Singular Screens curated by Asian Film Archive

Featuring a selection of films 18 MAY - 2 JUN celebrating independent and singular visions from Singapore and around the world.

CURATED BY

Screening Room, Festival House and Oldham Theatre, National Archives of Singapore

Mabel plays a blind woman with Rosenthal, an actor with real life facial deformity. As their onscreen characters engage in a twisted romance, Mabel and Rosenthal develop a special relationship off-camera.

Aspiring actress Vicki think she has gotten the role of her life in director Daniel’s new play. But when her role casts her into endless torture, Vicki takes matters into her own hands.

ASIAN PREMIERE

CHAINED FOR LIFE (USA) Aaron Schimberg / 2018 / 91 min English 18 May, Sat 4pm Oldham Theatre

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

DEMONS (Singapore)

Daniel Hui / 2018 /83 min English, Mandarin with English subtitles 18 May, Sat 8pm 26 May, Sun 2pm Oldham Theatre

Jakub overstays in Bosnia and fears being deported. He resists the temptation to earn easy cash to obtain a visa, until he realises everyone around him is doing what they need to survive.

SINGAPORE PREMIERE

TEMPORARY VISA

(Singapore, Bosnia and Herzegovina) Ghazi Alqudcy / 2018 / 123min English, Bosnian with English subtitles 19 May, Sun 5pm Oldham Theatre 25 May, Sat 2pm Screening Room

Two Danish-Korean adoptees return for the first time to the birth country. Karoline and Thomas are hurled into a journey that forces them both to question their own destiny and identity.

Bright Future Award, Special Mention International Film Festival Rotterdam 2018 Special Jury Prize – Jeonju International Film Festival 2018 European Jury Prize – Brussels International Film Festival 2018

SINGAPORE PREMIERE

THE RETURN (Denmark, South Korea) Malene Choi Jensen / 2018 / 87 min Danish, English, Korean with English subtitles 19 May, Sun 8pm Oldham Theatre 25 May, Sat 5pm Screening Room

Martin Ward is a cove fisherman.

His brother Steven has re-purposed their father’s vessel as a tourist tripper.

As Martin struggles to restore the family to their traditional place, a tragedy changes his world.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

BAIT (UK)

Mark Jenkin / 2018 / 87 min English 19 May, Sun 5pm 22 May, Wed 8pm Screening Room

After five years, Aoey returns to Nakorn-Sawan.

She seeks the Pak Nam Po River to send her mother to the afterworld. The film includes a documentary of the director’s father and a portrait of her mother.

Observation Mission for Asian Cinema Award – Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2018

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

NAKORN-SAWAN (Thailand) Puangsoi Akornsawang / 2018 / 76 min Thai with English subtitles 20 May, Mon 2pm Oldham Theatre

Denying his duty, fifteen-year-old Ihjãc runs away to the city to escape becoming a shaman. Far from his people and culture, he faces the reality of being an indigenous in contemporary Brazil.

A Super-8 silent film transforms into a spooky story featuring “undead” protagonists.

A secretary confronts an evil doppelgänger.

A woodsman is pursued by his dead sons.

A widow of an old Nazi film collector organises a film screening.

Jury Special Prize (Un Certain Regard) – Cannes International Film Festival 2018 Best Direction Award, Best Cinematography Award – Rio International Film Festival 2018

FIPRESCI Prize Winner – Berlinale Forum 2019

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

THE DEAD AND THE OTHERS (Brazil, Portugal)

João Salaviza & Renée Nader Messora / 2018 / 114 min Krahô, Portugese with English subtitles 20 May, Mon 5pm Oldham Theatre

Adnan is a revolutionary war hero. When an unexpected event causes him and his friend Absi to leave the military unit, the duo plot ways to reunite Adnan with his gun and with his sweetheart Lina.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

AKASHA (Sudan, South Africa, Qatar, Germany) Hajooj Kuka / 2018 / 78 min Arabic with English subtitles 22 May, Mon 8pm Oldham Theatre

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

DIE KINDER DER TOTEN (Austria) Kelly Copper & Pavol Liska / 2019 / 90 min German intertitles with English subtitles 20 May, Mon 8pm 24 May, Fri 8pm Screening Room

Diamantino, the world’s premiere soccer star loses his touch and ends his career in disgrace.

Searching for a new purpose, the international icon sets on a delirious odyssey.

Grand Prize – Semaine de la Critique, Cannes International Film Festival 2018

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

DIAMANTINO (Portugal, France, Brazil) Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt / 2018 / 92 min Portugese with English subtitles 25 May, Sat 8pm Oldham Theatre 31 May, Fri 8pm Screening Room

Millions of Chinese engage in live streaming.

As poverty, physical shortcomings or gender prevent them from taking part in the real world.

They search for human connection through virtual togetherness.

This journey into the depths of city’s subconscious blends scenes from life, reminiscences and highly emotional moments, as the city’s inhabitants explore their emotions towards the place they live in.

Winner of Tiger Competition – International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019 Puma Award Special Mention – UNAM International Film Fest 2019 Young Jury Award Special Mention – Cinéma du Réel 2019

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

PRESENT.PERFECT. (USA, Hong Kong) Zhu Shengze / 2019 / 124 min Mandarin with English subtitles 25 May, Sat 5pm Oldham Theatre 29 May, Wed 8pm Screening Room

SINGAPORE PREMIERE

ASIAN PREMIERE

DIAGNOSIS (Poland)

Ewa Podgórska / 2018 / 78 min Polish, French with English subtitles 2 Jun, Sun 2pm Oldham Theatre

While Jonaki, an 80-year-old woman, searches for love in a strange world of decaying memories, her lover, now old and grey, returns to a world she is leaving behind.

