These six films tell various stories about youth, whether growing up with absent parents in the English countryside or a South Dakota Indian reservation, or weapon trafficking in Mexico, or existential ennui among privileged Johannesburg youth. Despite seemingly different locales or approaches, at their core the films all revolve around the same complexities of growing up.
1. 600 Miles
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28 Nov, Sat / 2:00PM / National Museum of Singapore
Gabriel Ripstein’s debut feature begins with Mexican teenager Arnulfo Rubio procuring and stowing weapons into his SUV, only to get intercepted by ATF agent Hank Harris, who in turn ends up ambushed and kidnapped. Cue a 600-mile delivery to Rubio’s uncle in Mexico, where drama (and more gunshots) unfolds.
600 miles won the Best First Feature Award at the 65th Berlinale. Starring the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA-winning English thespian Tim Roth as Harris.
2. Songs My Brothers Taught Me
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29 Nov, Sun / 7:00PM / The Projector
The debut feature of Beijing-born Chloé Zhao, Songs My Brothers Taught Me is a sensitive portrait of the contemporary Lakota community as seen through the eyes of two siblings. High-schooler Johnny’s plans to leave for Los Angeles with his girlfriend are stalled after he learns of his absent father’s death. Meanwhile, his younger sister Jashaun finds a father figure in ex-con Travis.
Songs My Brother Taught Me is indicative of its dedication towards an authentic portrayal of a marginalised community, carried forth by a narrative of the discovery of one’s roots, and opening a window that anticipates the future of the community.
3. Light Years
30 Nov, Mon / 7:00PM / The Projector*
*Filmmaker in Attendance
Light Years is the debut feature from Esther May Campbell, whose directing experience includes two episodes of the British TV series Skins, and stars folk singer-songwriter Beth Orton in the role of the ill mother.
Set in a sun-soaked summer’s day in the English countryside, Light Years is about a family of five living in disparate worlds; merely revolving around each other, but never fully connecting. With her older siblings dealing with their own issues, it is Rose, the youngest, who embarks on a lone journey to find their mother, after their father disappears.
4. Beast
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1 Dec, Tue / 9:30PM / The Projector*
*Filmmaker in Attendance
From Australian directors Tom and Sam McKeith, Beast starts with Jamie, a young Filipino-American boxer, killing his opponent in a match rigged to his favour. Despite his father-slash-trainer’s warnings, a guilt-ridden Jamie connects with the deceased’s family to set things right. With the match-fixing syndicate in pursuit to cover up the crime, Jamie goes on the run, but also on a pathway towards atonement and maturity.
Beast stars Chad McKinney, a Filipino-American amateur boxer discovered by the McKeiths in a Manila gym. Drawing on his own personal experiences, McKinney has been commended for his “powerful physical presence” that calls to mind Vin Diesel and a young Marlon Brando. The film also stars Angeli Bayani of Ilo Ilo fame.
5. Demons
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2 Dec, Wed / 7:00PM / The Projector
Philippe Lesage’s Demons is about Felix, an ordinary nine year-old boy who lives in a French-Canadian suburb with his parents, brother and sister. Over the course of a few weeks or months, we watch him grow up in school, at the playground and at home, together with those around him. Like any child, the world often appears terrifying. Whether it is one’s first confession of love or the threat of danger, everything is new and magnified to Felix. However, without the benefit of hindsight, he is unable to distinguish between the sinister and the embarrassing.
6. The Kids
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3 Dec, Thu / 4:30PM / The Arts House
4 Dec, Fri / 7:00PM / National Museum of Singapore*
*Filmmaker in Attendance
An in competition film under the Silver Screen Awards Asian Feature Film Competition, The Kids is a sweet and poignant tale about a teenage married couple, the headstrong but responsible Pao-li and his wife Jia-jia, who share a single room flat with their baby daughter and Pao-li’s gambler mother. Life may not be a bed of roses, but Pao-li has plan to move to a bigger flat and rekindle his relationship with the increasingly distant Jia-jia.
As the film unfolds, we are offered glimpses of the couple’s burgeoning love story, which puts into context the characters’ various motivations as they struggle to cope with family life and even, infidelities.
Note: This film’s 3 Dec screening at The Arts House is part of our Weekday Matinee Students’ Special Package.
7. Necktie Youth
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5 Dec, Sat / 9:30PM / The Projector
Beyond Johannesburg’s crime-ridden ghettos of Tsotsi and District 9, lies the unseen nouveau riche of South Africa: privileged youth who carry with them an existential loneliness that comes with a certain degree of affluence. Starting with the graphic suicide of a young woman, who live streamed the event to the sedated horror of her peers, Necktie Youth soon plunges into a stark and harsh aftermath of her death, and the nihilistic resignation of a generation grappling with its own ennui.
Shot entirely in black and white, the 23-year-old Sibs Shongwe-La Mer’s debut feature is a caustic and naturalistic look at a side of Johannesburg that the international audience rarely sees.