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STOP10: 'Himala' and the epic business of faith
It is with hushed admiration that I approach the jaw-dropping 1982 classic Himala (or Miracle in Tagalog), widely deemed to be among the Phillippines’ top films. The film is known to offer up an early...
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STOP10: 'The Act of Killing' and the theatre of morality?
I am only hours fresh off a film set as I type this, on a shoot where the director had to bite back and beat down his tears because he was so moved by what he was seeing but needed to resist ruining...
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STOP10: Ropes that won't let you go, in 'Apprentice'
In Singapore, there are 14 prisons and rehabilitation centres all around the island. However, as a Singaporean myself, I am unable to accurately tell you where they are, how they look like outside and...
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STOP10: When all is not Black and White in 'The Woman Who Left'
I have a fondness for what is called Slow Cinema or as my friends like to call it: movies where nothing appears to be happening. These are films that place emphasis on long takes, and are often...
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STOP10: Thank you Yasmin for the music in 'Talentime'
I heard about Yasmin Ahmad’s Talentime (2009) during my Malay Studies module in NUS. I watched it first without subtitles and deduced the plot piecemeal through bits of English in the film, and written...
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STOP10: 10 Most Life-Changing Southeast Films
Exactly 10 years ago, I started a blog to chronicle the underground short film movement that was happening in Singapore, a time when Anthony Chen’s Ah Ma won Singapore first Cannes award and the image...
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ShoutOUT! 13 WW2 films to be screened at National Museum of Singapore for the...
Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence / 戦場のメリークリスマス (1983) For the very first time, the National Museum of Singapore will be presenting a special selection of films which documents and recollects the...
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An Interview with Joko Anwar and Tara Basro on 'Pengabdi Setan (Satan's Slaves)'
Director of 'Satan's Slaves' Joko AnwarSince Joko Anwar's break out film Janji Joni (Joni's Promise), a romantic comedy which won "Best Film" at the 2005 Indonesian Film Festival, his reputation has...
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A Day Out at Sea (and Land) with State of Motion 2018:Sejarah-Ku
Back again as part of Singapore Art Week 2018, State of Motion—the flagship event of the Asian Film Archive—is led by curator Kamiliah Bahdar and creative producer Thong Kay Wee this edition. Focusing...
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ShoutOUT! Eric Khoo's 'Ramen Teh' premieres in Berlin and opens in Singapore...
Something to smack your lips about this March. Eric Khoo's latest food-themed movie Ramen Teh will open on 29 March in Singapore. A Japanese, Singapore and French co-production helmed by auteur Eric...
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BUS-STOP Feb 2018: Your Monthly SG Film Calendar
'One at a Time' by Daniel Yam, part of '15 Shorts' The second month of the year in film often bears witness to a clash between Chinese New Year blockbusters and Oscar front runners. This year,...
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Review: Shuttle Life // 分貝人生 (2017)
There is something skeletal about Shuttle Life, the Malaysian short film director Tan Seng Kiat’s debut feature. In the very first shot, we witness a figure winding its way up the reedy spine of an...
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On the Ground Once More: An interview with Daniel Yun
‘If I were to do it again, I would make 1965 a little bit more personal,’ film producer Daniel Yun said with a fair measure of clarity and certainty.Alluding to the lukewarm response to his...
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ShoutOUT! Good samaritans (not in our history books) are captured in '15 Shorts'
The first 5 of the shorts in 15 Shorts have been unveiled and will be released over the next few weeks. 15 Shorts is a landmark film project between local film company Blue3Asia, the National Volunteer...
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ShoutOUT! Make a film for 'Picture This Festival' from Sony and the UN
Sony Pictures Television Networks (SPTN), in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, today announced the opening of the Picture This Festival for the Planet (www.sonypicturethis.com), a...
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Review: Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei // 旺得福梁细妹 (2018)
At the end of the movie Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei // 旺得福梁细妹, director Jack Neo inserts a little disclaimer (though 2 hours late) about how this will be another movie, critics will give a one-star to, but...
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'Ang Larawan': From book to stage to screen and now the world
Cast of 'Ang Larawan' the movieAbout 20 years ago in 1997, legendary Filipino singer and actress Celeste Legaspi (right most in the picture above) played the lead role Candida in the first musical...
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BUS-STOP Mar 2018: Your Monthly SG Film Calendar
'Tora-San of Goto' at the Japanese Film FestivalThe month of March in film kicks off with Oscar fever on 4 March in the US with the Academy awards. Will frontrunner The Shape of Water flood the...
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Snapshots from MIFFest 2018: An Interview with Eric Ong on 'Adiwiraku'
Coming in at a solid 2 hours, Adiwiraku is veteran TV director Eric Ong's heavyweight debut. Based on the real life story of two "Teach for Malaysia" teachers who teach English to their students in a...
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Snapshots from MIFFest 2018: An Interview with Edmund Yeo on 'Aqerat'
Malaysian director Edmund Yeo’s acclaimed feature film. Aqerat, finally touched home soil last week at the 2nd Malaysian International Film festival when it screened there. Aqerat – like the Malay word...
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