There will be seven short films screened for Selection 2 of Singapore Shorts ‘23.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers.

The Rating for Selection 2 is M18

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Original title: 烟熏到了眼睛
Year: 2022
Director: Alvin Lee
Runtime: 19 min
Country: Singapore
Language: Mandarin, English
Rating: PG13

Synopsis
A funeral director is left shamefaced when a mix-up sends the wrong body for cremation. With plans for the usual rites fully underway, he devises a sham funeral with the deceased’s three estranged children. Alvin Lee’s dark comedy-of-manners turns a critical eye on social performances of mourning and kinship.

Director’s bio
Alvin Lee graduated from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy with a Bachelor’s degree in Film Directing. His short films have screened and won awards at international film festivals, including Busan, Clermont-Ferrand and Hong Kong.

Visions From My Scalp
WORLD PREMIERE
Year: 2023
Director: Mark Chua, Lam Li Shuen
Runtime: 5 min
Country: Singapore
Rating: Exemptible

Synopsis
Streaks of hair and colours weave together furiously, imploding into a frantic vision drawn between exuberance and anxiety. The filmmakers glued their hair to 16mm and Super 8 film leader loops that were played in overlay and modified with ink during projection in this textural expression of a manic feeling of being.

Director’s bio
Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen are Singaporean filmmakers and artists. Their films have screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films and BFI London Film Festival.

Seeing Thunder
Year: 2022
Director: Sherelle
Runtime: 12 min
Country: Singapore
Language: English, Sign Language
Rating: PG

Synopsis
Through the eyes of two individuals who identify with both deaf and hearing worlds, Seeing Thunder reflects on what it means to tread the fine line between the two communities. Delving into an immersive, abstract visual and sonic landscape, the documentary amplifies subtle sensory perceptions, unpacking assumptions about deafness.

Director’s Bio
Sheryl, better known as Sherelle, is a profoundly curious and passionate individual who finds fascination in the intricate nuances of human idiosyncrasies and the everyday lives of people.

Roach Love
ASIAN PREMIERE
Year: 2022
Director: Jacen Tan
Runtime: 6 min
Country: Singapore
Language: English
Rating: M18

Synopsis
A man who gets high from stomping on cockroaches meets a girl with the same fetish in this stylish, exhilarating neo-noir fantasy-turned-nightmare.

Director’s bio
Jacen Tan was named as one of Singapore’s most exciting young filmmakers by The Straits Times. Jacen’s first feature, the horror-comedy Zombiepura, is now streaming on Disney Plus and Netflix Korea.

The 25th Filial Exemplar
SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE
Original title: 第二十五孝
Year: 2022
Director: Leon Cheo
Runtime: 15 min
Country: USA
Language: Mandarin, English
Rating: PG13

Synopsis
A man plays the part of his late sister to help his mother deal with grief, and to prove how filial he is. The 25th Filial Exemplar tests how far bodies and identities are malleable in its arching portrayal of a family bereft by a longing to love and to be loved.

Director’s bio
Creator of the International Emmy®-nominated short form series People Like Us, Leon Cheo was selected for the Hillman Grad / Indeed Rising Voices programme, receiving mentorship by Destin Daniel Cretton to make this film.

I Love You More Than Words Can Say
Year: 2022
Director: Liana Yang
Runtime: 14 min
Country: Singapore
Language: English
Rating: G

Synopsis
Composed of GIFs and memes culled from the internet, Liana Yang’s tribute to bread-making concocts irony and earnestness in equal measure with its home-baked aesthetic. Celebrating the processes of kneading, waiting, sharing, and cherishing, the film draws unexpected parallels between the hidden labour of art-making and the joy of creative flourishing.

Director’s bio
Liana is an artist fascinated by the mysterious, overlooked aspects of human connection. Through photography, video, sound and found objects, her multidisciplinary works question societal norms, igniting meaningful collective conversations and inviting reflection on the deeper significance of our social interactions.

Hot Buns
Year: 2022
Director: Calleen Koh
Runtime: 11 min
Country: Singapore
Language: English
Rating: NC16

Synopsis
In a surreal world of sentient Butts and Hands, a celebrity chef’s outrageous behaviour on live television sparks a movement to empower those at the bottom of society. This cheeky, vividly-handled animated short pokes at the divisive, and often performative politics of equality in a hyper-mediated digital age.

Director’s bio
Calleen Koh is a Singaporean BAFTA-nominated animation director. She enjoys turning difficult topics into whacky stories using crazy sexy characters, like anthropomorphic sushis, phallic Crayola-coloured children, or walking butts, in her manic animated films.

For the full Singapore Shorts ’23 programme, please click here.

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