[8.15 – 9.30 pm]
S-EXPRESS SINGAPORE
Bold, new works from Singapore to challenge your perception of Singapore cinema and the nation itself.
Total duration: 84 min
Overall Rating: TBA
➊ Nobody’s Home – Nelson Yeo
Singapore / 2010 / 21 min / PG
| ➞ Synopsis: | "You will need two pennies, instead of one, to pay the ferryman." After receiving a bunch of money from his agent, a man decides to visit the people close to him... |
| ➞ Director’s Bio: | Nelson Yeo, 25, is currently majoring in Digital Filmmaking at the Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design & Media. His shorts, A Fistful of Yusof Ishaks and Ginseng Boy, have been shown at First Take and the Singapore International Film Festival (Non-Finalist) respectively. A Hole in the Bed was nominated for Best Cinematography at Singapore Short Film Awards 2009 and was screened at the first Experimental Film Forum held at The Substation in 2010. |
| ➞ Contact: | Nelson Yeo (kraziuzi@gmail.com) |
➋ My Home (Rumah Sendiri) – Daniel Hui
Singapore / 2010 / 20 min
| ➞ Synopsis: | A Balinese housemaid works in a home that is not her own. She is the invisible class in Singapore, an unseen population for whom the land is merely transitory. In part a reaction to Eric Khoo's No Day Off (2006), the film is a collaborative effort whose aim is for you to simply look at her—because, after all, choosing what to see and listen remains the most political act we do every day. |
| ➞ Director’s Bio: | Daniel Hui is a filmmaker and writer. His films have been screened at film festivals in Rotterdam, Hawaii, Manila, Seoul, Bangkok, and Vladivostok. He is one of the founding members of 13 Little Pictures, an independent film collective whose films have garnered critical acclaim all around the world. He is currently pursuing his degree at the California Institute of the Arts. |
| ➞ Contact: | Daniel Hui (danielhsf@hotmail.com) |
➌ Durai and Saro – Prema Menon
Singapore / 2010 / 28 min
| ➞ Synopsis: | Durai is an Indian construction worker, working in Singapore. Trying his best to make ends meet and provide for his family back home, he doubles up as a car washer at night. While washing at his usual neighbourhood carpark one night, he meets a foreign domestic worker, Saro, and he welcomes this newfound friendship. |
| ➞ Director’s Bio: | Prema graduated from Murdoch University in Western Australia where she made her directorial debut with Molu, as part of her honours thesis. Since then, her passion in films grew, leading her to spend time in South India, as assistant director on Tamil and Telegu films. Professionally, Prema has worked with local companies such as Right Angle Media, VHQ TV and Oak 3 Films. She currently runs her own video and event coverage company, Rupture, producing and supporting local independent films, and developing her own film projects. Durai and Saro is Prema’s third short. |
| ➞ Contact: | Prema Menon (prema@rupture.sg) |
➍ A Day Alone (Sehari Sendiri)
– Haidar Afandi
Singapore / 2010 / 5 min
| ➞ Synopsis: | A visual poetry about my father and how I resolve our distant relationship. |
| ➞ Director’s Bio: | Haidar Afandi is currently a student an undergraduate at Nanyang Technological University’s School of Arts, Design and Media, majoring in Fine Arts and Digital Filmmaking. She has made four short films, including Wedlock, which was screened at this year’s Sinema Showoff: The Balik Kampong (Go home to the village) Collection. Daddy, her second short was recently in competition at the Very Short International Film Festival, organized by m.a.d.e in Singapore. |
| ➞ Contact: | Haidar Afandi (haidarsaki@gmail.com) |
➎ Tickets – Sherman Ong
Singapore / 2009 / 10 min / PG
| ➞ Synopsis: | This film centres on Xiao Jing, a ticket seller in an old cinema in Singapore. Coming from China to study acting in Singapore, her ambition is to break into the Singapore film industry as an actress. |
| ➞ Director’s Bio: | Sherman is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer and educator. Straddling fiction and documentary, his films have been exhibited in Europe, US, Brazil and Asia and have won awards in Hong Kong, Greece and Italy, to name a few. He is an alumnus of the 1st Berlinale Talent Campus 2003, with works having premiered at Rotterdam International Film Festival, International Electronic Art Festival VideoBrasil and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. He is an Associate Artist of The Substation, Singapore, has been a jury member at several film festivals, and even mentored at various filmmaking competitions and programs. |
| ➞ Contact: | Sherman Ong (shermanong@gmail.com) |