To mark the 25th anniversary of the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), Our Stories, Well-Told aims to bring Singaporeans closer to local cinema by celebrating Singapore’s filmmakers, inspiring budding film talent and growing appreciation for local films. Catch free screenings of 25 acclaimed Singapore films and shorts at Esplanade during Red Dot August.
Six films look at families across time and space and how they are affected by larger forces beyond their control.
In K. Rajagopal's The Flame, an Indian father, his son and pregnant daughter-in-law find themselves pulled in different directions amidst the uncertainty of the country’s newfound independence. Letters from the Motherland sees filmmaker He Shuming collaborating with his retiree father on a deeply personal short documentary about one’s roots and the journeys life takes us on. In Anthony Chen's Ah Ma, an elderly woman's family gathers by her deathbed to send her off, each grasping for their own way of coming to terms with the impending end.
Raihan Halim's Banting tells the story of Yasmin, raised in a strict household, who finds the missing passion in her life when she begins to secretly take professional wrestling lessons. In Gladys Ng's My Father After Dinner, the preoccupations of modern life allow Ying to only come home late in the night whenre dinner prepared by her father awaits, in a nuanced exploration of Asian familial love.
Finally, Tan Pin Pin's Moving House documents the real-life story of the Chews, who like 55,000 other Singaporeans, have been ordered by the government to exhume their dead parents—the family grave takes up too much space in land scarce Singapore.
Letters from The Motherland
Featuring actual correspondence between the filmmaker's father and the caretaker of his ancestral home on Hainan Island over the past 30 years, Letters from the Motherland gives us a glimpse into the life of a 65-year-old Hainan-born Singaporean retiree in Singapore, and a caretaker living in the tropical village of Qionghai, Hainan.
Duration: approximately 17mins
About He Shumin
He Shuming is a screenwriter and director from Singapore. He graduated from The Puttnam School of Film, LASALLE College of The Arts. Shuming moved to Los Angeles in 2012, where he received his MFA in Directing at the American Film Institute Conservatory. He was conferred the Young Artist Award in 2019 by the National Arts Council. His debut feature film, Ajoomma, premiered at the 27th Busan International Film Festival in its prestigious New Currents section and garnered four nominations at the 59th Golden Horse Awards, including Best New Director. The film is also Singapore’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.
Starring: Ho Soo Hoon 何子训, He Yuting 何玉婷 & Huang Wenxing ⻩文星
Written and directed by: He Shuming 何书铭
Producer: Tan Jia Yu 陈嘉渝
Director of Photography: Looi Wan Ping 雷远彬
Editor: Yim Mun Chong 严文忠
My Father After Dinner
The preoccupations of modern life allow Ying to only come home late at night, when dinner prepared by her father awaits. What builds up is a portrait that magnifies in its minutiae of her father’s daily life, as well as the nuances of Asian familial love.
Duration: Approximately 15mins
About Gladys Ng
Celebrated for her nuanced, wry and experimental style, Gladys Ng’s portfolio consists of film work as well as corporate and client-based projects. Her short films have competed and won awards at various film festivals locally and abroad, and are hosted on the Objectifs Film Library. She is currently developing her first feature Every Mall Burns the Same (Special Mention, SGIFF Southeast Asian Film Lab ’22). Her distinct sensibility as a filmmaker has been spotlighted in The Straits Times, Today, CNA and Female magazine.
Cast:
Father: Ng Man Cheh
Ying: Nicole Chai
Granddaughter: Lim Jia Ying
Elder Daughter: Jacklyn Kuah
Son-in-Law: Mark Tan
Fishmongers: Wiu Huay Chua, Yeo Soo Kheng
Producer: Liao Jiekai
Writer & Director: Gladys Ng
Cinematographer: John Maloney
Production Designer: Tang Hui Huan
Editor: Tan Wei Ting
Ah Ma
Ah Ma is lying in the hospital, her life hanging by a thread. Her family gathers by her deathbed to send her off. Overwhelmed by sadness, they struggle to find their own way of coming to terms with the impending end.
Duration: Approximately 14mins
About Anthony Chen
Anthony Chen is an award-winning writer, director and producer from Singapore.
He became the first Singaporean to receive an award at Cannes with short film Ah Ma in 2007. His debut feature Ilo Ilo (2013) was awarded the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by 40 awards internationally including four Golden Horse Awards.
His sophomore film Wet Season (2019) was nominated for the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival. Both films were Singapore's official submissions for the Academy Awards.
Drift marked his English-language debut and premiered at Sundance in 2023. The Breaking Ice is his first Chinese-language film made in China, and premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes the same year.
As a producer, he produces out of his Giraffe Pictures outfit based in Singapore. Films he has produced include Singapore filmmaker Kirsten Tan’s Pop Aye (2017) which won at Sundance, He Shuming’s feature debut Ajoomma (2022) which premiered in competition at Busan and Thai director Sorayos Prapapan’s debut feature Arnold is a Model Student (2022), which competed at Locarno.
Director: Anthony Chen
Writer: Anthony Chen
Cast: Tan Chui Ting, Kelvin Ho, Chia Choo Sian, Kelly Lim, Yeo Yann Yann
The Flame
In 1965, an Indian family, whose men have been loyal servants of the British Royal Air Force, are faced with a life-changing offer of British citizenship as a reward for their years of service. The anglophone father is determined to follow his colonial masters back to England, while his newly-wed son yearns to build a new life in Singapore with his pregnant wife. An exploration of the notion of state and identity in a time of post-independence uncertainty.
