Photo Courtesy of: Singapore Media Festival
With the theme of ‘Celebrating Asian Storytelling’, the Singapore Media Festival 2016 (SMF) will bring back established events including the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asian Television Awards (ATA), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), and ScreenSingapore (SS). SMF 2016 will also welcome two new associate events, the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) Spotlight Series and ciNE65 by Nexus.
A new keystone digital event, the ‘SMF ignite’ will be launched at the Singapore Media Festival as well. The SMF Ignite will cast the spotlight on current digital trends to complement the different and new entertainment formats to be shown at this year’s festival. There will be hands-on workshops, fan meet-and-greet events where establish digital content creators around the world will share their knowledge and ideas on topics such as innovative technology like VR & AR.
Still from 'A Yellow Bird' - Photo Credit: Joseph Nair & Akanga Film Asia
The highly anticipated film event of the year, the 27th Singapore International Film Festival is set to return from 23 November to 4 December 2016.
At the media conference earlier, it was announced that three Singaporean works are featured in the festival line-up, including K.Rajagopal’s first feature film, A Yellow Bird; Gladys Ng’s world premiere of her commissioned short film ‘The Pursuit of A Happy Human Life’; and a tribute to Singapore independent filmmaker, the late Abdul Nizam, where 12 of his works will be screened at the SGIFF.
A co-production between Singapore and France, A Yellow Bird made its world premiere this year during the International Critics’ Week, a parallel section to the 69th Cannes Film Festival and a launch pad of auteurs such as Hong Kong’s Wong Kar Wai, Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and France’s Jacques Audiard. ‘A Yellow Bird’ is one of the films in competition for SGIFF’s Silver Screen Awards, a competition with a specific Asian film category.
Abdul Nizam - Photo Courtesy of: 27th SGIFF
The SGIFF will also pay tribute to the late Abdul Nizam for the instrumental role he played in the resurgence of Singapore cinema in the late 1990s. During the festival, his signature works will be screened, together with other noteworthy masterpieces such as Keronchong for Pak Bakar (2008) and Breaking the Ice (2014), with both films previously screened in the SGIFF’s Singapore Panorama section.
(Check out the opening film of the festival!)
Still from 'The Pursuit of A Happy Human Life' Photo Credit: Denise Ng & Nicole Chai
This year also sees the introduction of a new initiative that seeks to nurture and showcase up-and-coming Singapore filmmakers, where SGIFF will commission a new short film by a Singapore filmmaker every year that will make its world premiere at the festival. Gladys Ng, winner of SGIFF 2015’s Best Singapore Short Film, is the first filmmaker to be commissioned under this initiative. Her short, 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 be screened during the opening of the festival on 23 November.
Photo Courtesy of: Asian Television Awards
The Asian Television Awards (ATA) returns for its 21st season, recognising excellence in programming, production and performance. Singaporean Mandopop singer-songwriter JJ Lin and international pop star Charli XCX will be headlining the awards show. Similar to last year’s format, the ATA will be telecast live throughout Southeast Asia, and fans in Singapore can catch the awards show on Toggle in December.
With a packed itinerary across the 17-day-long festival, this year’s mega event is expected to see more than 20,000 attendees including thought-leaders, creative professionals and members of the public.