Film picks: Singapore International Film Festival, French Film Festival, Cartoons Underground
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In the documentary Youth (Spring), Chinese documentary maker Wang Bing puts viewers in the shoes of workers whose labour has made China the global centre of textile manufacturing. PHOTO: SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
PHOTO: SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
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Singapore International Film Festival
Chinese documentary-maker Wang Bing’s portrait of a dying woman, Mrs Fang (2017), won the top prize of the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival, so his new film deserves attention.
Wang made his reputation with films that reveal the lives of those at the bottom rung of society.
Youth (Spring) (NC16, 212 minutes, screens at Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning Rise, Dec 3, 2pm) is a three-hour-plus look at the factory workers who labour to make cheap fashion possible.
Zhili town in Zhejiang province, known as the children’s clothing capital of China, is home to 18,000 small workshops. Here, young people toil at sewing machines, form friendships and meet life partners.
Wang’s camera follows them as they discuss unwanted pregnancies, plan action against wage-stealing bosses and dream about better lives away from the factory floor and worker dormitories.
The film earned Wang a Palme d’Or nomination at 2023’s Cannes Film Festival. It is also a Best Documentary nominee at the 2023 Golden Horse Film Festival.
Trade magazine Variety calls the film long and oppressive, but also “revealing a desolate truth”, while The New York Times describes it as an exhortation not to forget the unseen.
Where: Various venues, including Filmgarde Kallang, Golden Village x The Projector at Cineleisure and Gallery Theatre at the National Museum of Singapore sgiff.com
MRT: Various
When: Nov 30 to Dec 10, various times
Admission: Free and ticketed (from $10)
Info:
Cartoons Underground
Among the films featured at independent animation festival Cartoons Underground is Pig (2022), which deals with the abuse of Earth's resources.
PHOTO: CARTOONS UNDERGROUND
Since 2012, this independent animation festival has showcased the work of yet-to-be-discovered film-makers as well as titles from internationally recognised directors.
For its 12th edition, festival director Jerrold Chong has selected 15 films from more than 1,500 submissions worldwide.
Among the films featured at independent animation festival Cartoons Underground is The Square City (2022).
PHOTO: CARTOONS UNDERGROUND
Among the films is Pig (2022), from Dutch film-maker Jorn Leeuwerink, a fable about the use of earth’s resources told through the story of animals who use a pig as a source of energy.
In The Square City (2022), Hong Kong film-makers Ruth Lam, Chow On Wa and Liu Ka Lok feature the character of Bong, a Hong Konger who does not let his crowded surroundings rob him of imagination or optimism.
Where: The Projector, 05-00 Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road cartoonsunderground.com
MRT: Nicoll Highway
When: Nov 25, 7.30pm
Admission: $18 (standard)
Info:
Voilah! French Film Festival 2023
French animated feature Mars Express explores artificial intelligence and humanness in the format of a detective thriller.
PHOTO: VOILAH! FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
Presented by the Embassy of France in Singapore and its local partners, the festival in 2023 features 38 titles, ranging from adventure stories for kids to mystery dramas.
Trade publication Variety calls the animated feature Mars Express (2023) “an anime-influenced noirish sci-fi thriller that takes an uncommon spin on modern anxieties”, while film magazine Screen praised it as a technically accomplished work that addresses people’s relationship with artificial intelligence.
Set in the year 2200, Mars Express (NC16, 83 minutes, screens at The Projector, Saturday and Nov 25, various times) follows private eye Aline Ruby and her robot partner Carlos on the trail of a hacker who has fled to Mars. In the depths of the Red Planet, Aline stumbles on a conspiracy more sinister than anyone could have anticipated.
French director Jeremie Perin’s film won Best Feature at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, one of the most prestigious in the world for animation.
Where: Various locations, including Shaw Theatres Lido, Shaw Theatres PLQ, Alliance Francaise de Singapour and The Projector voilah.sg/french-film-festival-2023
MRT: Various
When: Till Nov 21, various times
Admission: From $13
Info:
