A Potpourri of Vestiges Feature
Singapore cinema
has been gaining international recognition. Last year, two Singaporean films –
‘Apprentice’ by Boo Junfeng and ‘A Yellow Bird’ by K Rajagopal – made it to the
prestigious Cannes Film Festival. At the same time, Singapore folk music, ‘Xin Yao’ (meaning ‘Singapore songs’ in
Chinese), has been going through a revival. This genre of music with its
heartfelt lyrics and melodies has inspired films and singers, who have come up
with modern renditions of the songs.
Delhiites will
get a chance to enjoy these films and songs at the fourth Singapore Film
Festival this year. The festival
will take place at Siri Fort Auditorium
II, New Delhi on 1st, 2nd
and 3rd September 2017. Organised by the
Singapore High Commission in New Delhi in partnership with the Directorate of
Film Festivals, India, the festival will feature five films, each followed by
dialogues with filmmakers and experts.Entry is open to public and free
on a first-come-first-served basis.
Besides ‘Apprentice’ and ‘A Yellow Bird’, two films on ‘Xin
Yao’ will be screened. ‘That Girl in
a Pinafore’ is a coming-of-age tale centred on a group of teenagers and their
dedication to ‘Xin Yao’. The
screening will be followed by a dialogue with director Yee Wei Chai and
composer Zennon Goh, who produced the songs in the film and is one of the
pioneers of the ‘Xin Yao’ movement. ‘The Songs We Sang’ is an uplifting
documentary about the origins and impact of ‘Xin Yao’ in Singapore. The screening will be followed by a dialogue
with Zennon Goh and a performance by Singaporean guitarist and singer Zi Jian
Tan. This will be the first ever ‘Xin Yao’
music performance in Delhi. The festival will conclude with ‘7 Letters’, which features seven short
films by Singapore’s seven top filmmakers.
‘A Yellow Bird’
director K Rajagopal will also be present to talk about his film, which was
screened at the International Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.
Rajagopal remains Singapore’s main artiste who makes films with an Indian
perspective. He also contributed a film exploring the Indian migrant experience
in Singapore in ‘7 Letters’.
A
Singapore-India filmmakers’ residency exchange programme will be held
concurrently with the film festival. Budding Singaporean filmmaker Kang Sheng
Tang will spend a month in India shooting scenes for a short film, while Indian
filmmaker Daljit Ami will spend a month in Singapore shooting a documentary on
the British Indian army forces in Singapore during World War I. Tang and Ami
will talk about their filmmaking experiences and goals for the residency
exchange programme at a special session during the film festival.
Kester Tay, festival
programmer and First Secretary at the Singapore High Commission said: “In the
spirit of cultural exchange, we wanted to share with our friends in India works
that have meaning for us, Singaporeans. It was a matter of great pride for us
to see two home-grown filmmakers’ works screen at Cannes. It showed that Singapore
has stories to tell which can resonate with Singaporean as well as international
audiences.We hope that Indian audiences will enjoy the two films too.
We are also showcasing ‘Xin Yao’, which rarely travels outside
Singapore. For many Singaporeans, the songs evoke memories of the idealism and
simplicity of their youth and hold much sentimental value. We hope that through
music we can bring our two cultures in Singapore and India closer and see that
we really have more in common than not.”
Quotation
from Directorate of Film Festivals:“As Directorate of Film Festivals, the directorate
organises film festivals in collaboration with High commission/ embassies of
the other countries as part of Cultural Exchange program. Earlier in this year,
Directorate of Film Festivals has organised Indian Film Festival in
collaboration with Indian High Commission in Singapore in partnership with the
Office of Alumni Relations (OAR), National University of Singapore in Singapore
from 10-12 April 2017."
For more information, visit
https://www.facebook.com/SFFND.
For media queries and requests to interview the filmmakers or musicians:
Ms Ayush Rajput
PR coordinator, Cinedarbaar
Email: info.cinedarbaar@gmail.com
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