Local film-makers explore Chinese roots in anthology

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s Chinese cultural roots will be the focus of 667, a new anthology of five films to be screened as part of the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre’s (SCCC) opening eight-day Cultural Extravaganza.

Film-maker He Shuming worked with his father, retiree Ho Soo Hoon, on one film, Letters from the Motherland. The venture involved going through 30 years’ worth of letters — written in Hainanese — that were exchanged between his father and the caretaker of his family’s ancestral home on Hainan Island.

“My father exchanged letters with his cousin in Hainan for decades,” said He. “He archived them with the intention of publishing a book. He made it a personal project.”

The film follows the story of Ho and his cousin, moving between life in modern-day Singapore and a Qionghai village. He and his father visited Hainan to shoot scenes.

“To be able to work with my father on this documentary has been extremely illuminating, and to follow him to his hometown and get to meet our family beyond who we know here in Singapore was such a beautiful experience,” said He.

The anthology will launch at the SCCC on May 25. Helming the project is Royston Tan, who reveals that the films will also feature dialects such as Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, Cantonese and Teochew.

“Chinese dialects are part of Singapore’s Chinese culture and heritage, and are still commonly used as a form of communication among the older generation in Singapore,” said Tan, arguably the master of dialect films here and director of the popular Eat Already? dialect drama series.

Having the film-makers work with dialects, said Tan, speaking at a media conference for 667 on Tuesday (May 2), “embodies the passing down of an important part of our Singapore Chinese culture, from one generation to another”.

The other four films are by Eva Tang, known for xinyao documentary The Songs We Sang; award-winning filmmaker Kirsten Tan of Pop Aye fame; Liao Jiekai, who took the Best Director prize at the 27th Singapore International Film Festival Silver Screen Awards in 2016 for The Mist; and new talent Jun Chong, who is debuting his first film with this project.

Liao’s film, Nocturne, sees acclaimed film-maker Boo Junfeng in his acting debut. It was tough, Liao says — the script called for Boo to converse in Hokkien, which neither he nor Liao can really speak.

Liao noted that “language is such an integral part of culture”, and he did not want to compromise. But it “was a very big barrier, and we had to rely a lot on a translator to assist me in (understanding) the nuances” of the language, he said.

Tan said that the stories of 667 “are powerful stories ... we are introducing the next generation of filmmakers who are passionate about what they do, and I believe the films will resonate with other Singaporeans”.  

The 667 films will show on May 25, from 7pm to 9pm at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre’s Auditorium. The films are in Mandarin with some dialect, with English subtitles. Admission is S$15; with 25 per cent concessions for students, senior citizens, NSFs. Tickets are available Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg).