9
Group Bookings: $6.50 per ticket for a minimum of 5 pax
Tickets are available from SISTIC at http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/ccinema0317
Ticket price excludes $1 SISTIC fee.

Written by Jacqueline Lee
For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

A wedding video filled with irony. Not the best gift to your childhood friend who is getting married. But a great gift to the audience. Filmmaker Liao Jiekai opens a door into the mind of a bride who is about to be received by her groom, one where the romanticism of a wedding mixes with the practicalities of the rituals, where mushiness mixes with some delightful humour.

In ‘Before the Wedlock House’, the bride allows filmmaker Liao to follow her in close lengths documenting her pre-dawn conversations with her make-up artist and the early birds in her wedding entourage. In conversational chapters, we learn about the relationships between her, the filmmaker and the greater environment that surrounds them.

The film relentlessly documents how the bride disparages the filmmaker’s profession and craft, saying she might only watch his films if they were like Koran dramas. Yet, she has inadvertently brought the film and the artistry of Liao’s vision to life by way of her matter-of-fact straight-talking honesty. The film also slaps on another ironic layer with her describing how she used to idolize the filmmaker when they were children, though she now calls him a ‘poor artist’.

On another level, the film offers us a peep-hole into society through the make-up artist’s anecdotal contributions in the conversation, alluding to unhappy couples who fight before or during their wedding or family troubles that have dented many ceremonies. Together with objective and sentimentally detached shots like the establishing pre-dawn HDB wide shot, they seem to point towards a wider commentary the filmmaker wishes to make. Interestingly, the filmmaker’s also found a good defending voice in the make-up artists who tells the practical bride that the filmmaker friend may one day become famous and earn lots of money.

The film’s resonance also lies in the duality the bride displays and how the camera has captured her varied moments. She is chirpy and humorous at one moment and reflective at another. Maybe it’s the veil that clouds our view of her, giving her a natural atmospheric aura, even though her behavioral swings are undeniable. Or perhaps it’s the camera’s attentiveness to the subject, celebrating her joys on at one moment with full-on shots of her beaming smile, while meditating on her pockets of contemplation the next moment with the dreamy, white-washed overtones.

Review by Jeremy Sing

***

Before the Wedlock House, a short film by Liao Jiekai, will be screened as part of the National Museum of Singapore's Cinémathèque Selects programme. This month's Cinematheque Selects focusses on sound design and showcases the short films works of sound designer Lim Ting Li. Before the Wedlock House is one of the short films she has worked on and she has this to say about her work in the film....
Wedlock is a personal favourite of mine - Not just to work on but as a film. The audience is put in such a privileged and rare position, staying on the bride's side of a customary Chinese wedding procession. As with documentaries, sometimes the realness of the footage comes at the expense of good sound recording, so quite a bit of work was spent trying to raise the clarity of the conversations. I love it that we're hearing what the bride hears, all the ruckus outside her room and anticipating the groom's arrival with her.

We picked the brains of director Liao Jiekai with some burning questions and here's what he has to say...

Was the film's product planned or totally incidental?
The production of the film was a spontaneous decision. The night before her wedding, my cousin called me to remind me of the red packet I am supposed to give her on her wedding day; I decided to make a video for her instead of giving her money, partly because I didn't like to be told what to do. So on the day itself, I filmed the wedding as a one man crew, giving myself the strict parameters of only staying in the bride's room. I edited the film a year later, and made it into the short documentary it is. Like all films, it is definitely planned and constructed; just that the content of the film was entirely spontaneous - I just shoot what I see and did not stage anything.

Why black and white?
I shot the film with an old HD P2 camcorder that has very bad light sensitivity compared to the video technology of today. As a result, I had to push the image both in production and in post, resulting in an extremely noisy image that has very muted colors. The luminance quality of the image suffered so much that I thought might as well just make it black and white.

Why call the marriage the wedlock house?
American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage made a film titled "Wedlock House: An Intercourse", which is a really beautiful but also abstract film about a couple making love. So I thought, maybe I can borrow the term "Wedlock House". Although my film is for sure nothing like his.

