Singapore International Film Festival 20103 min read

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Sinema is proud to announce that we are one of the venue partners of the 23rd edition of the Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), which will take place from 15 to 24 April, 2010.

It will screen close to 200 films from over 36 countries.

Festival Highlights

Setting the tone of this year’s SIFF is the Opening Film, Mao’s Last Dancer from the Oscar – nominated Australian film director, Bruce Beresford, and is based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin. Li was plucked from a Chinese village by Madame Mao’s cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet.

He later managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet, and then became the principal artist with the Australian Ballet. Both Bruce Beresford and lead actor Chi Cao will be in attendance at the Festival.

The Closing Film, Dear Doctor from Japanese director Miwa Nishikawa was nominated for Picture of the Year at the 33 Japanese Academy Awards, where it won awards for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. It is about a young medical intern assigned to work in a remote village, and soon he starts to learn things from the town doctor that he has never learned in medical school.

A secret then emerges about the town doctor and the village must come to grips with this new knowledge of the man they so admired.

Singapore Panorama

The Singapore Panorama section was first introduced in 2008 as a platform for new Singapore films.  This year Singapore Panorama will feature three feature films (Roulette City, In the House of Straw, and Memories of a Burning Tree), as well as three short films.

Silver Screen Awards

Having received over 70 submissions this year for the Singapore Short Film Competition, SIFF has selected seven finalists, who will be competing in the categories for Best Film, Best Director, Best Performance, Best Cinematography, and Special Mention.

It will culminate in the Silver Screen Awards and Gala Dinner on Apr 22, where the Festival will recognize the top films in the categories of Asian Feature Film Competition and the Singapore Short Film Competition.

Special Programmes

This year audiences can look forward to a wide selection of fresh and engaging films, as well as be exposed to three newly introduced segments.

First, the Dance: Movement in Film segment explores not only the performance but also the creative process of dance, and examines the impact that cinematic conventions and post-production have on the dancer’s performance for the camera.

The second segment takes a look at Women in Film and examines their work in the film industry. It explores the passions, dreams and aspirations of women from around the world, while considering the challenges they have faced in history and continue to face in contemporary society.

And last but not least is the New York Avant Cinema Series.  This film cycle of 22 works representing genres such as animation, documentary, fiction and silent experimental will screen Asian premieres of new films by some of New York’s most daring and dynamic contemporary filmmakers.

Ticketing

Tickets will go on sale later this month.  Stay tuned to Sinema.SG or visit filmfest.org.sg for more details!