Found in translation: "881"

At times, a few words are more telling than so many pictures (or 24 frames per second for that matter). See for yourself, as Munich based company Sunfilm Entertainment in Germany has released a German version of Royston Tan’s third feature “881” – and they absolutely had to change the title. Now it’s become so revealing, it’s “Singapur Queens” actually!



To be nothing but fact oriented on the issue, I have to admit that it’s been released early January this year and selling not too bad; at least not as last time I checked on our local Berlin retailer and all copies were positively gone (i.e. sold apparently). Now forget about your lofty idealism for once and just revel in the sheer magnitude of the event, this is groundbreaking: the first ever German market hardcopy release of any Singaporean feature film and it is so much Heavenly Cheese, this is gorgeous, ha!
The distributor signed the deal after the Berlinale EFM (European Film Market) last year where “881” had three professional market screenings. And in keeping with their astonishingly good portfolio which includes a number of true gems of Asian cinema like my favourite “Dare mo shiranai/Nobody Knows” by Koreeda Hirokazu or “Tampopo” among others, Sunfilm packaged it nicely. Thus the region 2 PAL DVD comes with your standard German dubbing (horrible!), the English subtitled making-of (sic!), a new motto (“Born to Dance” – where did that come from?) and complete with the vol. 1 OST to enjoy! This is a must-have, definitely (and you can get it here).

And while you’re at it, enriching your collection, I shall point you to the upcoming DVD release of same director’s masterpiece “4:30” to go on sale March 16^th in the UK (pre-order here). Just look at the beautiful cover:



(pics©Sunfilm Entertainment | Pecadillo Pictures ltd)

SIFF’s alive!

The old spirit returns with renewed life: For the 22^nd time Singapore International Film Festival will open its doors and screens April 14 – 25 to bring a sightly selection of films from Asia and the world at large to the festival faithful and cinema enthusiasts. There is a lot to look forward to in this edition and the effort as such is noble as can be. I sense quite a bit of defiance and will power at work in the event. Stubbornness can be a virtue, too (in times like these)!
Apart from the international feature competition and the defining Silver Screen Awards (and for the first time this year) there are the Singapore Film Awards for local (i.e. Singaporean) feature films to acknowledge excellence in the categories of: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Performance (actors/actresses, all in one, sic!) and Best Cinematography. That in itself I reckon to be a good choice. For the rest, you should have a look at the nominees: here.

The full programme and schedule you will find on the official webby: here.

(pic©Singapore International Film Festival 2009)

AHSB 2009: winners all around

According to all sources, the second edition of ASIAN HOT SHOTS BERLIN film festival which wrapped January 18^th with its official Awards Ceremony and Closing Film, has been a success. Steady crowds found their way to the screenings at cinema Babylon, witnessed an ambitious shorts competition, a diverse programme and inspiring discussion panels, and also took part in the audience voting to determine the green chilies award winners in the festival’s two categories for short and feature length films. An additional special award, the Manfred Durniok Prize, was introduced this year in recognition of outstanding achievements in furthering the idea and value of Asian-European cultural exchange in the medium of film. Since it is a widely held belief that any image says more than a thousand words, I shall leave it to the award winning pictures to testify to the strength of this year’s competitions and end with the following: AHSB organizers would like to thank everybody involved, our more than 30 international guests as well as our honourable sponsors for making this possible; we are looking forward to our continued cooperation and hope to see you again next year!

2009 winners are:

Best Feature Film:

1^st Place (shared)

Jay (Francis Xavier Pasion, Philippines (2008))
Salawati (Marc X. Grigoroff, Singapore (2008))

2^nd Place

Invisible Children (Brian Gothong Tan, Singapore (2008))

Best Short Film:

1^st Place

God Only Knows (Mark V. Reyes, Philippines (2008))

2^nd Place

Hoolahoop Soundings (Edwin, Indonesia (2008))

Manfred Durniok Award:

Die Legende von Shiva und Parvati (Krishna Saraswati, Germany/India (2008))

Congratulations to all who took part!

(pic©green chilies e.V.)

key visuals – AHSB 2009

The countdown is on and before you know it ASIAN HOT SHOTS BERLIN kicks off January 13^th to bring you an eclectic line-up of films carefully selected from across Asia, obviously. I’ve posted and detailed the numerous recommendable entries from Singapore before, so now I shall give you the complete programme as it can be ((p)re)viewed: here.