Event Details

Date: Saturday 11 March 2017
Time: 2pm
Venue: Gallery Theatre, Basement, National Museum of Singapore

Cinémathèque Selects is a monthly double-bill screening that brings together a Singapore film and a second film that inspired it. Each double-bill is accompanied by a “Question and Answer” session with the Singaporean film-maker. Focusing on diverse aspects of film-making, from directing to producing, script writing to cinematography and art direction, the series is a study of important local productions.

For the latest classification ratings and information, please visit www.nationalmuseum.sg. Ticketing Information
Standard Ticket: $11 for one film, $16 for both films
Concession (for student, senior aged 60 & above & NSF with valid ID): $9
Group Bookings: $6.50 per ticket for a minimum of 5 pax
Tickets are available from SISTIC at http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/ccinema0317
Ticket price excludes $1 SISTIC fee.

Written by Jacqueline Lee

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

On the surface, this film seems just like an anthology of xinyao 新谣 music over its active decade in the 80s and early 90s, something made for diehard fans of xinyao. But the film The Songs We Sang by Eva Tang proves to be more than nostalgia or a trip down memory lane. It is a history lesson that answers and also raises so many questions, with a undeniable nuance of pain and regret. Like why Mandarin has become the poorer cousin of English as choice language among many Singaporean Chinese. Like the tumultuous chapter in Singapore’s education history that is Nanyang University. Framed against the socio-political events that shaped Singapore and our culture, the film depicts a coming-of-age of our identity and attaches context and meaning behind the most recognisable xinyao hits sung over the years. Many Singapore films have been made in tribute to xinyao such as Lim Suat Yen’s The Road Less Travelled (1997) and Chai Yee Wei’s The Girl in Pinafore. But none are as complete and anchored as The Songs We Sang. It is Singapore’s quintessential xinyao movie.

Here are 10 priceless moments from this documentary.

1. Onscreen meltdown - Watching Zhang Fan, a Nanyang University alumni, and pioneer of the Singapore Chinese music and poetry movement (a prelude to the xinyao movement) break down as he recounted the closing of Nanyang University. Certainly, an emotional anchor-point in the film.

2. A rare reunion - Former students of the defunct Nanyang University reunite in a chorus rendition of 挥手. Don’t forget these students were in their teens when attending university. Today, many of them have received their pioneer generation packages and are silver on top. They look like your typical uncles and aunties, but it’s so hard to fathom the fact that some of them were part of the only kind of student activism we ever had in Singapore. They held more placards and banners than we’ve ever done for G-dragon and Super Junior.

3. Lost in translation - An old television footage of a real school science class in progress with the Chinese-conversant students struggling to understand science taught in English.

4. First ever Xinyao hit - An old TV recording of the song 邂逅, which was the first xinyao song to claim a spot on the Mandarin Top 10 charts on radio. The recording features a young, earnest-looking Eric Moo and his duet-counterpart, 黃譓赬, whose studious bespectacled-look harks back to a formative time in Singapore’s Chinese pop music scene， when all you needed was a guitar and a sweet melody, and perhaps something the show producers fancied - currents of soap bubbles!

5. An old school concert - For fans of xinyao sweetheart Dawn Gan, who was Singapore’s first ever full-time professional xinyao singer performing under a label, the earliest singing footage of her can be found in this documentary. Still in her school uniform, she delivered the song 如何对你说 (which later became a TV drama serial theme song), in her signature pitch-perfect bird-like voice, during what looked like a weekend Chinese LDDS (Language, Drama and Debating Society) ECA event in school.

6. Xinyao in Malay - On of the most surprising discoveries of the film was a footage from an old Sing Singapore concert featuring a young Malay contestant singing a famous xinyao song 阿Ben阿Ben (original song track in video below) adapted into Malay. The transposition lends not only a different tongue but a quasi-reggae twist as well!

7. Small fish in a big pond - Watching an old footage of the Chinese pop music world’s answer to ‘We Are The World’, 明天会更好. ‘We Are The World’ was all-stars charity single helmed by Michael Jackson in 1985 in aid of the African famine relief. Albeit a copycat, 明天会更好 still featured an all-star line-up of the brightest in Chinese pop in the 80s with heavyweights like Tsai Chin, Su Rei, Tracy Huang and Jenny Tseng. Buried somewhere in the chorus of singers was Singapore’s own xinyao trio ‘The Straws’ 水草三重唱. See if you can spot them in this video.

