Presented as part of Singapore Shorts ’21, AFA has invited Sophia Siddique (Associate Professor of Film, Vassar College) to share her insights on the short film form in Singapore cinema. Rather than position the short film as merely derivative of the feature film, this talk highlights the importance of the short film form in its own right. Sophia Siddique argues that the short film form is vital in shaping perceptions of Singaporean identity along the lines of gender, sexuality, race, class, neurodivergence, and various forms of embodiment. In particular, her talk highlights the 1980s, a period of short filmmaking often erased or rendered invisible in most narratives of Singapore film history. Centering the short film invites a reconceptualization of the ways in which we can understand Singapore national cinema.

The talk will be moderated by Karen Chan, Executive Director of the Asian Film Archive. It will stream live online on AFA’s Facebook and Youtube channels on Thursday, 19 August 2021 at 7pm SGT (7am EST). Indicate your interest on the Facebook Event page here.

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Sophia Siddique is an associate professor in the Department of Film at Vassar College. She received her PhD in Critical Studies from the University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts. Her research interests include Singapore cinema, representations of trauma and memory in Cambodian, Indonesian, and Thai cinema, and genre (Asian Horror and Global Science Fiction). She co-edited Transnational Horror Cinema: Bodies of Excess and the Global Grotesque (Palgrave Macmillan 2016) with Raphael Raphael. Sophia Siddique is completing her manuscript: Screening Singapore: Sensuous Citizenship Formations and the National.

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After a brief hiatus, Asian Film Archive is proud to present Singapore Shorts ’21, an annual showcase celebrating the best and the most promising local short films in Singapore. Chosen by an esteemed selection panel, 27 bold and diverse cinematic works from the past two years will be screened in five unique programmes. Singapore Shorts ’21 will take place from 13 August – 5 September 2021 at Oldham Theatre and online. All screenings will take place at Oldham Theatre. Get your tickets via Peatix here.