The HDB estate in Singapore films: A place where dreams go to die or a place of poetry?

Zakka: Miscellaneous Joy features Mr Herman Yap in his Telok Blangah 3-room flat. PHOTO: VIDDSEE
A still from Eating Air featuring Benjamin Heng and Alvina Toh. PHOTO: BOKU FILMS
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SINGAPORE -You are watching a movie. The story moves to a Housing Board estate. As always, there is "that" shot: a wide-angle look at the buildings, row upon row, all alike, fading into the distance. What goes through your mind?

Keep in mind that films that hope to reflect the lives of everyday people in Singapore are, inevitably, films about life in those blocks.

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