8. 80s Gameshow Kitsch - It’s been a long time since we last saw the insecticide brand Mortein being advertised on TV. With its signature orange cap, it used to compete with Bygone for share of TV ad space in the 80s. In The Songs We Sang, Mortein takes centrestage in a hilarious replay of a ‘live’ game on Channel 8’s regular primetime variety show 缤纷八三. Complete with the game-show hosts sporting bona-fide 80s shoulder pads and puffy hairdos, contestants play to win supplies of the Mortein insecticide that could last for years. Times were different then. We had more cockroaches to deal with.

9. Finding the winning theme song - Faithful Channel 8 fans (of a certain age) will twitch their ears when they hear the familiar theme song of Channel 8’s first ever drama serial, The Awakening 雾锁南洋, a cross-generational period drama serial that depicts the lives of Chinese Singaporeans from pre-war to post-war. What many may not recall is how the theme song came about. The Songs We Sang carries clear footage of the song contest organised by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) held to find that winning theme song.

10. Banned and back again - In an understatedly heartwarming segment, eminent xinyao composer Liang Wern Fook, a signature face of the movement, attempts singing the song 麻雀衔竹枝 with his father. The Cantonese song was banned in Singapore when it was first released due to the ambitions of the Speak Mandarin Campaign (to rid Singapore of the use of dialects). The ban was then lifted in 2013. His poignant duet with his father speaks bittersweet volumes of lost time and heritage.

After a successful general theatrical release in Singapore last year, here is your chance to watch the film again this March. The Filmic Eye in conjunction with the National Arts Council’s Arts in Your Neighbourhood initiative, are bringing this film back at two screening events. Event details in this link.

Fri 17 Mar, 6:30pm @ Viva Business Park - Urban Park
*Sat 18 Mar, 6:30pm @ Our Tampines Hub - Festive Plaza (*with dialogue with director Eva Tang)
Both screenings are outdoor and free for the public

The Saturday screening is part of a Xinyao Music & Movie Night which will feature experienced singers Tong Yek Suan and Tristan Ong from ETC Music, who will perform live some of the most popular songs from the movement. The movie screening follows this with director Eva Tang in attendance for a post-screening dialogue.

《我们唱着的歌》是新加坡独立电影人邓宝翠以新谣为主题，花了两年多时间制作的华语人文纪录片。让大家重温新谣的发展，回味当年这小岛国的独特音乐岁月。《我们唱着的歌》从历史的角度，配合人文的情怀，以细腻的手法带出轰动一时的新谣运动缘起和转变。纪录片放映前，别错过观赏《闲杂人等》唐玉璇和王志文的演唱，曲目包括当年受欢迎的新谣歌曲。

导演邓宝翠将在Our Tampines Hub与观众对话交流。

Written by Jeremy Sing

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

Photo credit: Still from Durian Picking by Kray Chen

In the wee hours of the morning, Kray Chen follows his durian obsessed father into the jungle, where they meet other equally passionate durian lovers looking for the fruit in the wild. This quirky short film captures the eccentric rituals of those willing to go the extra mile for their favorite fruit, providing a welcome alternative portrait of urban Singapore.

Written, directed and produced by Kray Chen a visual artist based in Singapore, Durian Picking was previously screen as part of the 27th Singapore International Film Festival in 2016 in the Singapore Panorama - Short Film category.

The short film clearly showcases Chen's visual style and finesse in taking a relatively simple storyline of hunting for wild durians into a nostalgic journey for many Singaporeans. Although many of us might not have personally hunted for wild durians, we are all keenly aware of an emotional childhood attachment to this King of Fruit as either a revered or hated fruit in our individual households. Chen is also able to weave into this short film, glimpses of the bond between father and son.

This film is part of Stories That Matter, a programme byObjectifs that looks at critical issues in our world through photography and film.

