Announcements
From December 2011 to March 2012, the Singapore Film Commission is proud to bring Singapore short films to Cathay Cineplexes. These six heart-warming stories centred on human relationships are made by Singapore’s talented independent filmmakers. They have been presented at various festivals around the world, such as the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Short Shorts Film Festival. Each film shall precede a main feature during its run under Cathay Cineplexes’ premier label, The Picturehouse Selection
Do give us your comments on this initiative by participating in this short survey! The survey will take less than a minute but will go a long way in our understanding and supporting of the Singapore film industry.
Thank you for supporting local films!
Release Dates:
22 Dec 2011 –BEAM by Lawrence Ong, followed by THE ARTIST by Michel Hazanavicius
5 Jan 2012 – SONS by Royston Tan, followed by SARAH’S KEY by Gilles Paquet-Brenner
26 Jan 2012 –AH MA by Anthony Chen, followed by THE MONK by Dominik Moll
16 Feb 2012 –THIEVES aka CURIAN by Eysham Ali, followed by ALBERT NOBBS by Rodrigo Garcia
8 Mar 2012 – SINK by Kirsten Tan, followed by A SEPARATION by Asghar Farhadi
29 Mar 2012 –MASALA MAMA by Michael Kam, followed by The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux
News and Events
Southeast Asian Film Festival
The 2nd Southeast Asian Film Festival will be back on 2-31 March 2012. The festival will feature 20 challenging works by South East Asian filmmakers, of which 19 will be making their Singapore premiere. Four Singapore films will be screened: short film The Legend of the Impacts by Jeevan Nathan; Water Hands by Vladimir Todorovic; animated feature Tatsumi by Eric Khoo, which debuted at Cannes; and a compelling documentary about dementia, Before We Forget, by Jeremy Boo and Lee Xian Jie. Find out more here
Singapore Short Film Awards
Short film lovers will soon be able to feast on a week-long screening of the latest and best Singapore shorts. The annual Singapore Short Film Awards (SSFA) will be held from 5-11 March 2012 at The Substation Theatre. Discussions and masterclasses will also be held. A selection of short films studying human longing and desire will also be screened as part of the fringe event: Images of Desire. For more information, visit here
Call for Entries
Looking for avenues to screen your work? The following film festivals and competitions are now calling for entries:
• Very Short International Film Festival (VSIFF)
• Ottawa Animation Festival
• Depict: Can you do it in 90s?
• YouTube’s Your Film Competition
In Production
Cameras are now rolling for Singapore director James Leong’s latest feature film, Camera 眼机. The noir thriller tells the story of a surveillance expert who falls for one of his subjects, in a quest that spirals into a radical and threatening operation. Produced by Leong’s very own production house, Lianain Pictures, Camera is the director’s first foray into fiction, after the successes of his documentaries Passabe (2005) and Homeless FC (2007). Awarded the top Puchon Award at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films, Camera is supported under the SFC New Feature Film Fund.
Filming for Mister John, an exciting co-production between Ireland, the UK and Singapore, has just begun! The feature film is brought to you by the directors of Tiong Bahru, which was screened at the Rotterdam, Dublin and Sydney Film Festivals as part of the critically-acclaimed Civic Life short film project. Produced by Akanga Film Asia and starring the award-winning Aiden Gillen, Mister John marks the start of a collaboration between the Media Development Authority of Singapore, the Irish Film Board and the British Film Institute. Mister John is a recipient of the MDA Production Assistance Grant.
Funding Schemes and Facilitation
MDA will be collaborating with Britain’s South West Screen to fund innovative TV content. Up to five projects will be awarded some S$21,000 in development funding each. The initiative is part of a scheme launched in 2011 that aims to build greater partnerships between Singapore and the British media industry by creating engaging and innovative digital content. Among last year’s selected projects were factual entertainment series Eco Gone Mad and the animation series iLand.