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 be streamed on demand via Sistic Live Stream.
One work that is available only at the Oldham Theatre is the drama This Is Not A Burial, It's A Resurrection (rating TBA, 120 minutes, screens tomorrow at 4pm and next Friday at 8pm), from Lesotho in South Africa.
Mantoa (Mary Twala Mhlongo) is a widow who has just lost her son - her last remaining child - in a mining accident. Losing the will to live, she prepares for her funeral - but when news comes that her village will be buried under a new dam, her spirit is re-awakened as she gets ready to fight the construction.
WHERE: Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning Rise and Sistic Live Stream WHEN: Till Oct 11 ADMISSION: $12 for Oldham Theatre screenings, $8 for on-demand video. Bundles available INFO: sifa.sg/programmes/film/singular-screens-sifa-v2020
John Lui
ARCHIFEST
This annual sampling of films that deal with architecture is presented by independent cinema The Projector, with screenings in the theatre and on its streaming portal Projector Plus until Oct 30.
The programme includes American documentary The World Before Your Feet (rating TBA, 95 minutes, tomorrow to Oct 10 at The Projector). It follows former engineer Matt Green who quit his job and gave up his possessions and apartment six years ago to fulfil a dream: To walk every part of New York City's 12,800km of roads and paths.
The film follows his walks, resulting in a work that critics have hailed as an inspiring look at a city through the eyes - and feet - of an intrepid hiker.
WHERE: The Projector, Level 5, Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road and The Projector Plus portal MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Till Oct 30 ADMISSION: $13.50
INFO: theprojector.sg/themes/archifest
John Lui
TRAIN
Viu
3.5 Stars
In this crime thriller with a science-fiction twist, South Korean actor Yoon Shi-yoon is Seo Do-won, a cop whose hard-edged attitude might have come from his painful past: His father, assumed to be the murderer in a robbery case, was found dead soon after by the roadside.
The murder victim's daughter, Han Seo-kyung (Kyung Soo-jin), grows up alongside Do-won under the care of Oh Mi-sook (Lee Hang-na). Twelve years later, Seo-kyung is a prosecutor, and Mi-sook a police chief and Do-won's boss.
The trio are faced with a puzzling case: Several sets of skeletons are discovered at a disused train station and they are linked to the old robbery-murder.
The whopper in the tale is then dropped: A train links two parallel worlds and, by taking it, Do-won is able to cross over.
From science fiction to mystery to romance, Train packs in quite a lot. But, at 12 episodes, it is more of an express journey than most K-dramas.
Boon Chan