The film will be screened together with another film that also looks at food. Bugs, to be exact! Bugs, the film is a documentary that follows a team from Copenhagen-based Nordic Food Lab who travel the world to learn what some of the two billion people who already eat insects have to say. Watch them farm, cook and taste insects with communities in Europe, Australia, Mexico, Kenya, Japan and beyond. During their journey they encounter everything from revered termite queens and desert-delicacy honey ants to venemous giant hornets and long-horned grasshoppers trapped using powerful floodlights, that sometimes cause their catchers temporary blindness.

Screening details

22 March 2017, Wednesday at 7.30PM
Durian Picking + Bugs

Venue: Chapel Gallery, Objectifs
Entry by Donation

Image credit: Still of Safari by Ulrich Seidl part of Stories That Matter programme by Objectifs

This year's Stories That Matter features the theme ‘Conspicuous Consumption’ where ideas regarding patterns of consumption and their effects will be examined. From food sustainability to the ethics of trophy hunting, a selection of documentaries screened during the week will look at the ways in which our habits of consumption affect the world around us. Hailing from Myanmar to South Africa, these films are powerful statements that seek to inform and inspire.

The programme also features a collaboration between Objectifs and independent photographer Arati Kumar-Rao as well as the EverydayClimateChange Instagram initiative to highlight issues of consumption.

Talks

- In Conversation: Arati Kumar-Rao on 16 March 2017, 7.30pm - 9.00pm

- Documentaries in the Modern World: Creating Compelling Content on 25 March 2017, 3.00pm - 4.00pm

Specialty Workshop

Visual Storytelling & Social Advocacy by Arati Kumar-Rao on 18 March 2017, 9.00am - 5.00pm

Screenings

22 MARCH, WEDNESDAY / 7.30PM / REGISTER
Durian Picking by Kray Chen / Singapore / 17 min / 2016 / PG
Bugs by Andreas Johnsen / Denmark / 76 min / 2016 / Rating TBC

23 MARCH, THURSDAY / 7.30PM / REGISTER
Cameraperson by Kirsten Johnson / 103 min / 2016 / Rating PG13

24 MARCH, FRIDAY / 7.30PM / REGISTER
Safari by Ulrich Seidl / 91 min / 2016 / PG13

25 MARCH, SATURDAY / 7.30PM / REGISTER
City of Jade by Midi Z / Taiwan, Myanmar / 98 min / 2016 / M18

Written by Ivan Choong

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

BananaMana Films, helmed by Jason Chan and Christian Lee, made a Netflix hit ‘Perfect Girl’ for just $1000. They are back with a new delicious tale that called ‘Jimami Tofu’. This is their first feature film and it is a marriage of food and love, that takes place in the seaside setting of Okinawa, Japan. In the film, a Chinese Singaporean chef, formerly working in Tokyo, finds himself in Okinawa begging a disgruntled old chef to teach him traditional Okinawan food. A top Japanese food critic finds herself in Singapore on an eye opening discovery of Southeast Asian cuisine. In reality both are looking for each other after an emotional breakup years ago when she left him without a trace. Emotionally crippled by their breakup he searches her home town for her but discovers instead the art of traditional Okinawan food. Through it he learns the incredible balance of two cultures: Chinese and Japanese – the homely, warmth of Chinese style cooking with the precision, delicacy and visual artistry of Japanese cuisine: a balance they never had in their relationship. When she suddenly appears in Okinawa looking to find closure he cooks and serves her their final meal. Through it she discovers what she had been yearning for all these years – the beauty of both cultures balanced to perfection and realises he has found the key to being together again.

Sounds like you can expect some serious food porn in Jimami Tofu. The film was born out of a an invitation from the Okinawan Film Office to a fully paid scouting trip to explore film locations in Okinawa. Then one thing led to another, or rather one meal led to another. The filmmakers Jason and Christian lapped up everything in Okinawa from the food to waters, the hills, the orchards and finally inspiration hit and Jimami Tofu was born. But food and scenery aside, the film is also about love and coming home to where your heart belongs.

Watch the film trailer here:

The cast of Jimami Tofu includes Jason Chan, Mari Yamamoto, Rino Nakasone and Masane Tsukayama.

Landing his first major role as the Green Samurai Ranger in Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Jason Chan worked on multiple films , TV and theatre roles in Singapore before starting Banamana films together with Christian Lee. Acting in all of their productions, Jason will once again take up the lead role in this production.

Mari Yamamoto an up and coming actress who has been doing various productions such as Allure (2014) and Bourek (2015) . Taking the lead actress role in Jimami Tofu, she will be showcasing her acting skills pair with her strong command of both the English and Japanese languages. She will be playing Yuki.

Rino Nakasone is well known in the dance choreography and working with various pop celebrities like Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani and also Korean bands like SHINee and Girls Generation too. She decided to give acting a shot and will be playing Nami.

Part of the cast includes classic Okinawa actor, voice artist and narrator Masatane Tsukayama. Spanning a career of 53 years as of 2017 , Mr Tsukayama has seen and done it all. His body of work embraces various genres and left a strong impression both in the film industry and the Japanese animation industry too. He will be playing Sakumoto.

Here is how you can watch the film this month!

The filmmakers will be holding a series of private screenings in Singapore in March. We are offering SINdie readers a chance join in some of these screenings. If you are interested, simply drop us an email now at sindie@sindie.sg

Alternatively, look out for our Facebook post on the upcoming private screenings and you can respond to our posts to get invited!

Pictures from their 1st private screening at the National Museum on 28 Feb 2017

Lucky for the filmmakers, they have actually secured pre-sales agreements with international distributors including Korean media giant IHQ, Japanese global TV platform VIKI and Encore Inflight, as announced at Asia Television Forum last year.

About BananaMana Films

BananaMana Films is an award-winning Singapore production company that specializes in creating Asian scripted dramas in English for film, TV and web. Their most recent film project “Bang Bang Club” won the prestigious Platinum REMI Award at the Houston International Film Festival 2016. Their first drama “What Do Men Want?” was broadcast on national TV in 2014 and was awarded “Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series” in LA. It is currently under negotiation for acquisition by Sundance Channel SEA. Their second drama series “Perfect Girl” went on to win 7 international awards from 16 nominations. Most notable being Best Drama Series, Toronto Web Festival 2015 and Outstanding Writing, Directing and Drama at Los Angeles Web Festival 2015. Furthermore, Perfect Girl became the first Singaporean drama to be acquired by global TV platform VIKI. It has since also been acquired by Encore Inflight.

Founded by Christian Lee and Jason Chan, BananaMana Films has quickly become one of the premiere production companies in Singapore for narrative film and TV production. Film awards of note: Gold Remi, Best Family Feature at Houston International Film Festival 2008, for the movie SLAM, which Christian Lee produced and was acquired for worldwide distribution by Sony International.

Written by Deitrich Mohan

For the full list of March 2017's 10 films under STOP10, click here.

I dare put forward a question this month. Where do the new batches of filmmakers who graduate from film school in Singapore year after year go? Judging from the names floating around in the film festival circuit, only a handful have really sunk their teeth into pursuing film festival success, a supposed ‘holy grail’ of filmmaking. Are the rest swimming in a different pond?

For a filmmaker today, getting your completed film screened at a film festival in hope of earning some of those laurels next to the name of your films, is no longer the only road to success available. You can be making films for the internet audience, aiming for that $5,000 prize in a 72-hour film challenge or riding the technology wave with VR-content and the likes. Thanks to online viewing platforms like YouTube and Netflix, the game is changing and some of the best talents are turning their attention and energy towards the internet.

We cast our nets wider this month of March, in search of gems online alongside your traditional screening platforms and events. And we were delightfully surprised. Apart from our regular Viddsee picks, film productions from YouTube Channels like Butterworks and Cheokboard Studios show us why they are gaining audiences like wild fire.

In our March STOP10 list, check out internet hits like Goldfish and Hooped on You, made for the Netflix generation. Our usual line-up of films in their conventional format remain with film festival favourites like The Songs We Sang, Lang Tong and Aik Khoon (an old one from 2005) making reprises. Lastly, if you love food, escape to sunny Okinawa to savour some Jimami Tofu. Actually,we are not talking about the dish but a new feature film about food and relationships. Screenings are by invitation only but we will tell you how you can be invited!

Let's start the countdown.

