ANIMATED MUSICAL
OVER THE MOON (PG)
100 minutes/Now on Netflix
This Netflix animated musical is what Disney's 2020 Mulan should have been: an upbeat celebration of a girl overcoming the odds, not the dour lecture about values that audiences got instead.
As in Mulan, the story here concerns a Chinese girl who is told to know her limits. Admittedly, the stakes are lower: Fei Fei (voiced by Cathy Ang as a teenager) just wants to prove that the legend of the moon goddess Chang'e is real - it's her link to a painful past that she will not release.
In trying to prove to her sceptical family that Chang'e still lives on the moon and pines for her husband, the archer Hou Yi, Fei Fei steps into a looking-glass world of fantastical creatures that embody the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as those that are purely the creation of storytellers.
Glen Keane, director and former Walt Disney Animation Studios alumnus - working with a screenplay by Alice Wu, Audrey Wells and Jennifer Yee McDevitt - lets the songs do the emotional heavy lifting, which is the proper Disney thing to do.
GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUPLE
The 24th edition of the festival will present eight films, which will be screened either at the Projector or online at Projector Plus.
With a title like The Most Beautiful Couple (R21, 95 minutes, 2018, available online till Sunday), it is clear that the intention is ironic, and it is. Malte and Liv (played by Maximilian Bruckner and Luise Heyer) look happy. But Malte is struggling because of Liv's sexual assault some years ago. Writer-director Sven Taddicken's drama has been praised by critics for giving weight to the suffering caused by unresolved trauma.
WHERE Cinema screenings at The Projector, Level 5 Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road; online screenings at Projector Plus
WHEN Till Sunday
ADMISSION $13.50 for in-cinema screenings, $8 for online screenings
INFO theprojector.sg/germanfilmfest
PERSPECTIVES FILM FESTIVAL
INCITEMENT
Singapore's first and longest student-run festival returns with an all-online programme of eight films.
Making its South-east-Asian premiere is Israeli psychological thriller Incitement (2019, M18, 123 minutes). In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by right-wing hardliner Yigal Amir, a law student. The movie tracks Amir (played by Yehuda Nahari Halevi) in the months leading up to the murder, showing the cultural and political trends that affected his thinking.
A review in the Los Angeles Times called the work a chilling portrait of how fanaticism can grow and be enabled. It was Israel's entry for Best International Feature Film at this year's Academy Awards.
WHERE www.perspectivesfilmfestival.com
WHEN Till Sunday
ADMISSION $8 for a 48-hour viewing window. Discounted bundles are available
