In the Oscar-nominated Armand, a school meeting turns into a psychological battleground

Armand (PG13) – European Film Festival

116 minutes

Norwegian film-maker Halfdan Ullmann Tondel comes from a distinguished bloodline, being the grandson of actress and film-maker Liv Ullmann and film-maker Ingmar Bergman. His first feature comes to Singapore after winning the Camera d’Or for best first feature at Cannes 2024 and was Norway’s official submission to the Academy Awards.

The psychological thriller Armand will screen on May 15 at 8pm at Filmhouse, as part of the 35th European Film Festival (EUFF), presented by the European Union Delegation to Singapore.

Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve – who broke out internationally in Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person In The World (2021) and recently earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for his critically acclaimed drama Sentimental Value (2025) – plays Elisabeth, a mother called to her son Armand’s school after the six-year-old is accused of inappropriate behaviour towards another boy. The rest of the film unfolds in the school, as the tense meeting descends into a painful interrogation coloured by personal grudges and moral panic.

Online entertainment portal Screen Rant calls the drama mesmerising, adding that Reinsve gives a stunning performance in a film where “every creative element comes together and increases the tension, making it a thrill to watch, even when some odd choices are made”.

The 35th EUFF features 30 screenings from 24 countries across three venues.

Where: Capitol Theatre (17 Stamford Road), Filmhouse (Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road) and German European School Singapore (2 Dairy Farm Lane)
MRT: City Hall/Nicoll Highway/Hillview
When: Till May 24, various timings
Admission: Tickets cost $16.50 each, with concessions available for students, seniors and full-time national servicemen. Screenings at the German European School Singapore are free
Info: euff.com.sg

The Soong Sisters (PG13)

141 minutes

Hong Kong film-maker Mabel Cheung’s sweeping historical epic, released in 1997, traces the lives of the Soong sisters, daughters of a Shanghai merchant whose ambitions would carry the women into the heart of modern Chinese history.

Ai-ling (Michelle Yeoh), the eldest, chose money and married wealthy industrialist H.H. Kung. Ching-ling (Maggie Cheung) wed the revolutionary father of the country Sun Yat-sen. And Mei-ling (Vivian Wu), the youngest, became the wife of wartime nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek. The women would use their influence and charm to shape political struggles – often in opposing directions – over one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history.

The film earned three accolades at the 1997 Golden Horse Awards, for Best Art Direction, Original Score and Sound Effects, while at the 1998 Hong Kong Film Awards, Maggie Cheung won Best Actress.

Asian Film Strike, a site specialising on reviewing Asian films, says that director Cheung, art director Eddie Ma and cinematographer Arthur Wong have crafted “a gorgeous film – vivid, detailed and evocative, with an epic sweep to it”.

The film is in Mandarin with English subtitles and screens at GV Century Square on April 11 at 7pm; and at GV VivoCity on April 12 at 4pm. It is part of Golden Village’s Hong Kong Classics Rewind, with the theme of Her Time, Her Power.

Where: GV VivoCity (02-30, 1 HarbourFront Walk) and GV Century Square (05-11, 2 Tampines Central)
MRT: HarbourFront/Tampines
When: Till April 19, various timings
Admission: $18.50 for the public and $16.50 for GV Movie Club members
Info: bit.ly/HKCR-GV

Singapore Chinese Film Festival 2026

Taiwan-based Malaysian film-maker Lau Kek Huat made his name exploring the complex history and identity of South-east Asia’s Chinese diaspora.

The Waves Will Carry Us (2025, NC16, 100 minutes) is said to be his most ambitious film yet. The drama has been selected as the opening film of the 14th Singapore Chinese Film Festival, organised by the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Singapore Film Society (SFS).

When Yao (Taiwanese actor Wei Chun-chan) returns to Malaysia to bury his father, the religious police arrive to claim the body for an Islamic cemetery, setting off a tragicomic turn of events.

Yao, his sister Yun (Taiwanese actress Vera Chen) and his brother Cai (Malaysian actor Fabian Loo) have a reunion, each nursing grief in their own way and trying to reckon with a father whose death has set off arguments about national identity, one which the film illustrates with flashbacks to Qing Dynasty-era migrations to Malaya.

Chen won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Horse Awards in 2025 for her performance as the sister caught in the middle of the squabble. Asian cinema portal Asian Movie Pulse says the film gives “a deeply personal narrative based on real-life events, with strong storytelling, elegant cinematography and nuanced performances”.

The Waves Will Carry Us will have a ticketed screening at Golden Village Bugis+ on April 25 at 11.30am.

Where: GV Bugis+ (05-01, 201 Victoria Street) and GV Funan (05-01, 107 North Bridge Road)
MRT: Bugis/City Hall
When: April 24 to May 3, various timings
Admission: $16; $15 for SFS members, SUSS staff/students/alumni and GV Movie Club members. Tickets available at Golden Village box offices and gv.com.sg
Info: scff.sg