S’pore film fest firms up plans

SINGAPORE — The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) has unveiled a brand new team for its 25th edition in December.

Zhang Wenjie has been appointed as the new Festival Director, taking over from Yuni Hadi who has been bumped up as SGIFF’s Executive Director. Zhang had previously headed the National Museum of Singapore’s Cinematheque and The Substation’s Moving Images programme. He was also the co-director of the festival’s 22nd edition with Hadi (who co-produced Anthony Chen’s Ilo-Ilo).

Meanwhile, BooksActually and Math Paper Press co-founder Karen Wai will also be coming on board as Marketing Manager. An international advisory board will also be set up led by film-maker Eric Khoo.

A new board of members was also announced. Led by Mike Wiluan, Chief Executive Officer of Infinite Studios, the other members include Nominated Member of Parliament and actor Janice Koh; Shaw Soo Wei, former Executive Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival; Michael Lim, Assistant Director, Animation and Digital Arts, NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia; Lee Chor Lin, Chief Executive Officer of Arts Festival Limited; Lynette Pang, Assistant Chief Executive of Marketing at Singapore Tourism Board; Sebastian Tan, Group Managing Director of Shooting Gallery Asia; and Elim Chew, founder and President of 77th Street.

The changes, which also included a new logo, point to a new direction for the beloved festival. This year, the short film category of the festival’s Silver Screen Awards will be expanded to include South-east Asian short films.

“A key mission of the festival has always been the nurturing and discovery of new film-makers,” said Zhang.

Hadi added: “Over the last 25 years, the Festival has helped develop not only a whole generation of film directors, but has also nurtured a new generation of audience that has a more sophisticated palette and appetite for films beyond the mainstream fare. We cannot deny the integral role Singapore International Film Festival has played in building the film industry we have today.”

Meanwhile, as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations, Wai said there will be collaborations with creatives across design, music and writing. “We will also be partnering ground-up initiatives (of those) who have been quietly supporting the film industry through the years,” she said.

The Singapore International Film Festival will run from Dec 4 to 14, under the Singapore Media Festival banner hosted by the Media Development Authority of Singapore. The call for entries starts March 25, and runs until Sep 15. Submissions and more information at http://www.sgiff.com.