Singapore Film Society (SFS) is celebrating its 60th Anniversary this year and it will kick off this milestone with two major revamps.
There will be a more ambitious and regular screening programme, starting with a special preview of the 2017 Palme d’Or winner - THE SQUARE. SFS will also be introducing a new membership structure, making SFS events more accessible, while sustaining the quality of their programmes.
SFS Chairman Kenneth Tan enthuses, "We are thrilled to offer our new membership structure, which we have put together after many months of careful deliberation and a considerable amount of feedback from members, industry, and the public. We look forward to serving and growing the film-loving community better with a structure that provides something for everyone, whether they are casual and curious about movies, or hard-core film buffs, or anyone in between!"
Film still from THE SQUARE (Courtesy of Anticipate Pictures)
Film line-up for January
Apart from THE SQUARE, SFS is also doing an exclusive screening of the critically acclaimed documentary, WALK WITH ME. Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, WALK WITH ME is a cinematic journey into the world of mindfulness and the Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh. Filmed over three years, with unprecedented access, this visceral film is a meditation on a community who have given up all their possessions for a monastic life in rural France. It includes a post-screening Q&A with on how mindfulness can be applied in our everyday life with Positive Psychology practitioner Simon Leow.
SFS is collaborating with Singapore Press Club and Asian American Journalists Association to organize the Singapore Premiere of Steven Spielberg’s THE POST. It will include a post-screening Q&A with actual journalists about the future of journalism.
To wrap up January, SFS has also brought National Gallery and Shaw together to organize the Singapore Premiere of LOVING VINCENT at the National Gallery. LOVING VINCENT is an award-winning biographical drama film about Vincent van Gogh, painstakingly painting frame by frame in the style of the artist. A total of 65,000 frames were painted for the film. The screening includes a post-screening Q&A with exhibition curator Russell Storer.
David Lee, SFS Vice Chairman and Programming Director, says "We really wanted to beef up our programme offerings to celebrate SFS 60th birthday and to thank our members and audience for their strong support all these years. Every month, there will be a running theme behind the selected films.”
“January is the month of art films and their impact on people and society, hence we have titles like THE SQUARE, WALK WITH ME and LOVING VINCENT. In February, our focus is on Award Winners such as THE SHAPE OF WATER and LADY BIRD to coincide with the Academy Awards and the climax of the awards season. For March, we would be casting the spotlight on the latest films by local filmmakers with JIMAMI TOFU directed by Christian Lee & Jason Chan, and I WANT TO GO HOME directed by Wesley Leon Aroozoo. Coincidentally, both films are primarily set in Japan, and 2018 is the year where Japan-Singapore cross-cultural co-productions are shaping up to be a trend in our local filmmaking landscape.”
“We are also expanding our network of regular programme partners to include Anticipate Pictures, United International Pictures, and National Gallery. With such diverse collaborators, we hope to organize more exclusive previews and premieres as well as interesting film dialogue sessions for our members.”
Film still from Loving Vincent
New membership deals
SFS is introducing a new membership structure with two main tiers – the Digital Membership ($18/month), and the Film Addicts Membership ($160/year).
“The new monthly Digital Membership was developed to make SFS more accessible to the general public, where they no longer have to commit to a year-long membership. Because the payments are made monthly, members can choose to stop their membership anytime they want, giving them much more flexibility,” says Sherman Ho, SFS Marketing Director.
Both memberships allow free & unlimited access to SFS screenings for the member.
The Film Addicts membership will also allow members to continue to enjoy discounts to all the major film festivals that happen in Singapore, such as the Singapore Chinese Film Festival and the European Union Film Festival.