2014 in review: Films get feted at festivals, film get banned from cinemas here

SINGAPORE — It was a year when we saw seven of our top directors (Royston Tan, Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, Kelvin Tong, Tan Pin Pin, Boo Junfeng and K Rajagopal) come together to make history by agreeing to shoot an omnibus film dedicated to Singapore for its 50th birthday next year. It was also the year when multi-award-winning Ilo Ilo director Anthony Chen, with only one feature film under his belt, launched his own film company in Singapore to help nurture and develop new talent both locally and within the region. And 2014 will also be remembered as the year when an unprecedented number of superstars from blockbuster superhero movies such as Spider-man, X-Men and the Guardians Of The Galaxy (namely Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Hugh Jackman, Fan Bingbing, Peter Dinklage, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista) descended on our sunny shores to grace the red carpet.

It seems that our little red dot also became Hollywood’s latest filming location. 20th Century Fox’s Hitman: Agent 47 (starring Zachary Quinto and Rupert Friend) made history as the first major studio film to shoot here at locales such as Gardens By The Bay, Chinatown, Robinson Road and Changi Airport. Hot on their heels was sci-fi romance Equals, with Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult arriving in Singapore to shoot Drake Doremus’ futuristic love story, based on George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel, 1984, in Infinite Studios. Not to be outdone, our own Kelvin Tong became the first Singaporean director to helm a Hollywood film this year, shooting his Hollywood-produced horror film The Faith Of Anna Waters entirely in Singapore, with a cast of both international and local actors.

One of this year’s cinematic highs was the inspired return of the beloved Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) which concluded its 25th comeback edition with an audience of more than 10,000 during its 11-day run. It was a thumbs-up all round as patrons and participants lauded festival executive director Yuni Hadi and festival director Zhang Wenjie for their notable curation, programming and execution.

But 2014 also saw the banning of Tan Pin Pin’s To Singapore, With Love. The award-winning documentary about Singapore’s political exiles was classified as Not Allowed for All Ratings by Singapore’s Media Development Authority, which ruled it out for public screening or distribution in Singapore, stating that the film’s content undermined national security.

The year can probably be summed up as the most transitional of times. It was a year of preparation, as our local film community gears up for the golden jubilee year, when more than 24 local films — double the average annual output — will be hitting the silver screens in full SG50 celebration fervour. Our favourite and most feted film-makers, such as Royston Tan and Eric Khoo, were hard at work all year to complete their highly anticipated and long-awaited solo feature films 3688 and In The Room, respectively. And let’s not forget former opposition politician Nicole Seah, who will be making her acting debut in the SG50 film, 1965.

Was it the best of times or the worst of times? Either way, there was no lack of interest when it came to the movies in Singapore. GENEVIEVE LOH