SINGAPORE, Oct 5 — Three Singaporean filmmakers, K. Rajagopal, Gladys Ng and the late Abdul Nizam, will be given prominence at this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) — a sign that the festival will continue to support and create space for homegrown filmmakers.
Rajagopal’s first feature film A Yellow Bird, which made waves earlier this year for being selected to screen at International Critics’ Week, a parallel section of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, has been shortlisted as one of the Asian feature films to compete in the Silver Screen Awards.
Introduced by the Festival in 1991, the Silver Screen Awards is the first such international competition with a specific Asian film category; thus charting the rise of Asian Cinema and recognising the talents of new and upcoming filmmakers.
Rajagopal is not unfamiliar to the festival — he had previously won the SGIFF Special Jury Prize for three consecutive years with his short films, I Can’t Sleep Tonight (1995), The Glare (1996) and Absence (1997). His film will be competing with nine other Asian feature films for four categories — Best Film, Best Director, Best Performance and Special Mention — at Silver Screen Awards.
Pointing out that A Yellow Bird “is one of the most visceral and powerful Singapore feature films I have seen”, SGIFF’s programme director Zhang Wenjie said they could not be more proud to welcome the filmmaker back in competition for the edition this year.
As for Ng, her short film The Pursuit of A Happy Human Life, which tells the story of two best friends who spend their time together before leaving for their separate journeys, will make its world premiere at the festival.
Her piece is part of SGIFF’s new initiative to showcase up-and-coming Singapore filmmakers by commissioning a short film by Singaporean filmmaker every year. Ng, who won SGIFF 2015’s Best Singapore Short Film, is the first filmmaker to be commissioned.
“As one of the first organisations to show support to the development of Singapore cinema, the SGIFF’s Singapore Short Film Competition has always been a launching pad for Singapore filmmakers,” said Yuni Hadi, SGIFF’s executive director.
“We are a big believer in investing in our own talents, and commissioning the winner of our Best Singapore Short Film is a way for us, as the national film festival, to actively contribute to our film community. We are proud to present it on our opening night and kick off the Festival with an emphasis on the importance of telling our own stories.”
The career and works of the late Abdul Nizam will also be honoured at the festival. Twelve of his works such as Haura, which was part of Singapore’s first digital video feature film Stories About Love (2000), will be screened, in a tribute towards the instrumental role he played in the resurgence of Singapore cinema in the late 1990s.
This line-up and more were announced at a media conference for the Singapore Media Festival 2016 today. Now in its third edition, the festival, which will run from November 23 to December 9, comprises established events such as the SGIFF, Asian Television Awards, Asia TV Forum & Market, and Screen Singapore.
Robert Gilby, chairman of the Singapore Media Festival Advisory Board and managing director of the Walt Disney Company (SEA), also announced the appointment of three new members to the SMF board — Jeff Cheong, president of Tribal Worldwide Asia, Albert Lee, chief executive officer of Emperor Motion Pictures and Aseem Puri, marketing director of Unilever International.
The new developments at the festival are in line with the “outstanding year the film scene has witnessed with strong Asian showing at Cannes and Busan International Film Festival, pan-regional collaborations, regional industry growth and the launch of IMDA,” said Gilby.
Adding that film "has always been a part of the media festival", he said: “We bring together film, television and increasingly, creators in the digital space so it has always been designed to have all three. It is all about storytelling, creative storytelling.”
This year’s edition will witness the launch of an inaugural digital event, SMF Ignite, which partners with industry players to bring budding digital content creators through a series of hands on workshops to learn, experience and create content using the latest technology.
Also new is the Festival Square set at the heart of festival venue Chijmes, where attendees and ticket holders can enjoy outdoor screenings of the latest festival happenings such as the Silver Screen Awards, engage in interactive activities and enjoy special discounts at F&B outlets as part of a more inclusive approach by festival organisers.
“The festival square will act like a hub for people attending different events around the city. When you have a large festival like this, one of the key goals is to create a community where people can get together. All the greatest ideas, concepts come when you bring people together,” Gilby added. — TODAY
* Singapore Media Festival runs from November 23 to December 9. More details at www.sgmediafestival.com
* A previous copy of this article contained a factual error. It has since been corrected.
