Monographs is a new series of films commissioned by Singapore’s Asian Film Archive, conceived as a platform for engaging the Asian film community in discourse on the moving image.
Originating as a response to the uncertainties of the pandemic, the current programme of 10 video essays showcases diverse filmmaking talents engaging with contemporary ideas and creating a fresh, dynamic interplay of stories and images. The films are grouped thematically into Motifs and Movements: the first is focused on the immediate, the visceral and the gaze; the latter on reflections, memories and histories.
Motifs
Movements
1 Dec, Tue | 6.30pm | 69min
Indonesia, Singapore / 2020 / 20min / NC16
A multilayered, haunted film that invokes the spectres of Indonesian horror cinema to examine the othering of people on the peripheries.
Vietnam, Singapore / 2020 / 14min / PG13
A montage featuring scenes of soldiers’ deaths in Vietnamese propaganda war films reveals striking similarities, highlighting their crass nationalist agenda.
China, Germany, Poland, Singapore / 2020 / 15min / PG
Maja Korbecka offers a sharp, feminist analysis of two Chinese films made during different turning points in China’s history, both dealing with Mao’s campaign to ‘re-educate’ former sex workers.
Uzbekistan, Singapore / 2020 / 13min / PG13
The modern history of Uzbekistan is told through its cinematic history, focusing on the evolution of female heroine archetypes in Uzbek films.