Duration: 15mins
About K Rajagopal
K. Rajagopal has won the Singapore International Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize for three consecutive years with his short films: I Can’t Sleep Tonight (1995), The Glare (1996) and Absence (1997). In 2010, he wrote and directed Timeless, a short film commissioned by the National Museum of Singapore which won Best Cinematography and Best Editing at the 2011 Singapore Short Film Awards. In 2015, his short film The Flame was part of the SG50 commissioned omnibus feature film 7 Letters, which had its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival. His debut feature film, A Yellow Bird, premiered at the 55th Critics' Week, Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and won Best Film at the ASEAN Film Awards 2017.
Writer & Director: K. Rajagopal
Producer: Fran Borgia
Co-Producer: Jeremy Chua
Executive Producer: Royston Tan
Director of Photography: Hideho Urata
Production Designer: James Page
Costume Designer: Meredith Lee
Editor: Fran Borgia
Sound Designer: Roman Dymny
Cast: T. Sasitharan, Nithiyia Rao, N. V7ighnesh, Fatin Amira
An AKANGA FILM ASIA Production in association with POTOCOL
Moving House
Moving House is about the Chew family. Like 55,000 other Singaporeans, they have been ordered by the government to exhume their dead parents. Their family grave takes up too much space in land scarce Singapore. They deal with the move, not with anger nor passive acceptance, but with humour, dignity and above all grace. All that remains is the obvious love and affection they have for each other. It is these bonds that will see everyone through future upheavals as Singapore beats the path toward a "higher standard of living" and further urbanisation.
In 2001, Discovery Networks Asia made an open call for ideas for documentaries about Asia. They wanted to commission work from emerging Asian documentary filmmakers. The open call attracted over 400 pitches. Moving House was one of six chosen to be funded. “Moving House” was screened in December 2001 throughout Asia. It became the first documentary commissioned by Discovery Channel to be entirely conceptualised, initiated and directed by a Singaporean. The version that won the student Academy Award is the director’s cut of the Discovery Channel version.
Duration: Approximately 22mins
About Tan Pin Pin
Tan Pin Pin is an award-winning Singapore-based film director and producer. She is known for her documentaries interrogating the idea of Singapore. Features include Singapore GaGa (2005), Invisible City (2007), To Singapore, with Love (2013), and IN TIME TO COME (2017). They have screened theatrically in Singapore and at film festivals abroad.
Director/Writer: Tan Pin Pin
Production Manager: Suryahti Abdul Latiff
Line Producer: Ho Choon Hiong
Camera: Jackie Ong, Ho Choon Hiong & Lucas Jodogne
Production Assistant: Lee Chuen Ling
Sound Recordist: Michael Lee & Cheong Yew Mun
Camera Assistant: Lillian Wang
Off-line Editor: Gek Li San & Daryl Burney
On-line Editor: Hendry Keck
Music Composer: Philip Tan
Audio Mixing: Muhd bin Jafar
Narrator: Remesh Panicker
Graphics: Marc Campbell
Production Management
For Live Art Television, Singapore: Robert Andrews & Amelia Hanibelsz
For Discovery Channel International
Executive Producer: Chris Haws
For Discovery Networks Asia
Series Supervising Producer: Bruce Moir
Executive Producer: Vikram Channa
Executive in Charge of Production: James Gibbons
Banting
Raised in a strict household, Yasmin finds the missing passion in her life when she begins to secretly take professional wrestling lessons. When her secret is threatened to be revealed, Yasmin will have to clothesline, pile-drive and slam her way through to keep her dream going and realise what she’s really meant to do in life!
Duration: 1hr 50mins
About M. Raihan Halim
Often calling himself a “part-time scriptwriter, fulltime storyteller”, M. Raihan Halim’s career in television began after winning two Golden Pen Awards at the MDA: National Scriptwriting Competition in 2005 and 2007. He’s the only local writer/director whose television works transcends cultural lines and are featured in all four main channels in the country.
Best known for his award-winning television dramas, his telemovies Yazid Wears Diapers garnered the Best Special Drama award in a local television award show, Big Time in Little Street was nominated in 2010 Asian Television Awards and last year, Mr Perfect won for Best Telemovie award in the local television award show, Pesta Perdana.
Cast: Izyan Mellyna, Mastura Ahmad, Fauzie Laily, Osman Zailani & Jimmy Taenaka
Director/ Scriptwriter: M. Raihan Halim
Producer: Asra Aman
Executive Producer: Edmund Dion Lim
Executive Producer: M. Raihan Halim
Associate Producer: Sulaiman Salamon
Assistant Producer: Nadiyah Rahmat
Assistant Producer: Bawani d/o Sundaresan
1st Assistant Director: Amalina Mohamed
2nd Assistant Director: Lionel Paul Dorai
Script Supervisor: Inez Ho
Production/Location Manager: Marcus How
Art Director: Junior Foong
Wardrobe Mistress: Engku Nur Hafiszah Engku Ismail
Photographer: Sara Aman
Director of Photography: Jason Tai Chan Cheng
1st Assistant Cameraman: Choo Weiming
Gaffer: Muhammad Shahril bin Dzuikeply
Key Grip: Abdul Malik bin Mohamad Basar
Sound Mixer: Julius Toh
Editor: Huda Azzis
Post Supervisor/Colorist: Mocha Chai Labs
Visual Effects: Nilo
Sound Designer: Takuya Katsu
Music Composer: Andry Sani
Audio 5.1 Mixing: AMX Audiophiles
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