SINGAPORE — Renowned Malaysian film-maker P Ramlee’s classic Sesudah Suboh, or After Dawn, was listed as “lost” in the Shaw collection until a search was prompted by the curators of Painting with Light: South-east Asian Film Series.

Organised by the National Gallery Singapore, the series shines the spotlight on some of South-east Asia’s best cinematic stories over the past 100 years.

“We persisted with Shaw’s collection, and they went to their Malaysian affiliates and finally tracked down a copy in Malaysia, and it was a very happy day for everyone,” shared Pauline Soh, the Gallery’s senior manager, (Programmes) Film and Performance.

The screening of After Dawn this Saturday at the Gallery will be its international premiere.

“Even Shaw in Singapore was very glad. No one has asked for the film before — maybe because they had never seen it — and they were very glad that somebody was interested in the latter-day career of P Ramlee when he went over to Malaysia after the separation and made this film. It was actually the first film to talk about Malaysia’s multiracial identity after Singapore’s independence in 1965,” Soh added.

Running from July to December this year, Painting with Light screens classics that were previously classified as lost films, such as Bruneian Mohasbi Ahmad’s Gema Dari Menara (Echoes from the Minaret, 1968). This film was commissioned by the country’s Religious Affairs Department for Da’wah (invitation to Islam), but then was largely forgotten until film enthusiasts managed to find the film and stage a screening last year at the University of Brunei Darussalam.

Supported by the Asian Film Archive (AFA), this edition of Painting with Light also seeks to highlight the dire state of film preservation in the region, with films of all types deteriorating or being lost faster than archives can rescue them. Some of the films that will be showcased include heritage titles that exist only in a compressed digital format, as master prints can no longer be found.

Soh explained how the partnership between the National Gallery Singapore and the AFA arose. “In curating this programme, because of the state of film preservation, we inevitably run into titles that are not available because they are either lost or not restored. One of the titles we obtained from the AFA is the 2003 Malaysian film The Big Durian by Amir Muhammed. When we approached the film director, he told us to approach the AFA instead because it is better preserved within the archive.”

Karen Chan, the AFA’s executive director, elaborated on the phenomenon of lost films. “Lost films are not unique to South-east Asia. There are lost films everywhere in the world, but we face a certain set of challenges related to the climate in the region. The humidity and heat are not good for the films. That is why a lot of archives in our region are trying, quite frantically, to digitise them, but the process is costly and labour intensive.”

Chan shared that Singapore is also facing a loss of films. “In fact, we are currently doing an open call for Xin Ke (New Friend), a Mandarin silent film produced in 1937. It is our earliest-known locally made film and we know it exists, but we have never seen it. There is also a film called Seruan Merdeka, Singapore’s first post-war film. It was a Malayan production made across the borders as a joint venture, and we have made calls across the border to look for it as well.”

Through its concerted efforts and with the support of the National Library Board, the AFA has had some success. Two films, titled Spirit of the Overseas Chinese and Blood and Tears of the Chinese Immigrants, which were made post-war were recently found in the China Film Archive.

“Most recently, we restored and screened Hokkien opera Taming of the Princess (1958) at Capitol Theatre as part of the SG50 celebrations to a full house. The surviving members of the Singapore cast attended the screening, even the director’s children and grandchildren came. It really shows how films cross generations and bring people together,” said Chan. REENA DEVI