January 2016.

France, in shock from the November terror attacks, is in a state of emergency.

The love story that brought me to Alsace has ended. At 45, lost and helpless, I decide to record this stagnation.

Silver Gateway Award – India Gold, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2018

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

ASIAN PREMIERE

JONAKI

JUST DON’T THINK I’LL SCREAM

Aditya Vikram Sengupta / 2018 / 95 min Bengali with English subtitles 26 May, Sun 5pm Oldham Theatre

Frank Beauvais / 2019 / 75 min French with English subtitles 26 May, Sun 8pm Screening Room

(France, India, Singapore)

(France)

It is the summer of 1990, Chile.

In an isolated community below the Andes, teenagers Sofía, Lucas and Clara struggle with their parents, first love, and fears as they prepare for a New Year’s Eve party.

The Philippines, 1901.

A young boy flees to escape the American occupation. After he finds a toddler in a sea of corpses, the boys struggle to hold on to their childhood and survive in the howling wilderness.

Leopard for Best Direction – Locarno International Film Festival 2018 Winner for Best Director and Best Cinematography – Gijón International Film Fest 2018 Winner of KNF Award – International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019

SINGAPORE PREMIERE

Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay – FAMAS Awards 2018 Best Picture and Best Director – Quezon City International Film Festival (QCinema) 2017

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

SINGAPORE PREMIERE

TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG

BALANGIGA: HOWLING WILDERNESS

Dominga Sotomayor / 2018 / 110 min Spanish with English subtitles 29 May, Wed 8pm Oldham Theatre 1 Jun, Sat 5pm Screening Room

Khavn / 2018/ 116 min Waray with English subtitles 24 May, Fri 8pm Oldham Theatre

(Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, Qatar)

Belonging makes a topographic observation by following the crime locations 15 years after the incident, accompanied by statements given by the suspects.

Then, it shows the night that the murderous couple met.

(Philippines)

Romina takes a break from her marriage to visit her mother in Buenos Aires.

Reflecting on her crisis with feminity and identity, the semiautobiographical film follows Romina, her son and mother in a journey of self-discovery.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

BELONGING (Turkey) Burak Çevik / 2019 / 73 min Turkish with English subtitles 1 Jun, Sat 2pm Screening Room

ASIAN PREMIERE

AGAIN ONCE AGAIN (Argentina) Romina Paula / 2019 / 84 min Spanish, German with English subtitles 1 Jun, Sat 8pm Oldham Theatre

Part film, part baptism, Black Mother director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual journey through Jamaica, with a succession of vividly rendered souls who call this island home.

Yellow Robin award – Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam 2018

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

BLACK MOTHER (USA)

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

NONA. IF THEY SOAK ME, I’LL BURN THEM

Khalik Allah / 2018 / 77 min English with subtitles 31 May, Fri 8pm Oldham Theatre

(Chile, Brazil, France, South Korea) Camila José Donoso / 2019 / 86 min Spanish with English subtitles 1 Jun, Sat 5pm Oldham Theatre

Aki and Nodoka are childhood friends who are drifting apart.

The film stages their interactions through an actors’ table-read, as the scenes develop into an on-location friendship and family.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

DOMAINS (Japan)

After an act of vengeance on her ex-lover’s home, Nona flees to her summer house. Then, a series of forest fires engulfs her neighbours. As the story unfolds, Nona reveals her many different sides.

Kusano Natsuka / 2019 / 150 min Japanese with English subtitles 2 Jun, Sun 2pm Screening Room

In these two interconnected films, director Tsai Ming Liang captures Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall (Light) and people on the streets of Taipei (Your Face), unfolding the stories hidden within the passage of time.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE

LIGHT + YOUR FACE (Taiwan) Tsai Ming-Liang / 2018 / 18 min & 77 min Mandarin with English subtitles 2 Jun, Sun 5pm Oldham Theatre

Ratings for all films are to be advised. Please refer to sifa.sg for the latest film ratings.

AGAIN ONCE AGAIN

2 Jun, Sun

1 Jun, Sat

31 May, Fri

30 May, Thu

29 May, Wed

26 May, Sun

25 May, Sat

24 May, Fri

23 May, Thu

22 May, Wed

21 May, Tue

20 May, Mon

FILMS

19 May, Sun

18 May, Sat

SINGULAR SCREENS AT A GLANCE

8pm

AKASHA

8pm

BAIT

5pm

8pm

BALANGIGA: HOWLING WILDERNESS

8pm

BELONGING

2pm

BLACK MOTHER

8pm

CHAINED FOR LIFE

4pm

DEMONS

8pm

2pm

DIAGNOSIS

2pm

DIAMANTINO

8pm

DIE KINDER DER TOTEN

8pm

8pm

8pm

DOMAINS

2pm

JONAKI

5pm

JUST DON'T THINK I'LL SCREAM

8pm

LIGHT + YOUR FACE

5pm

NAKORN-SAWAN

2pm

NONA. IF THEY SOAK ME, I WILL BURN THEM

5pm

PRESENT.PERFECT

5pm

TEMPORARY VISA

5pm

THE DEAD AND THE OTHERS

8pm

2pm 5pm

THE RETURN

8pm

5pm

TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG

8pm

5pm

OLDHAM THEATRE, NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SINGAPORE 1 Canning Rise, Singapore 179868 SCREENING ROOM, FESTIVAL HOUSE 1 Old Parliament Lane, Singapore 179429

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