The 'Local Film Showcase', spread out over five weeks, The Projector will present selected works from 13 Little Pictures, an independent Singapore film collective. Each session will feature a recent feature and a short film followed by a dialogue session with the filmmakers who will be sharing about their current and upcoming projects.
(Book your tickets at The Projector here!)
16 July
Fundamentally Happy (NC16- Mature Theme)
Director: Tan Bee Thiam & Lei Yuan Bin
Duration: 80 Mins
Language: English and Malay with English subtitles
*There will be a post-screening Q&A with the directors.
[Synopsis]
Twenty years ago, Habiba and Eric were neighbours. When Eric revisits Habiba what seems like a friendly reunion turns into the gradual revelation of a painful secret from the past.
Based on a 2006 play by local theatremakers Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan (The Necessary Stage) Tan Bee Thiam and Lei Yuan Bin’s film adaptation is a succinctly sculpted chamber drama, mesmerisingly photographed by legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, HERO).
23 July
The Obs: A Singapore Story (PG13 - Some Coarse Language)
Director: Yeo Siew Hua
Duration: 102 Mins
Language: English and Indonesian with English subtitles
*There will be a post-screening Q&A with the director
[Synopsis]
Yeo Siew Hua’s THE OBS: A SINGAPORE STORY is an ambitious documentation of one of Singapore’s most important and influential bands, The Observatory. Tracing the footsteps of the group’s core members, the film pits personal history against the political by exploring the complex relationship that the state has had with local music and sub-culture over the years. THE OBS is tale of uncompromising passion, of culture and of belonging, and the costs—and invaluable rewards—of being creative. The screening will be preceded by the short film, WORMHOLE by Yeo Siew Hua & Nelson Yeo
30 July
As You Were (M18 - Sexual Scene)
*There will be a post-screening Q&A with the director
Director: Liao Jiekai
Duration: 104 Mins
Language: English, Mandarin and Malay with English subtitles
[Synopsis]
On an idyllic island south of Singapore, Guohui and Peiling spend their last moments together as their relationship falls apart. The film is set in contemporary Singapore and structured into three distinct chapters. Through the country’s ever-changing landscape, the two lovers realize that what is transitory can also be eternal. The film explores the memories of the two characters and the oppressive past of St. John’s Island, which was, at various points in modern history, a quarantine center, a penal colony and a drug rehabilitation centre.
6 Aug
03-Flats (PG13 - Some Mature Content)
*There will be a post-screening Q&A with the director
Director: Lei Yuan Bin
Duration: 99 Mins
Language: English, Mandarin and Malay with English subtitles
[Synopsis]
03-FLATS is part of a research initiative by Dr Lilian Chee at the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore to probe how domesticity—a key component wherein home is produced—could be viscerally represented and experientially encountered. Following the lives of three single women and, Lei Yuan Bin invites us into domestic spaces, silently observing quotidian and intimate moments and sets this against a historical backdrop of Singapore’s public housing. 03-FLATS juxtaposes nationalistic ambitions against struggles to maintain personal routines, preserve traditions and create space for individual identities.
13 Aug
Snakeskin (Rating TBC)
*There will be a post-screening Q&A with the director
Director: Daniel Hui
Duration: 113 Mins
Language: English with English subtitles
[Synopsis]
In 2066, a survivor of an enigmatic cult recounts his country’s traumatic history and the events leading to the rise and fall of the cult. Through his reminiscence, ghosts from 2014 and before appear as witnesses. Part dream documentary, part city symphony, this film traces the lineage of oppression as inscribed in Singapore’s landscape and collective unconscious.