PAINTING WITH LIGHT
National Gallery Singapore's festival of international films about art returns for its third edition. This time, however, it is all online and free.
Among the 20 short films and features in the programme line-up is the short film Tenebrae (G, 16 minutes) from Singapore film-maker Nicole Midori Woodford. It tells the story of Iris, who, with her mother, must move their possessions out of the Pearl Bank Apartments, which have been earmarked for demolition. It is an act fraught with meaning and memories for both mother and child.
WHERE: National Gallery Singapore's Painting With Light website WHEN: Today to Oct 25 ADMISSION: Free INFO: nationalgallery.sg/paintingwithlight
John Lui
SINGULAR SCREENS
Since 2018, this film component of the Singapore International Festival of the Arts has showcased bold films from all over the world.
This year, viewers can watch all seven films, curated by the Asian Film Archive, at the Oldham Theatre. Selected films can also be streamed on demand via Sistic Live Stream.
New tickets have been released for the popular Last And First Men (PG, 70 minutes, screening on Monday, 8pm), the late Icelandic composer-turned-director Johann Johannsson's interpretation of Olaf Stapledon's influential 1930 science-fiction novel of the same name.
Johannsson, whose compositions adorn the soundtracks of films such as Arrival (2016) and Sicario (2015), wrote the music for his own cinematic essay, set in a far-off future when evidence of the lost human race is contained in a set of concrete monuments.
WHERE: Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning Rise, and Sistic Live Stream MRT: Fort Canning WHEN: Till Oct 11 Tickets: $12 for Oldham screenings, $8 for on-demand video. Bundles are available. INFO: str.sg/JBag
John Lui
GO AHEAD
iQiyi
4 Stars
This drama looks at what defines a family and has at its heart an unconventional family brought together by love as much as circumstances.
Widower Li Haichao is very much a dream dad if not quite a dream boat. He is kept busy running a neighbourhood noodle shop, but never fails to prepare three meals for his young daughter Jianjian.
When the couple upstairs - policeman Ling Heping and wife Chen Ting - keep having fights, Li invites their troubled son Ling Xiao home for meals. Wrecked by guilt over the death of her daughter, Chen later walks out on the marriage and leaves behind her son.
Another boy, He Ziqiu, ends up living with Li after his single mother He Mei - whom Li is introduced to by a matchmaker - leaves the boy in his care.
The early episodes of this drama are suffused with charm - actor Tu Songyan radiates warmth as Li, who loves cooking and taking care of children. The young actors playing the children are naturals, especially the two boys who manage to convey their characters' feelings of hurt.
The show's writing is a cut above the rest, with its poignant observation, for example, on how people drift apart and are left with little to say to each other - and this awkwardness is often amplified by instant messaging tools.
Ho Ai Li
This article has been edited for clarity.