NOT TO BE MISSED, NONE OF IT!

(pic©green chilies e.V.)

Singapore galore @ AHSB 2009

I am not one to exaggerate, but this one sure looks huge!

ASIAN HOT SHOTS BERLIN, the newly established independent film festival in Germany’s capital, will go into its second edition January 13-18 next year, and the programme has finally been concluded (and can be viewed in full here). Many exciting new films from across the Asian region – and some nice odd ones among them – have been selected and each and every one of them deserves their packed house full of that famously sophisticated, appreciative and discerning audience Berlin is known for.

By now, I guess, none of you will be surprised any more to find me particularly pleased with the truly remarkable share of films from Singapore included, so here’s an excerpt for you:

• Invisible Children (2008) by Brian Gothong Tan, EP in competition
  preceded by After The Rain (2007) by Royston Tan, EP
• Salawati (2008) by Marc X Grigoroff, EP in competition
• Homeless FC (2007) by Lynn Lee & James Leong, GP
• Women Who Love Women (2007) by Lim Mayling, EP
  preceded by The Library (2008) by Joshua Lim, IP
• Gone Shopping (2008/Director’s Cut) by Wee Li Lin, GP
  

The festival’s trademark Singapore Hot Shots:

• My Blue Heaven by Chai Yee-wei
• 4 Dishes by Leon Cheo (in competition)
• Girl in a Red Sarong by Jeremy Sing (in competition)
• Stopdelete by Shaun Koh
• The Inner City by Liao Jiekai (in competition)
• Reflections by Ho Tzu-Nyen
• Bedok Jetty by Boo Junfeng
• Love Me Yesterday by Wesley Leon Aroozoo

Short films “Keluar Baris” by Boo Junfeng and “Londres – London” by Eva Tang will be part of a special queer shorts screening,

plus

Crows watch the curious stage and vanity by Eddie Wong will be shown in the Experimental Shorts programme – a World Premiere!

Media artist Sookoon Ang’s work “Let go Aviary” will be part of the festival’s video art exhibition.

By all standards, I think this is an impressive lineup, which makes Singapore the strongest nation by number of entries after the national focus for 2009, Indonesia, and Japan.

AHSB competitions, which will be decided by audience voting, award prizes for 1^st place and runner-up. They come with a prize money total of € 1000 for the winner and € 500 for 2^nd place in each of the two categories alike.

Good luck and a Happy New Year, everyone!

(pic©green chilies e.V.)

2 masters now on record

In proto-ymagon’s ongoing effort to promote quality in filmmaking, I would like to bring the following to your attention: Two of the all-time best short films to come out of Singapore have now been newly added on IMDb.com.

Locust by Victric Thng (2003)



After The Rain by Royston Tan (2007)



Do check out the entries for yourself (links provided above) and give it your vote, everybody!

(pics©purrfectnine; Zhao Wei Films)

AHSB 2009 – now open for entries!

For all of you who may or may not have been waiting these past weeks for this call for entries to come forward, let me now officially inform you that ASIAN HOT SHOTS BERLIN film festival 2009 will be running January 13-18 next year and is from today on ready to accept your entries of films (short or feature concluded in 2007 or 2008) of any genre for its 2^nd edition programming!
Don’t wait any longer to check out all the details and regulations on the webby here – then make your submission! And do remember: Berlin is always worth the visit. Audience is made up of real movie-lovers and sophisticated by nature, so to connect here and get a good feedback might serve you better than a million other festivals combined. Wanna contest and compete? Well, go ahead and bring your movie, you’re welcome!

(pic©green chilies e.V.)

Go SIFF!

Guess what spring brings: the 21^st edition of Singapore International Film Festival will serve us yet another careful selection of some of the best in contemporary Asian and World cinema. Running from April 4 to 14 this year, this well established launching pad for many a filmmaker from Singapore has actually added a whole new section, Singapore Panorama, to its programming scheme, and a new venue, Sinema Old School, as well. So we are in for a number of surprises, I bet, and this being said, there should be no more doubt left with anyone as to where everybody will come together shortly, right?!
For details, go visit their official website: here.

