Singapore Panorama
The latest independent feature and short films showcasing the dynamism and talent of Singaporean filmmaking: telling the stories closest to home, and reflecting the realities of contemporary society. Families struggle on society’s margins in Invisible Stories. Migrant workers are the unseen engines of modern Singapore in I Dream of Singapore. Dreams of today’s youth, and the effects of the education system are laid bare in Unteachable. Accept the Call follows a father’s efforts in understanding his wayward son, while Revolution Launderette sheds a quirky, Singaporean light on the city of Tokyo. These feature films are accompanied by the Short Film Panorama spanning dreams of social housing, girls growing up, and the wild fantasy of birthing a watermelon. Clearly, imagination is infinite in Singapore Panorama.
Pagination
SHORT FILM PROGRAMME
Short films Hello Ahma, Watermelon Baby, Escape Velocity II, Lián and Still Standing will be screened together under the Singapore Panorama Shorts (Runtime: 76 mins).
Hello Ahma
New to America, a young Singaporean girl is unable to return home to attend her grandmother’s funeral. She tries to understand life and death while searching for her grandmother’s reincarnation in a turtle.
Watermelon Baby
While Tamaki’s partner Sui was away for the summer, she consumed a watermelon seed and began growing a watermelon in her body. They make a promise to eat the ripe watermelon together.
Escape Velocity II
Escape Velocity II is an experiential experiment that brings the ethereal voices of Singaporean wild to life through animation and sound visualisation. The film seeks to bridge human and non-human worlds.
Lián
Lián and her family are stowaways on a ship, hiding in one of the containers. One day, Lián heads out secretly and discovers that the vessel has docked ahead of schedule. She now has to overcome language barriers and deceit to save her family.
Still Standing
When uniformed high-rise housing began sprouting in post-independence Singapore, a local architect brought the “kampong spirit” back into the city sky by coming up with the Pearl Bank Apartment.
FEATURE FILMS
Accept the Call
Following his son’s close brush with ISIS, a Somali immigrant father seeks to understand the forces that push one towards terrorism.
Revolution Launderette
Against existential despair and misfortune, Tomo is determined to beat his joke of a life to the punchline.
Unteachable
Academic streaming may soon be gone, but rhetoric seems to trickle less easily into reality in this insight to Singapore’s education system.
I Dream of Singapore
Lei Yuan Bin tells a tale of modern-day slavery in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, in this heartfelt fly-on-the-wall documentary.
Invisible Stories
Invisible Stories shines light into dark corners, and tells untold stories from the heartlands of a fictional neighbourhood in Singapore.