Septfest 2015: Asian Film Symposium

Credits: Image from Objectifs

The long weekend is upon us, at last! Coincidentally, so is the Asian Film Symposium (AFS), which will be held from 10 to 13 September 2015. Returning after a hiatus of 6 years, AFS invites filmmakers from around Southeast Asia to produce short films and share them with a local audience.

An exciting development this year is the introduction of a theme, ‘Pop! Culture’, which allows filmmakers from around the region to demonstrate how they interpret this theme based on their individual cultural backgrounds. The synopses of the short films already cover a variety of topics, with filmmakers exploring love, food, the LGBT community and technology, among others. These topics will sound familiar to most, since they are pertinent to Singapore as well.

Apart from film screenings, which are paid, AFS also invites the public to free dialogue sessions covering topics like independent cinema and pop culture.

The revival of this film festival is a welcome addition to the existing crop of film events in Singapore. As one of the key film events in Singapore when it first started, AFS provides a platform for filmmakers to network and showcase their works. Audiences will rejoice at this chance to watch even more non-mainstream films, with AFS adding to existing film events like A Design Film Festival, Perspectives Film Festival and international showcases like the Japanese Film festival and Israel Film Festival.

Organised by two non-profit arts organisations, The Substation and Objectifs, AFS intends to be an annual affair again. While the response thus far has been positive, according to the organisers, it remains to be seen if funding for the event can be sustained. After all, it stopped in its 8th edition back in 2008 because of financing difficulties.

It seems that Singaporeans are getting more interested in filmmaking nowadays, so AFS might have a longer lifespan this time. In any case, let’s just keep our fingers crossed and our support strong!

Asian Film Symposium
10 – 13 September 2015
The Substation Theatre and Objectifs
$10 (concession tickets at $7 for NSF, Senior Citizens and Students)
More information at the Asian Film Symposium website

Bringing a Rooftop to Life

In the heart of Chinatown, People’s Park Complex stands out as the only green and yellow building amidst a sea of reds, whites and pastel shades. Like most of Chinatown, it bears the marks of age. Yet, its rooftop is home to activities that are far from old.

Enter rooftop parties. It’s a case of anything goes, from film screenings to concerts and yoga parties (yes, this might be an odd term, but there aren’t many ways to describe a combination of beer and yoga). It’s an excellent use of an otherwise disused space, and coincidentally fitting for this mixed-use development, which opened in 1973. Designed with a lower commercial podium and an upper residential block, the building was intended to facilitate social interactions. The commercial podium featured a large internal atrium that allowed nearby residents to mingle on a daily basis while the residential blocks were planned with large open corridors for neighbours to interact. With social life being the spirit of its design, the current use of the rooftop (formerly a car park) appears in style.

These rooftop parties are a new phenomenon, taking off only with establishment of tapas bar Lepark in early 2015. The first event hosted there was a mini music festival, Getai Electronica, which allowed visitors to chill to the sounds of local groove and electronica acts amidst the heritage and nostalgia of the Chinatown landscape. Recently, the rooftop played host to UrbanSCAPE, a collaboration between Lepark, Afterglow and InTheLoop. UrbanSCAPE brought people together with yoga and two outdoor live music sessions by local bands.

What’s particularly encouraging about these parties is Lepark’s support of local artists. The unique location has the potential to draw more people, giving local musicians the opportunity to reach out to a larger audience. The same can be said for local filmmakers, with the recent Singapore Stories that was hosted in collaboration with Discovery Channel Southeast Asia. Presenting documentaries by up-and-coming Singapore filmmakers, it was held after a block party that allowed visitors to take a nostalgic trip back in time with games like Five Stones and Jenga.

Attending an event on a rooftop is definitely something that ought to go on a To-do list (it certainly is on mine). For the curious, the next event is VOIDFEST, held on 25 and 26 July 2015. A collaboration between VOID and Lepark, VOIDFEST will feature local musicians representing a range of genres, like Gareth Fernandez, Ferry x Cherie, Amanda Tee and Hubbabubbas.

Rewind/Remind: A Film Festival by the Singapore Memory Project

A look at Singapore through the eyes of local filmmakers. The Rewind/Remind project, which began in 23 May 2015, has been showing Singaporeans just that, with a series of short films that showcase snippets of life in Singapore. It was initiated as part of the country’s SG50 celebrations. The film festival runs until 25 July 2015 and is presented in collaboration with the National Library Board.

Already the festival has been a hit, with all screenings until the end of the festival, except for one, being fully booked. I was lucky enough to get tickets to the 14th June screening at Tampines Regional Library, which featured four films. These were The Violin by Robot Playground Media, Old Friends by Chuan Pictures, Centerpoint Kidz by Bobbing Buoy Films, and The Studio by Sun Koh. And yes, Chuan Pictures does refer to Roystan Tan and his team. Old Friends is the third in a trilogy which includes Old Places and Old Romances.