(pic©Singapore International Film Festival 2008)

my list of 58th Berlinale best films

1. Bam gua nat/Night and Day (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea (2008))
2. RGB XYZ (David O'Reilly, Ireland (2008)) [short]
3. Invisible City (Tan Pin Pin, Singapore (2007))
4. Udedh Bun (Siddarth Sinha, India (2008)) [short]
5. Kabei/Our Mother (Yamada Yoji, Japan (2008))
6. Mompelaar/Mumbler (Wim Reygaert/Marc Roels, Belgium (2007)) [short]
7. Yasukuni (Ying Li, China/Japan (2007))
8. Haze (Anthony Chen, Singapore (2008)) [short]
9. Tout est parfait/Everything Is Fine (Yves Christian Fournier, Canada (2008))
10. Frankie (Darren Thornton, Ireland (2007)) [short]

1st asian hot shots berlin 2008

reporting is pathetic and the limitations on time and brain space simply too real...
...but please, you will find ALL the information here:



* do note that the festival is particularly proud to see in its programming a very strong showing of films from Singapore, with two feature films, "The Olive Depression" by Joshua Lim, "Becoming Royston" by Nicholas Chee, a documentary feature, "Where the Sun Rises" by Grace Phan, as well as a multitude of carefully selected short films, some of them highlighted in the special Singapore Hot Shots programme. Don't miss any of it!

(pic©green chilies e.V.)

lookahead 2008

Firstly, I wish everyone in here a truly happy New Year!
It has been decided by unanimous vote that 2008 will be a devastatingly good year, a year to remember for all the right reasons, so let yourself be transported into the future!
And as it will happen anyway, here’s just a quick reminder of what proto-ymagon will remain committed to no matter what:

Germany-Singapore exchange in the visual arts, film first and foremost. There’s the premiere edition of the Asian Hot Shots Festival Berlin in the offing (more on that shortly), there’s the 58^th Berlinale from 7^th through to 17^th of February, and in April it will be the Singapore International Film Festival (21^st SIFF April 4 -14) for me to attend. So, there is plenty, and that’s a good thing actually!

In literature, we still (im)patiently await the first novel by Rattawut Lapchaorensap, tentatively titled “The End of Siam”, while Gao Xingjian’s “The Case for Literature” (here) and that epic “Journey to the West” keep sitting squarely on my list. Also, there is a new Cambridge Companion to Don DeLillo slated for publication in May (here), but it is quite expensive…

In film, anticipation is high for many a reason (see the above), as I am sure something new by the likes of Miike Takashi (Sukiyaki Western Django) or Jia Zhang-ke (Ciqing shidai/The Age of Tattoo) should make its way to here, sooner or later. For Singapore, well, after it’s been a record-breaking 2007 there is a lot to be expected on this front, I bet! As always, I’ll keep you informed on these matters and am looking forward to hearing from you. Let’s restart!

(pic©www.mcoscillator.com)

my list of best films in 2007

1. Se, jie/Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, USA/China/Taiwan/Hong Kong (2007))
2. Bushi no ichibun/Love And Honor (Yamada Yoji, Japan (2006))
3. The Queen (Stephen Frears, UK/France/Italy (2006))
4. Geuk jang jeon/Tale of Cinema (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea (2005))
5. Auf der anderen Seite/The Edge of Heaven (Fatih Akin, Germany (2007))
6. Sanxia haoren/Still Life (Jia Zhang-ke, China (2006))
7. Kain no matsuei/Cain's Descendant (Oku Shutaro, Japan (2006))
8. Sang sattawat/Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Austria (2006))
9. Strange Culture (Lynn Hershman-Leeson, USA (2007))
10. Takva/A Man's Fear of God (Özer Kiziltan, Turkey (2006))

HU-Japanologie: Screenings in December

At the end of the year we’ve been let down, it seems – and I apologize. But there’s nothing I can do, really, other than hope for the best and inform you as soon as the Japan Film-AG decides to put up their programming for public viewing once more.
You’ll catch it all here(, then).

(pic©hu-berlin.de)

“4:30“ screens next…

…this Saturday, 18:00h @ Museum Ludwig, Cologne, as part of that little extra the CineAsia is treating us to with its special programming of movie gems from the South East Asia region (you can check out the full program: here). I hereby would like to warmly recommend and softly urge all of you movie-lovers to not let this very rare opportunity pass you by and catch this brilliantly shining crown jewel of Singapore film (4:30). And don’t forget to bring your friends along, too – they’ll be ever so thankful…
So everybody: don’t let the winter mood get to you and escape to pictureland!

