More than just regulars on SGIFF (they have collectively won 11 Silver Screen Awards) and the film festival circuit, these four filmmakers—Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand), Brillante Mendoza (Philippines), Eric Khoo (Singapore) and Garin Nugroho (Indonesia)—have helped shape cinema: not just in their home countries, but also in Southeast Asia. This time around, the latest films from these four directors will all be screening at SGIFF—albeit over two packed days—and come complete with Q&A sessions with the directors themselves.
1. In the Room
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1 Dec, Tue / 7:45PM / Marina Bay Sands*
*Filmmaker in Attendance
An ode to Singapore, In the Room is told through various private encounters spanning different decades within a hotel room. Containing all the hallmarks of Eric Khoo’s oeuvre–a distilled nod towards his love for horror, an empathetic approach towards cruelty, and the constant search for the transitory moments of human tenderness–it is perhaps his most ambitious and personal feature film, and the perfect bookend to a year of jubilee celebrations.
2. Taklub
1 Dec, Tue / 7:45PM / Shaw Theatres Lido*
*Filmmaker in Attendance
Marking the SGIFF return of Brillante Mendoza, who swept through the 2008 Silver Screen Awards, is Taklub. The Philippine entry to this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Taklub is set in the city of Tacloban at the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan, and is a raw and powerful take on the disaster film genre.
In the film, Bebeth, Larry and Erwin continue to try and pick up the pieces amidst the destruction, searching for the ones they have lost. With death and despair hanging in the air, the remaining survivors in the city have little to no faith left to believe that salvation is nearing. With more trouble coming their way, will the trio live through to see the end of this perfect storm?
3. The Hijra
2 Dec, Wed / 7:00PM / National Gallery Singapore*
*Filmmaker in Attendance
From one of Indonesia’s most acclaimed filmmakers is The Hijra, a well-crafted biopic of H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto, an Indonesian nationalist who is much better known in his native land. The film effectively ditches the usual civil tirades associated with political films but focuses instead on the enigmatic Tjokroaminoto, who, not unlike the canon of self-sacrificial heroes, chooses to give up a life of relative comfort as a civil servant of the Dutch government to pursue the holy cause of using Islam as a political entity, so as to challenge the administration and reclaim power for the people.
4. Cemetery of Splendour
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2 Dec, Wed / 9:30PM / Shaw Theatres Lido*
*Filmmaker in Attendance
Quite possibly Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s most accessible film to date, this still dreamy foray features the director’s muse Jenjira Pongpas Widner as a middle-aged volunteer who is tending to a mysterious group of soldiers in deep slumber. She befriends gentle soldier Itt (Banlop Lomnoi) as he drifts in and out of sleep, recalling mystic tales of past histories replete with ancient warriors and forgotten kingdoms, and Jeng (Jarinpattra Rueangram), a local psychic who communicates with the soldiers while they dream.