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Class 95 DJs for 1965 film?

SINGAPORE — Daniel Yun, executive producer for the much-anticipated film 1965 said the Morning Express DJs, Glenn Ong and Joe Augustin, could appear in the movie.

Singapore’s singing and acting talent will perform at this year’s President’s Star Charity. 
Photo: Jason Ho

Singapore’s singing and acting talent will perform at this year’s President’s Star Charity.
Photo: Jason Ho

SINGAPORE — Daniel Yun, executive producer for the much-anticipated film 1965 said the Morning Express DJs, Glenn Ong and Joe Augustin, could appear in the movie.

During a radio interview with the pair, Yun said they would announce more casting decisions soon, including one for “a British woman”, and suggested that they would be in it. “It’s for real — trust me, it’s for real,” said Yun. “There are parts of the film that we will get some people to cameo — and it’s playing against type, it’s not ‘wink-wink, I’m over here’ roles. The people we approached are really quite interesting, including of course, the two boys of Class 95.”

Yun was also quick to reiterate that 1965 was not a political movie. “I think it’s not the first dramatic thriller,” he said, referring to a Wikipedia entry that called it “Singapore’s first dramatic thriller”. “We started to use that term after we saw that Ben Affleck film, Argo. We didn’t want to call 1965 a political thriller, even though I think it is, because we don’t want to use the words ‘politics’, ‘history’ or ‘documentary’ — not because we are afraid to, but because they are not (accurate to describe the film). It’s not a political film — it uses a piece of political history, but it’s not history.”

When asked whether he thought 1965 could get a Not Allowed for All Ratings (NAR) classification, like what happened with Tan Pin Pin’s documentary To Singapore With Love, Yun said one couldn’t compare the two.

“I looked at Tan Pin Pin’s film and you have to ask, do you really think this film can be passed? — simply because of the context and subject matter ... The same can be said about 1965, but this film is unlike Tan Pin Pin’s film. It’s really about a group of people at that time and about how a place becomes home for them and what made them decide it was home.

“It’s a celebration of that period, and honestly, I’m not as brave as Tan Pin Pin. If my film (gets an NAR rating), we’re in trouble, because it’s a mainstream film and we need to open very big in 2015. It’s a different kind of responsibility. We take on a different narrative. The reason it’s not a political film is that I don’t know enough about the politics.”

Historical accuracy, though, was a must, Yun said. The scenes featuring Lim Kay Tong as Singapore’s first Prime Minister, for example, were all based on documented events. “There was a time we just wanted to use old footage (of Lee Kuan Yew), but I told the people who mattered that using footage was a cop-out for a film like this. Yes, we’ll take some creative licence, but they’re all documented and we have to get it right. We can make the best film, but if these four-and-a-half scenes are not done properly or not properly researched ... we’re in trouble, if nothing else, with the audience.

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