Catch 'Noor Islam' and other Malay classics in the Asian Film Archive's 'State if Motion: Sejarah-ku' event
It's becoming quite a fixture now that there is a bus tour
to look forward to. The Asian Film Archive will take visitors to go 'Jalan
Jalan' to old film locations in Singapore. When we are lost and in need of
direction at the start of the year, it's always good to just hop on a bus and
let the thoughts sink in. Film watchers are rather spoilt for choice these days
in Singapore because every cultural and arts organization is doing a film
festival, from the Design Film Festival to the film selection at the Singapore
International Festival of the Arts to [insert country] Film Festival. Not
forgetting the big one in November. If time is like a bus service, there is
certainly only one shift and it takes some discipline to be on the leg of the
journey you desire, to be able to see what you want to see. Making films
require not just passion but discipline. But watching films require discipline
too (something I learnt from being late for some films).
However, discipline can be made easier with a plan. We will
bring you a viewing roadmap for all the film happenings in Singapore every
month, so that you have no more excuses on missing out in the films you want to
watch. January may be the start of the year but its engine is already bumbling
away with a full slate of film events. So here goes...
1. State of Motion - Sejarah-ku
Revisiting snippets of Singapore’s past, State of Motion,
the Asian Film Archive’s (AFA) annual flagship and visual art series, returns
for its third edition with the theme ‘Sejarah-ku’ (‘My History‘ in Malay).
Showcasing seminal Malay films produced by Shaw Malay film productions and
Cathay Keris studios during the 50s and 60s, State of Motion 2018: Sejarah-ku
will explore film as a product of cultural and ideological changes in Singapore
during 1955 to 1965.
As part of AFA’s efforts to cultivate an appreciation of
Singapore and Asia’s film heritage in a wider audience, State of Motion 2018:
Sejarah-ku, held from 12 Jan - 11 Feb 2018, will feature a selection of 10
films that were filmed in pre-independent Singapore including Seniman Bujang
Lapok (1961), Mogok (1957), Hang Tuah (1956), Hang Jebat (1961) and more. Other
programmes include an exhibition, talks, and guided film location tours where
participants can look forward to newly-commissioned artworks responding to the
films and the film locations at each tour site, by local artists such as
Khairulddin Wahab, Izzad Radzali Shah and Wu Jun Han.
Line-up of films
The selected films were produced at a time of great change
with the Malay community grappling with modernity, nationalism and the
imagining of a new society. Malay legends, star-crossed lovers, aspiring comic
actors and scheming mothers-in- law were just some of the familiar archetypes
embedded within discourses and cultural ideas of a burgeoning new Singapore –
waiting to be rediscovered on screen more than 50 years later.
Darah Muda (1963)
Fauziah is the daughter of a poor itinerant food vendor
whose brother has forsaken them for a life of luxury. On a particularly stormy
night, Fauziah's already frail father is hit by a car during his return home.
The driver Yazid is a young kind man who takes to caring after Fauziah and
eventually marries her.
Hang Tuah (1956)
An adaptation of Irish-born colonial civil servant Mubin
Sheppard’s The Adventures of Hang Tuah, the film was a familiar hero’s journey
and one of the rare Malay-language films of the era that was rendered in
‘Eastmancolor'.
Hang Jebat (1961)
The antithesis to Phani Majumdar’s Hang Tuah (1956), Hussain
Haniff’s Hang Jebat is based on a 1958 radio play titled Tragedi Hang Jebat
(Tragedy of Hang Jebat) by Ali Aziz and portrays the eponymous anti-hero in a
more sympathetic light.
Seniman Bujang Lapok
(1961)
A comedy that follows Ramli, Aziz and Sudin—the eponymous
“bujang lapok”, or cruddy bachelors—on their misadventures living in a crowded
long house and auditioning at the Jalan Ampas film studio in a bid to become
movie stars.
Noor Islam (1960)
Hailed in a magazine advertisement as the first
Malay-language film to feature a religious theme, Noor Islam is set in an
imagined pagan nation during the early days of the spread of Islam.
Mogok (1957)
Set in contemporary 1950s Singapore in a climate of highly
active left-wing trade unions, strikes and ‘go-slows’, Mogok is a story about
disgruntled workers at an Eveready battery factory and the devious ploy of the
factory manager and his other colluders to take over the factory from the benevolent
but incapacitated factory owner.
Ibu Mertua Ku (1962)
Ibu Mertua Ku tells a doomed love story between Sabariah,
the daughter of a wealthy matriarch, and Kassim Selamat, a small-time musician
played by P. Ramlee.
Isi Neraka (1960)
In 14th century Melaka, an Arab preacher named Syed Abdul
Aziz persuaded the sultan and his court to convert to Islam and Islam begins to
flourish. But in a nearby village, Wira, a young man scorns the teachings of
Islam and its restrictions even as his mother and sister become newly devout
converts.
Selamat Tinggal
Kekasehku (1955)
Adapted from the 1936 Tamil film Devdas and based on the
popular Bengali novel of the same title, the local version focuses on the
romantic relationship between childhood friends Hassan and Lai Lai.
Sri Menanti (1958)
Adapted from an original novel titled Fatimah《花蒂玛》by
Chua Boon Hean, Sri Menanti is a poignant portrayal of an intercultural romance
inhibited by racial prejudice and segregation, religious conservatism, and
repressive social mores.
Hang Tuah
Hang Jebat
Seniman Bujang Lapok
The State of Singapore Stories: Films Present and Future10 Feb, Sat, 3.00-5.30pm, Malay Heritage Centre (Auditorium)
Like in previous, there are also guided tours in relation to
the theme. Participants will be presented with a compilation of clips from the
featured films before they set off on the tour. The mainland tour will take participants
from the Plaza at National Library Building to five different film locations.
