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Delve into Surrealist Cinema with Perspectives Film Festival 2016!

By Flora / 16 Sep 2016 (Friday)

Film still from 'Daisies'

In its ninth year, the Perspectives Film Festival 2016 features a list of seven international surrealist films with four Singapore premieres! In addition, two more films – a restored version and a director’s cut version – will be presented theatrically in Singapore for the first time.

Perspectives Film Festival
Date: 27-30 Oct 2016
Venue: National Museum of Singapore & The Projector
Ticketing Price:

Film Screenings (Single)
- $11: Standard
- $9 : Student (Local & Overseas), Seniors (55 years and above), NSF, Singapore Film Society (SFS) members and PAssion Card holders
Festival Pass (4 films)
- $40: Standard
- $30: Student (Local & Overseas), Seniors (55 years and above) and NSF
Festival Pass (all 7 films)
- $65: Standard
- $55: Student (Local & Overseas), Seniors (55 years and above) and NSF

Films:
1. Fantastic Planet (Dir. René Laloux, 1973) – Singapore premiere
2. Eraserhead (Dir. David Lynch, 1977) – Digitally restored
3. Daisies (Dir. Věra Chytilová, 1966) – Singapore premiere
4. The Dance of Reality (Dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky, 2013) – Singapore premiere
5. Endless Poetry (Dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky, 2016) – Singapore premiere
6. The Taste of Tea (Dir. Katsuhito Ishii, 2004) - Director in attendance
7. The Man Who Fell To Earth (Dir. Nicolas Roeg) – Digitally Restored
(Book your tickets at Sistic!)

Film still from 'Fantastic Planet'

Opening the festival is animated film 'Fantastic Planet', winner of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize. The cutout stop-motion technique in this film was considered a technical innovation in the 1970s for a sci-fi adult animation feature. Inspired by the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, it is also the first film to explore speciesism – the concept that individual rights are decided solely by species.

This year’s theme, surrealism, has its roots in a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s. Surrealist art expresses unconscious thought through surprising imagery and illogical juxtapositions that challenge the viewer’s preconceptions of art. Surrealism’s influence eventually extended into various fields like literature, music and of course, cinema. Marking almost a hundred years since the birth of the surrealist art movement, this year’s programme is characterised by hallmark films of Surrealist cinema. Through their use of fantastical metaphors, unique art direction and quirky characters, each film explores the idiosyncrasies of life and aims to illuminate the outlandish, perplexing and uncanny imageries repressed in the unconscious mind.

(Download the festival guide, here!)

Film still from 'The Taste of Tea'

Beyond the cinema, Perspectives also has an exciting range of activities before and during the festival. In particular, acclaimed Japanese director Katsuhito Ishii will grace the festival with a question-and-answer session following the screening of his film, The Taste of Tea, on Oct 30.

Perspectives will also present a Surrealist art exhibition and several masterclasses in the weeks leading up to the festival.
(Head to the Facebook page for more updates!)

Perspective Film Festival

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Delve into Surrealist Cinema with Perspectives Film Festival 2016!