CINEWA JAPANESE CINEMA SUNDAYS
This showcase of films is a prelude to the main Japanese Film Festival coming up later in the year.
Kamome Diner (PG, 102 minutes, 2006) is a comedy about three Japanese women running a cafe in Helsinki, Finland. The food is tasty, but customers are staying away. Then one day, a boy with an anime obsession shows up.
WHERE: The Projector, 6001 Beach Road, Golden Mile Tower, 05-00 MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Sunday, 2.30pm ADMISSION: $13 INFO: theprojector.sg
MINDS FILM FESTIVAL
The first festival here dealing with intellectual disability issues features the award-winning British film My Feral Heart (NC16, 83 minutes), a bittersweet drama starring Steven Brandon (photo), an actor with Down syndrome. He plays Luke, who is taken into state care after the death of his mother.
Co-organised by the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) and the Singapore Film Society, the screening will start with an introduction by director Jane Gull.
WHERE: GV Plaza, 68 Orchard Road, Plaza Singapura, 07-01 MRT: Dhoby Ghaut WHEN: July 30, 1.30pm ADMISSION: $6 INFO: For bookings and schedule, go to www.gv.com.sg
BE WITH ME (M18)
93 minutes, 2005
Ms Teresa Chan Poh Lin (photo) died last month of lung cancer. She gained prominence after a profile in The Straits Times caught the attention of film-maker Eric Khoo, who featured her in his omnibus work, Be With Me, which went on to open the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ms Chan, who grew up poor in Chinatown, lost her hearing and sight because of a meningitis infection in her teens, went on to become a teacher to the blind.
Part of the proceeds from this screening will go to her favourite charity, the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
WHERE: The Projector, 6001 Beach Road, Golden Mile Tower, 05-00 MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Aug 4, 8 pm ADMISSION: $13 INFO: theprojector.sg
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (M18)
119 minutes, 4.5 stars
Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen, photo) and his brood have set up home in the forests of the Pacific North-west. No phones, computers or screens of any kind distract the kids from hunting-gathering, meditation, strenuous exercise and readings from the classics of the American Left. Ben's goal is to raise a generation of philosopher-kings.
After a decade of isolation, an emergency forces them to leave their refuge. The group smacks headfirst into junk culture, high-fructose-corn-syrup America.
Matt Ross won the directing prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes for this work, filled with memorable characters and winning performances, especially from the children.
