For Two (PG / 18 mins)
Director: Tan Shijie
In a nutshell: A clever film about a lonely man coping with grief over his deceased wife, and a stranger who secretly partakes in his daily life. Reality or chimera, the widower is mindf***ed, and the audience too, over its mindboggling omission from any nomination in this Short Film Awards. Mind you, this film made it to the official selection in Venice. A mean feat by any benchmark.
Dream Home (PG / 16 mins)
Director: Arasu
In a nutshell: This Housing Development Board Housing A Nation tribute is, for lack of a better description, very Channel 8. Condominium dreams, a handicapped mother, and in the middle of it all, family squabbles. Need I say more? Even the happy occasion at the end had to be melodramatic.
Safety Zone (PG / 7 mins)
Director: Eileen Loh
In a nutshell: A Final Destination-esque film that, despite the title, proffers the notion that death is everywhere no matter how one seeks a ‘safety zone’. Media-propagated fears lead one man into solitude where death eventually catches up in a twist that can be seen from miles away.
Dear Grace (PG / 7 mins)
Director: Harman Omar
In a nutshell: If I’d like to hear a sermon, I’d go to church. Or to Adam Khoo. Too much preaching and “what-ifs” or “what-nots” dialogue makes for a soppy drama that is more difficult to sit through than a soap opera.
In a nutshell: If I’d like to hear a sermon, I’d go to church. Or to Adam Khoo. Too much preaching and “what-ifs” or “what-nots” dialogue makes for a soppy drama that is more difficult to sit through than a soap opera.
The Cover (TBA / 5 mins)
Director: Sam G
In a nutshell: An anti-HIV campaign message told through 3D animation and uses a fountain pen as an analogy of functionality and otherwise. But in a surprising ending, the inflicted pen was easily chucked away and replaced. Does this imply HIV sufferers should be accorded the same treatment?
Gincu (Lipstick) (PG / 3 mins)
Director: Agnes Christina
In a nutshell: The second short film by Agnes Christina is tightly-paced, a coming-of-age film of a secret closet crossdresser whose sexual orientation is questionable. But maybe it is time to come out, the army symbolism with the shaved head an indication of manhood, forced or otherwise.