(pic©www.cineasia-filmfestival.de)

HU-Japanologie: Screenings in November

The Japan Film-AG in resuming their weekly screenings this month brings you a bunch of the best and the latest in Japanese cinema, including the immense and true modern classic “Dare mo shiranai”/”Nobody Knows” by director whizz Koreeda Hirokazu, one of my favorites. If you haven't seen it yet, this is your chance!
Do check out the entire program: here.

(pic©hu-berlin.de)

Ready for the OscarS?

It's been a well covered story, I know, but I wanted to see for myself and have a go at the film first before joining in with the flock of congratulators (besides, this makes for a fitting post to mark our National Holiday, you'll see). Now I honestly can: director Fatih Akin after winning the Berlinale and in Cannes as well, has now been named the official selection as Germany's entry in the category of Best Foreign Language Film for next year's 80^th Academy Awards, aka “the Oscars”, with his latest masterpiece “Auf der anderen Seite” / “The Edge of Heaven”. It is a very deserving nomination indeed and hopefully will be recognized as such by the academy members making their choice. I for one can only recommend this film wholeheartedly as one of the very best I've seen over the course of the year so far, guaranteeing you a powerful, challenging and suspenseful movie experience – exactly like what we've come to know his films' most distinguishing feature to be. It is a well written, well acted movie, and above all he trusts his camera best like any director should.
As far as I am concerned it isn't so much about whether this one will be shortlisted or even bring the third trophy in six years back home to our (multi-cultured) shores. What counts is that “Auf der anderen Seite” hopefully succeeds in affecting its audiences worldwide and bring an understanding of split lives, which seems to me like one of the most pressing and determining issues of our times.

BTW, if this shouldn't work out for Akin, well, he actually has two strings to his bow as “Takva: A Man's Fear of God” is Turkey's selection for the same category naturally (and he is a co-producer of this one). I saw it earlier in the year at the Berlinale and thought it a well done and strong film also (here), a good choice by all means.
So do have a look at both of these if you can, it is worth it! (And in case you haven't seen “Gegen die Wand” / “Head-On” yet, first installment in that projected trilogy “Liebe-Tod-und Teufel” / “Love-Death-and-the Devil” that “The Edge of Heaven” is the second part of, try that one too, it is Fatih's best.)

(pic©REUTERS)

HU-Japanologie: Screenings in October

While the Japan Film-AG continues to rest in peace throughout the month of October, the Arsenal brings us “Nippon-koku Furayashiki mura” (1982) by late director Ogawa Shinsuke, and in OmU. Details.

(pic©hu-berlin.de)

IMDb's list of best Royston Tan films to date*

1. Cut (8.6/10 by 29 votes (2005))
2. Sons (8.2/10 by 16 votes (1999))
3. 881 (7.5/10 by 42 votes (2007))
4. Mother (7.1/10 by 12 votes (2001))
5. 4:30 (6.9/10 by 138 votes (2005))
6. '15' (6.7/10 by 127 votes (2002))
7. 15: The Movie (6.3/10 by 281 votes (2003))
8. 24 Hours (6.3/10 by 10 votes (2002))
9. Hock hiap leong (5.9/10 by 43 votes (2001))
10. Monkeylove (4.1/10 by 10 votes (2005))
    

* all data compiled from and courtesy of IMDb.com

HU-Japanologie: Screenings in September

While the Japan Film-AG continues snug in its semester break for another whole month (sigh!), the Arsenal will resume screenings of Japanese cine-treasures by providing us with a rare opportunity to catch “Robinson no niwa/Robinson's Garden” (1987) by Yamamoto Masashi (and a visitation out of the vast Berlinale Archives btw, of the Forum section from 20 years past!). Details here.

(pic©hu-berlin.de)

HU-Japanologie: Screenings in August

Just to reverify the fact: August is the month we rest. Well, some of us do, anyway, so there will be no screenings of Japanese films, past or classics, this month. And as there are no details on the matter (go out and have fun whatever way you see fit!) there is no link, no nothing here.
Check again next time on what the Japan Film-AG or Arsenal have in store – so you know, right?

(pic©hu-berlin.de)