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The 26th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) Wraps with over 12,000 festival-goes!

By Flora / 07 Dec 2015 (Monday)

The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) concluded its 26th edition on 6 December, drawing over 12,000 festival-goers from Singapore and across the region. The Festival was held over an 11-day period, from 26 November to 6 December 2015.

Committed to celebrating independent cinema and telling Asia’s story in film, the longest-running international film platform in Southeast Asia showcased a total of 146 feature and short films from 51 countries this year. Not only were its various post-screening talks and masterclasses with acclaimed filmmakers well-attended by festival-goers, the SGIFF also saw a total of 14 sold out screenings – of which five were local productions, namely: Bugis Street (Eric Khoo); Mee Pok Man (Khoo); In The Room (Khoo); The Return (Green Zeng); and The Songs We Sang (Eva Tang).

Sailing A Sinking Sea by Olivia Wyatt also emerged as the favourite feature film among festival-goers at this edition of SGIFF in the inaugural Audience Choice Awards, in recognition of the growing desire by festival goers for greater involvement. During the entire course of the Festival, an impressive line-up of internationally renowned personalities descended our shores. Stars such as Michelle Yeoh, Dev Patel, Sonia Sui Tang and Choi Woo-Shik not only graced the Festival with their presence, some of them also conducted In Conversation dialogues sessions with the public.

Distinguished filmmakers and producers from around the world including Terence Chang, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Brillante Mendoza interacted with audiences through talks, masterclasses and provided mentorship at the Southeast Asian Film Lab.

SGIFF Executive Director, Yuni Hadi, said, “SGIFF has always been a magical and inspiring experience for me, and our team constantly finds ways to excite, engage and grow our film community. We hope to continue building a platform that allows people to not just come to watch film, but to also expand their conversations and perspectives on film and filmmaking in Singapore and Asia. Through this year’s Festival, it is evident that pride and interest in independent cinema is growing, and that is what we hope to continue to encourage in the years to come.” “The SGIFF has put up a strong showing this year, affirming itself as one of the region’s most established international platforms for Southeast Asian cinema and independent filmmaking,” said Angeline Poh, Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Industry Group), Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA).

Unlike previous editions where a closing film wrapped up the Festival, the SGIFF celebrated the closing of the Festival by screening The Fourth Direction, the Best Asian Feature Film at this year’s Silver Screen Awards as well as the winning film of the Audience Choice Award, Sinking A Sailing Sea. The winners of this year’s Best Southeast Asian Short Film – The Fox Exploits the Tiger’s Might – and Best Singapore Short Film – My Father After Dinner – will also be rescreened alongside the Best Asian Feature Film and Audience Choice Award film respectively.

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The 26th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) Wraps with over 12,000 festival-goes!