Winners Team Moonmen
Singapore’s leading cinema exhibitor, Golden
Village, capped GV25 Film Shorts yesterday evening, crowning Moonmen the
winner of its inaugural film short competition for their production Chiak. The winning
team emerged victorious at the live finale event, edging two other competition
finalists, the Apex Project and Marcus Goh.
The winning short film was selected by an esteemed judging panel comprising film
industry heavyweights; directors Kelvin Tong and Boris Boo, popular YouTubers
Tree Potatoes, Singapore Film Society President Kenneth Tan, and Golden Village’s
Head of Programming Sharanjit Kaur. In addition, a voting contest was held on
Golden Village’s Facebook page, in which the public’s voice also counted as one
collective vote.
The top three films, each of which received a filmmaking grant from GV, were:
• Best Film: Chiak (pictured below) by Moonmen
• Runner Up: Sugar by the Apex Project
• Runner Up: Raffles v Utama: Dawn of Singapore by Marcus Goh
Moonmen’s winning short film, titled Chiak, features a family’s struggle in coping
with dementia, while the Apex Project explores time manipulation as a key premise,
where a mother and daughter struggle to reconcile their differences. On a more
comical front, Marcus Goh’s short film revisits the history of the founding of
Singapore where a group of students’ bickering inadvertently leads to the
summoning of Sang Nila Utama and Sir Stamford Raffles.
The event was the culmination of the GV25 Film Shorts project which saw over 200
aspiring filmmakers enter the competition. Of the initial participants, eight were
shortlisted to appear before a judging panel, before the three finalists were selected.
In addition to receiving a filmmaking grant of $2,000 per submission, each of the
finalists benefited from the opportunity to be mentored by Kelvin Tong, Boris Boo
and the Tree Potatoes during the filmmaking process.
As winner, Moonmen will receive a cash prize of S$3,000 and see their short film
screened in selected Golden Village cinemas for a period of two weeks, tagged
to select upcoming movies.
Speaking about his experience, Joshuah Lim En of Moonmen, said: “We’re very
honoured to have won GV25 Film Shorts, as our competitors produced great films
too. Filmmaking is our passion and we came together, armed with a good idea to do
what we enjoy, and winning is an added incentive for us. We would like to thank
Boris for being so forthcoming in rendering his advice to us and to Golden Village for
this wonderful opportunity to have our own film screened in GV cinemas!”
Director of MY LUCKY BOY and mentor of Moonmen throughout the competition,
Boris Boo, added: ““The boys did very well, and I’m very happy for them. Winning
was not their top priority, but doing what they cared about and sending across a
message that tugs at the audience’s heart strings was their goal and that ultimately
got them the win. I hope to see them continue their journey in film making and I
encourage more aspiring filmmakers to come forward and tell their story.”
The GV25 Film Shorts initiative was developed by Golden Village, which was
recently voted one of Singapore’s top-ten favourite brands, as part of its 25-year
anniversary celebrations. Participants were required to develop a film script aligned
with the theme Past, Present & Future, and saw more than 200 entries from
aspiring homegrown filmmakers, both young and old, following its launch in March
this year.
Finalists, judges and Golden Village CEO Clara Cheo
All 3 finalists of GV25
Clara Cheo, CEO of Golden Village Multiplex, said:
“GV25 Film Shorts was designed to encourage aspiring filmmakers to come forward
and share their ideas with renowned industry players. The initial response far
exceeded our expectations, and we’re very pleased with the quality of the final three
films. We extend our heartiest congratulations to Moonmen and wish them, together
with the Apex Project and Marcus Goh, future success in the film industry.”
“I am especially thankful to all the members of GV25 Film Shorts Judging Panel for
the time that they have committed to this meaningful project and to Boris Boo, Kelvin
Tong and Tree Potatoes in particular, for providing the mentoring opportunities to
our participants. Golden Village is committed to a healthy and vibrant filmmaking
culture in Singapore and through this competition, we’ve unearthed talent and
inspired others to write their first film script. We look forward to inspire and contribute
to the development of local talent in the film industry,” added Cheo.
All three short films can be viewed online through Golden Village’s YouTubeChannel.
All event photos courtesy of Golden Village