Lang Tong

3 March, Friday, 7.30pm - 10.30pm, SCAPE Gallery

Judging from the warm response to the film during the 25th Singapore International Film Festival premiere and general commercial release, Singaporeans are not that prudish after all. We need some naughty thrills in our lives to beat the monotony of our weekly routines. Lang Tong, Singapore’s first erotic thriller, is quite a jolting ride for the senses with its delectable plot twists, eye-candy cast, food porn, gore and of course, sex. Before the ladies say this is a film made for the lads, this film will also teach men a good lesson about womanising. Ladies will be particularly satisfied at how a pair of female fatales hack the living daylights out of the bad guy. Simply Bak Kut Tehlicious! This screening is paired with a dialogue session with Sam Loh, the director behind all this wickedness.

Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

Hooped on You

Butterworks YouTube Channel

Bubble tea girl meets basketball player in this adolescent feature-length school drama with a noticeable tinge of the candy-hued goofiness found in Korean idol dramas. Marrying television aesthetics with film narratives, Hooped on You has this uncanny ability to get you hooked. The premise is not original - high school crushes, BGR, and the dilemma of a rich-boy versus poor-boy love triangle. But the delivery is no holds barred earnest. Not sure if they engaged an acting coach, but the film features a cast of first-time actors who are able to ham it up almost as well as Jack Neo’s motley crew of sidekicks. Made by Butterworks, a digital content producer, we bet you will find it hard to press stop on your computer for that toilet break.

Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

Goldfish
Cheokboard Studios YouTube Channel
If you are a YouTube addict, Jonathan Cheok might not be a stranger to you. He started Cheokboard Studios in 2013, producing content for YouTube and has since gained a formidable following with about 215,000 subscribers and over 37 million views. In addition, if you find his face familiar, you must have been watching Season One of Singapore Idol. Jonathan made it into the Top 24. Wacky YouTube channels with videos made for mindless sofa entertainment are aplenty but Cheokboard Studios does its humour with class and wit. Comedy aside, there are also simple love stories found on the channel. Goldfish is one tasty catch. He took his camera and crew to Hong Kong for this sweet tale of encounter and fate. Also makes you want to take a second glance at black goldfishes the next time you visit an aquarium.
Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

The Longest-Distance Relationship

Viddsee, Singapore Film Channel

This documentary, with its chummy band of four teenage friends, seems like a light on the sensitive topic of religious beliefs. But it is more profound than what appears on the surface like a ‘non-serious documentary’. The four friends, each with a different religion (one Taoist, one Buddhist, one Christian, one atheist) explore the quirks of each other’s religious beliefs with a surprising amount of honesty. It asks daring questions to people who might possibly take offence, such as questions about religious idols and er, going to hell. Brave.

Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

The Lying Theory

Viddsee, Singapore Film Channel

Imagine a world in which everyone lies and you have the special power to tell if the person talking to you is lying. Would the world be a better place or a worse place? As we know, sometimes, it’s better not to know the truth and live with some false hope! In the film The Lying Theory, Claire is the most mistrustful girl in the whole wide world. She has an in-built lying detector that shows her how much the people she is talking are lying and everyone gets a score. The higher the score, the bigger the lie. So she trusts almost no one. Until one day, she meets a boy whose score is zero and something inside her starts to change…. Which begs a question. Are boys bigger liars or girls? Something to think about.

Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

Aik Khoon
11 Mar, Sat, 2pm, National Museum of Singapore Gallery Theatre

This quirky little short film called Aik Khoon was quite an oddball standout in the nascent filmmaking scene more than 10 years ago. Aik Khoon is a world-weary looking taxi driver goes jalan jalan around town with his chikopek old friend, Chong Hua. With his colourful language, Chong Hua pisses off half the people around him and in the taxi car, but is a source of entertainment for Aik Khoon, who seems mired in some form of deep thought, with his demeanour screaming ‘Í just lost $10000 at Resorts World Sentosa’. Aik Khoon, the film, is also interesting on another level - Aik Khoon is played by Aik Khoon himself. Director Chris Yeo cast his own dad in this film where his dad was asked to play himself. Chris has some stories for us on how he played director to his dad.
Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

