The eighth season of the Golden Village’s Love & Pride film festival is back, running from 19th - 31st August at various GV cinemas.
InCinemas speaks to film curator, Eternality Tan who shares with us his role as the festival’s curator and the process of selecting the six films for the highly anticpated festival.
8th Love & Pride Film Festival
Date: 19 - 31 August 2016
Venue: GV Suntec City/GV Grand/GV Great World City
Ticket Pricing:
- $25 - Opening Night
- $17 - Closing Night
- $12 - Regular Screenings (Mon - Thurs)
- $15 - Regular Screenings (Fri - Sun)
*Do note that all films are rated R21 due to their homosexual theme
(Book your tickets at GV's website!)
Film still of 'Thanatos, Drunk'
InCinemas: Hi Eternality, can you briefly tell us how did you come to be the film curator for this year’s Love & Pride Film Festival?
Eternality Tan (ET): I helped to programme Golden Village Screen Gems of the last two years, which brought back popular or critically-acclaimed movies to the big screen. This year, Golden Village wanted to explore having me on board for Love & Pride Film Festival ’16 (LPFF), and after having a discussion with David Lee, Vice-Chairman of Singapore Film Society (SFS), we decided to be the festival curators for LPFF this year with support from SFS.
InCinemas: Can you elaborate your role as the film curator?
ET: Most people think film curation is easy—pick a movie, book a hall, screen it. It’s far more difficult than that. Out of 20 over titles that I had seen, I had to shortlist to 6 potential titles that would make up the festival, bearing in mind that a variety of films from around the word, and the quality of the films were important criteria. Then the process includes liaising for licensing rights, negotiating screening fees, submitting the title to MDA for classification, arranging for payments and shipment, publicizing and marketing it, testing the exhibition copy, monitoring the box-office sales, and many more. But all of that is fun if you are passionate about bringing films to your audiences.
(Check out the 6 films screening at festival here!)
Film still of 'Closet Monster'
InCinemas: How long did the selection of these 6 films take?
ET: Roughly it took about 3-4 months.
InCinemas: What are the challenges you faced as a film curator?
ET: Trying to source for films as sometimes overseas distributors and producers don’t respond quickly enough or don’t respond at all.
InCinemas: What are some of the considerations or requirements when selecting these films for a festival like 'Love & Pride'?
ET: The films have to be current, preferably films that were not more than 1 - 2 years old. Merit of the films aside, we have to consider their cost, availability, format of exhibition, and think in advance of marketing strategies (e.g. Does it have a star? Did it win a major award at an important festival?).
We also have to make the conscious effort to avoid trivializing or sensationalizing the theme of LGBT by curating films that were all flesh and sex. The films have to offer a substantial narrative and characters that you can empathize, while also sparking the address of thematic issues such as prejudice, longing, passion, social realities and even politics.
(InC-Contest: WIN tickets to 'Closet Monster'!)
Film still of 'The Summer Of Sangaile'
InCinemas: How and when did you first learn about these films?
ET: Usually it’s through research, familiarity with the festival circuit, and looking at distributors’ catalogue.
InCinemas: Which of these 6 films are your personal favourites? Any specific film that left a great impression on you?
ET: My favourite is a toss between ‘Closet Monster’ or ‘The Summer of Sangaile’. Both are coming-of-age films about finding one’s identity in a seemingly isolating world, but made in different countries.
‘Closet Monster’ is a Canadian film that is very hip and vibrant, and I’m sure will resonate with younger audiences. The filmmaking is very hypnotic and the soundtrack is truly mesmerizing. ‘The Summer of Sangaile’ hails from Lithuania, a country whose films we don’t really see at all in Singapore, but it is very beautifully shot in the idyllic countryside and paints a sweet but troubled relationship between two young women on the cusp of adulthood. It’s a film about being ambitious to pursue your passion.
"Many often think LGBT films (or Queer Cinema) are only for the LGBT community, but truth be told, cinema transcends communities. These are human stories that resonate deeply."
Golden Village's 8th Love & Pride Film Festival runs from 19th - 31st August.
Check out the showtimes here: http://bit.ly/InCShowtimes