This film will be preceded with an in-person introduction and post-screening Q&A session with the filmmaker, Kimi Takesue and moderated by Singapore filmmaker Tan Pin Pin. 

Director: Kimi Takesue
Runtime: 73 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English, Lao
Rating: PG

“Revelatory…A wry and at times uproarious ethnographic work…ONLOOKERS provides a piercing and ironic examination of seemingly benevolent cultural consumption.” —Michael Sicinski, FILM COMMENT

Synopsis

Named one of the Best Documentaries of 2024 by The New York Times, Kimi Takesue’s latest documentary, Onlookers, offers a thought-provoking and witty look at the interactions between locals and tourists in Laos. With visually striking imagery and meticulous sound design, the film documents moments of sightseeing and daily life, set against the backdrop of Buddhist temples, cultural attractions and sites of natural beauty.

Onlookers transports viewers on a sensorial journey of deep looking and listening, inviting audiences to reflect on their own spectatorship and modes of tourism while asking the looming existential questions: Why do we travel? What do we seek?

About the Filmmaker

Kimi Takesue is an award-winning filmmaker recognized for her work across documentary, narrative, and experimental genres. Her films have screened widely at international festivals and museums including the Sundance Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, CPH:DOX, the Centre Pompidou and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). She has received prestigious honours, including the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship. Takesue was the recipient of the “Breakthrough Award” and Fellowship from Chicken and Egg Pictures honouring women filmmakers who have made a significant contribution to the documentary field. Her recent film Onlookers was named one of the best documentaries of 2024 by The New York Times and had a theatrical release at Metrograph in New York City.

About the Moderator

Tan Pin Pin is an award-winning Singapore film director and artist who has spent over two decades chronicling her country’s history, memory and representation in thoughtful and self-reflexive works that have screened theatrically in Singapore and abroad. Her works have been invited to key film festivals: Berlinale, Busan, Hot Docs, SXSW and Visions du Reel. They have been presented in places as diverse as Lincoln Centre, M+, Parasite HK, CUHK, Harvard, Rumah Attap, Sa Sa Art Projects, P-10, Substation, on Singapore Airlines, and on Netflix. She has exhibited at Singapore Biennale, Singapore Art Museum, Thailand Biennale, Jakarta Biennale and at the House of World Cultures, Berlin.

This screening is part of the programme The Cross-Cultural Gaze: Films of Kimi Takesue and Look/See: The Female Gaze in Cinema. For more screenings, please click here.

Friends of AFA members, please read the membership guide on how to purchase your discounted tickets and redeem your complimentary tickets.

Oldham Theatre’s opening hours

For further assistance, please contact us at ticketing@asianfilmarchive.org 

Important Notice:

Do note that Oldham Theatre operates on a free seating arrangement. Doors will open 10 minutes before showtime so arrive early to choose a seat and avoid disrupting the screenings as AFA does not play ads and screenings will start promptly.

All patrons are encouraged to purchase your tickets online. If you choose to purchase tickets or merchandise at Oldham Theatre’s box office, cashless payment is preferred.

—

T&Cs
Concession tickets apply to Students (Local & Overseas), Full-time National Servicemen (NSF), Senior Citizens (55 years and above) only.

Please check film ratings before purchase of tickets. Please note that you may be asked to present your ID at the door (this applies to concession tickets as well). Only physical photographic identification is allowed, digital copies of identification are not allowed. AFA reserves the right to turn away any members of the public without physical photographic identification.

Upon confirmation of your order for Tickets, no exchange of Tickets will be made under any circumstances and Tickets are not transferable. No refund on Tickets will be made under any circumstances except due to cancellation of the event. The resale of Tickets at any price is prohibited.