The offshore island tour will take participants to Pulau Ubin and Pulau Sekudu,
the latter a film location for Hang Tuah (1956) and Hang Jebat (1961). A
site-specific artwork in response to each film awaits their encounter.
In addition, there are 2 public talks held in conjunction
with State of Motion.
Sejarah-ku: Excavating
the Historical Value of Malay-language Films for Singapore 14 Jan, Sun, 2.00 -4.00pm, Malay Heritage Centre (Auditorium)
Singapore has changed since the 50s and 60s: Malay is no
longer the lingua franca, our landscape is almost unrecognizable, and the
social-cultural environment that fostered that particular intellectual
tradition has since faded. Why look back even? And why should we care?
Speakers: Alfian Sa’at (Writer, Poet, Playwright), Dr Azhar Ibrahim (National University of Singapore), Toh Hun Ping (Film Researcher and Filmmaker), Moderator, Kamiliah Bahdar (Curator, State of Motion 2018)
Speakers: Alfian Sa’at (Writer, Poet, Playwright), Dr Azhar Ibrahim (National University of Singapore), Toh Hun Ping (Film Researcher and Filmmaker), Moderator, Kamiliah Bahdar (Curator, State of Motion 2018)
The State of Singapore Stories: Films Present and Future10 Feb, Sat, 3.00-5.30pm, Malay Heritage Centre (Auditorium)
2. Singapore FilmSociety Film Screenings
The Square
Jan 3, 9.00pm, GV Grand (exclusive preview in partnership
with Anticipate Pictures)
2017 | Sweden | Comedy, Drama | In Swedish, English, Danish
with English subtitles | 151 min | M18 (Sexual Scene and Some Coarse Language) Trailer
Winner of the 2017 Palme d'Ór at the Cannes Film Festival,
the film, directed by Ruben Östlund, is about Christian, the respected curator
of a contemporary art museum, a divorced but devoted father of two who drives
an electric car and supports good causes. His next show is “The Square”, an
installation which invites passersby to altruism, but yet a PR disaster with
the exhibition throws the museum into an existential crisis.
The Post
Jan 13, 12.45pm, Shaw Lido (includes post screening dialogue
with journalists from the Singapore Press Club)
2017 | United States | Drama, Biography, History | In
English | 116 min | PG13 (Some Coarse Language) Trailer
Steven Spielberg directs Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in this
thrilling drama about the unlikely partnership between The Washington Post’s
Katharine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of a major American
newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), as they race to catch up with The
New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned
three decades and four U.S. Presidents.
This is a screening in collaboration with Singapore Press
Club and Asian American Journalists Association. It will include a
post-screening Q&A with actual journalists about the future of journalism.
Walk with Me
Jan 17, 9.00pm, GV Paya Lebar: SingPost Centre (Singapore
premiere, SFS Exclusive)
2017 | United States | Documentary | English | 94 min | NC16
(Some Mature Content) Trailer
Slow down and breathe. This contemplative journey by Marc J.
Francis and Max Pugh follows in the steps of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and is
a rare insight into life within a monastic community. The sun rises. Everything
is calm and still. Life is beautifully serene as Benedict Cumberbatch’s
composed, meditative voice reads an extract from Thich Nhat Hanh’s early journals.
It includes a post-screening Q&A with on how mindfulness
can be applied in our everyday life with Positive Psychology practitioner Simon
Leow.
Loving Vincent
Jan 26, 7.30–9.30 pm, Loving Vincent premieres at National
Gallery followed by a post screening dialogue with art curator Russell Storer. In
partnership with National Gallery and Shaw Organisation.
2017 | Poland, United Kingdom | Biography, Animation | In
English | 95 min | M18 Trailer
65,000 paintings, telling the story of one man. “We cannot
speak other than by our paintings,” wrote Vincent van Gogh in his last letter.
In response, Loving Vincent tells the story of one of the most celebrated
artists of all time, Vincent van Gogh, by reconstituting his paintings through
montage to reveal their histories. This animated feature was first shot with
actors playing the characters in van Gogh’s portraits, then assiduously painted
over, frame-by-frame, in the style of the master. In all, 65,000 paintings by
over a hundred artists around the world were produced and translated into
moving image. The result is this shimmering work of art, filled with light and
movement.
3. Singapore
Palestinian Film Festival (SPFF)
Flying Paper + Gaza From Within
Founded in 2016, the Singapore Palestinian Film Festival
(SPFF) is a non-profit enterprise that showcases the work of Palestinian film
makers and artists.
Happening at the Projector, the aim of this festival is to
provide a viable platform for Palestinian film makers and artists to tell their
stories and alternate narratives. We hope that the festival reflects the
ever-changing diversity of Palestine, and we hope that through this festival,
we can unite the different communities of Singapore to engage in discussions
around film, art and culture. Organised by Adela Foo.
3000 Nights (NC16)
5 Jan, 8.30pm, The Projector
A young Palestinian schoolteacher gives birth to her son in
an Israeli prison where she fights to protect him, survive and maintain hope.
Flying Paper + Gaza
From Within PG13
6 Jan, 2.30pm, The Projector
Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip work to break the
Guinness World Record for the most kites ever flown.
When I Saw You (M18)
6 Jan, 5pm, The Projector
A journey of the human spirit that knows no borders . Palestine's entry for the Best Foreign
Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards
Giraffada (PG13)
7 Jan, 5pm, The Projector
This entertaining adventure about a giraffe-obsessed boy is
also a subtle reflection on the absurdities of life under occupation.
When I Saw You