Beyond the Wedlock House

11 Mar, Sat, 2pm, National Museum of Singapore Gallery Theatre

This film proves that reality can be stranger than fiction. Beyond the Wedlock House, the short film, finds an unintentional narrative within a real wedding video footage (or maybe it was more like calculated coincidence). Filmmaker Liao Jiekai plants himself right in the corner of the make-up room of the bride, who seems to be a cousin, documenting her conversations with him and the make-up artist. They talk career, growing up and hints of other topics. Not sure how the bride remained her candid self knowing this was going on video, but the result is as honest as sibling conversations can get. And fit for a museum audience too!
Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

The Songs We Sang

17 Mar, Fri, 6.30pm, Viva Business Park - Urban Park
18 Mar, Sat, 6.30pm, Tampines Hub - Festive Plaza (director Eva Tang in attendance)
The following around this film never seems to end. It first premiered to a sold-out screening at the Esplanade Theatre during the 26th Singapore International Film Festival. Then it enjoyed a successful commercial run in the cinemas in 2016, attended even by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, not on official invitation! This month, it is back again with two screenings as part of the National Arts Council’s Arts in the Neighbourhood film screening event. This is Singapore’s quintessential xinyao film, virtually an encyclopedia of xinyao songs that gained prominence from the campuses of the defunct Nanyang University to the old Channel 8 television studios of Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. It is so thoroughly-researched, the film makes you feel you’ve lived a lifetime watching it and you want to stand up and clap when the credits roll.

Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

Durian Picking
22 Mar, Wed, 7.30pm, Objectifs Chapel Gallery

Come to Objectifs for a night of durians and bugs on your plate. Not exactly a gastronomic pairing made-in-heaven but certainly an interesting pairing of films as part of a series themed ‘Çonspicuous Consumption’, which examines habits and patterns of human consumption and their effects on the world around us. In Durian Picking, Kray Chen follows his durian-obsessed father into the jungle during the dark wee hours of the morning to look for and pick durians. Shot with a certain rawness akin to The Blair Witch Project, the film is a quirky gaze at his father’s eccentric food-hunting ritual, shot to a somewhat creepy effect as well. From durians, we move on to another food item of acquired taste, bugs. In the accompanying film Bugs, watch lots of Scandinavian men sample creepy crawlies, cooked to perfection, and smack their lips.
Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

Jimami Tofu
Private screenings only, dates TBC, look out for our Facebook post on how you can be invited
A Chinese Singaporean chef, formerly working in Tokyo, finds himself in Okinawa begging a disgruntled old chef to teach him traditional Okinawan food. A top Japanese food critic finds herself in Singapore on an eye opening discovery of Southeast Asian cuisine. In reality both are looking for each other after an emotional breakup years ago when she left him without a trace. In seeking food, will they find each other? We think they will, perhaps over a plate of tofu? (Followed by lots of sake!)
For those dying to know: Jimami Tofu is a kind of tofu infused with the subtle aroma of peanuts, found in Okinawa.

Read more about the film and how you can watch ithere.

STOP10: 10 local films to catch in February 2017

Between Good and Bad: An Interview with Maxi Lim

Review: The Fortune Handbook (2017)

ShoutOUT! National Youth Film Awards kick starts 3rd edition - Submissions open now

Review: Take 2 // 遇见贵人 (2017)

Skål! A Closer Look at the Swedish Film Festival 2017

ShoutOUT! 'Point & Shoot'and stand to win prizes!

'Soul-searching' on the Big Screen: An interview with Taufik Batisah

ShoutOUT! Banned film 'Absent Without Leave'不即不离 premieres online for Malaysian audience on 28 Feb

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'Lang Tong'靓汤 by Sam Loh

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'Hooped on You' by Butterworks

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'Goldfish' by Jonathan Cheok

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'The Longest-Distance Relationship' by Lee Sin Yee

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'The Lying Theory' by Lauren Teo

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'Aik Khoon' by Chris Yeo and Andie Chen

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'Before the Wedlock House' by Liao Jiekai

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'The Songs We Sang'我们唱着的歌 by Eva Tang

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'Durian Picking' by Kray Chen

STOP10 Mar 2017: 'Jimami Tofu' by BananaMana Films

STOP10: 10 local films to catch in March 2017