Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

A cinematic love letter to Singapore on her 50th birthday

SINGAPORE - What’s the best way to celebrate Singapore’s golden jubilee year? For seven of our homegrown film directors, that would be a cinematic love letter to our little red dot, dedicated to our nation’s past, present and aspirational future.

SINGAPORE - What’s the best way to celebrate Singapore’s golden jubilee year? For seven of our homegrown film directors, that would be a cinematic love letter to our little red dot, dedicated to our nation’s past, present and aspirational future.

For the first time ever, Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, Kelvin Tong, Tan Pin Pin, Royston Tan, Boo Jun Feng, and K Rajagopal are all coming together in this one-of-a-kind project to celebrate Singapore and its people. The film will be an omnibus of seven short stories, each a unique interpretation of Singapore and the lives of its people by the respective directors.

Royston Tan, who is leading the project told TODAY over the phone from Thailand where he was giving a film masterclass lecture, that “the idea was first mooted a few months back among the directors”.

“We were all very excited about it and decided to make it happen!” he added with a laugh.

In an official statmement, the auteur who gave us the getai extravaganze 881 shared about how it was a privilege to work with some of Singapore’s most talented directors, and to make a film that pays tribute to our home in conjunction with Singapore’s 50th year.

“All seven of us hope that this collaboration can inspire everyone to reflect on our nation’s journey, revel in how far we have come, and look forward to a brighter future,” he said. “This announcement signals the start of work by all seven of us on our individual stories. I like to think that the project is a microcosm of the Singapore story. We all have diverse film-making styles, we all see different aspects of Singapore and its 50-year journey in our unique ways, and yet it has given us a common sense of purpose. We hope this will shine through in the final cut.”

This is the first time all seven award-winning directors will be working together and the film, which is made with the support of the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) and the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), is set to be released in the middle of 2015.

While the directors are excited to work on this project, they acknowledged the urgent press for time for a project of such a scale, especially with so many people involved. Tan shared that the cast and story specifics will be announced at a later date. But first on the cards, is the confirmation of an iconic venue to premiere the film next year.

“This is a meaningful collaboration and we want like-minded partners to help us bring this project to fruition,” added Tan.“Singapore and our people have influenced so many aspects of our lives, and we directors have been given the opportunity to develop our career and passion in film. So a lot of heart is going to go into this and it is a way for me and the other directors to give back to our country.”

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.