Singapore Shorts ’23
Singapore Shorts is an annual showcase organised by the Asian Film Archive (AFA) to celebrate the boldness and diversity of local short films each year. Selected by a panel of respected film professionals, Singapore Shorts ’23 provides the widest showing of short film titles in Singapore. The 2023 edition features 28 films in four official selections. The screenings of the 4 Official Selection programmes include Q&A discussions with the filmmakers and dedicated opinion pieces by aspiring critics, offering a comprehensive platform for critical discourse.
Additionally, the special programme segment in Singapore Shorts features a uniquely curated selection that highlights a particular theme, period, movement, or collection. It is intended to shed greater understanding on the development and growth of filmmaking involving short films. Featuring 21 short films spanning the 2000s and a little beyond, the 2023 special programme explores the energetic dynamism from the Y2K phenomenon that impacted the local short film scene.
Singapore Shorts ‘23 will take place from 4 – 27 August 2023 at Oldham Theatre.
Tickets are on sale now. Please scroll to the bottom to select the screenings you would like to purchase tickets for.
Selection 1
Friday, 4 August | 8pm – 10pm (with Q&A Session)
Saturday, 12 August | 4pm – 5:30pm
Every Floor Looks the Same (2022, dir. Gladys Ng)
The Sea is a Memory (2022, dir. Priyageetha Dia)
Still or Sparkling (2023, dir. Matthew Chan)
PULAU (2022, dir. Stephanie Thong)
Get to the Point (2022, dir. AWKNDAFFR (Wayne Lim and Soh Kay Min))
Familiar Stranger (2023, dir. Adhishni D/O Mathialagan)
Home Planet (2022, dir. Maximilian Liang)
Selection 2
Saturday, 5 August | 4pm – 6pm (with Q&A Session)
Sunday, 13 August | 2pm – 3:30pm
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (烟熏到了眼睛, 2022, dir. Alvin Lee)
Visions From My Scalp (2023, dir. Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen)
Seeing Thunder (2022, dir. Sherelle)
Roach Love (2022, dir. Jacen Tan)
The 25th Filial Exemplar (第二十五孝, 2022, dir. Leon Cheo)
I Love You More Than Words Can Say (2022, dir. Liana Yang)
Hot Buns (2022, dir. Calleen Koh)
Selection 3
Saturday, 5 August | 8pm – 10pm (with Q&A Session)
Sunday, 13 August | 5pm – 6:30pm
Aunt Lotus & Her Dream Bicycle (一輛腳車兩個輪, 2022, dir. Kew Lin)
Altar (2022, dir. Vikneshwaran Silva)
A Day, That Year (某天，那年, 2022, Stanley Xu)
18 (2023, dir. Lee Jing Wei)
RING RING, MAMA (2022, dir. Grace Song)
a spider, fever and other disappearing islands (2022, dir. Natalie Khoo)
where are you now (2022, dir. Lim Hok Lye and Tai Binquan)
Selection 4
Sunday, 6 August | 2pm – 4pm (with Q&A Session)
Sunday, 20 August | 2pm – 3:30pm
Plastic Sonata (塑胶夜曲, 2022, Nelson Yeo)
Tangle Lah (2022, dir. Ang Qing Sheng)
Sundays In-Between (တနင်္ဂနွေနေ့များကြား, 2022, Ye Thu)
Chen Family Awards (2022, dir. Jonathan Choo)
Conversations with a Koel Bird (2022, dir. Elizabeth Xu Yuan Li (EXYL))
Treasure (2023, dir. Benjamin Ang)
Condo Cops (2023, dir. Lim Hong Jun)
Special Programme:
Now That’s What I Call Y2K Shorts!
Part 1
Cat (2014, dir. Afiq Azman)
Mat Superhero (2006, dir. Suffian Zain)
Comma (2008, dir. Ezzam Rahman)
Crammed (2003, dir. Ellery Ngiam)
Daddy (2008. dir. Haidar Afandi)
Who Loves The Sun (2005, dir. Chen Hsi Wong)
Complacency (2011, dir. Ting Szu Kiong)
A Fistful of Yusof Ishaks (2008, dir. Nelson Yeo)
Pirate(d) A Musical (2008, dir. Shaun Koh)
Bloom (2006, dir. Jeremy Sing)
Part 2
Checkmate (2010, dir. Yahssir M.)
Waking Monkey (2005, dir. Yeo Siew Hua)
Potong Andam (2009, dir. Hidayah Amin)
I Need Coffee (2013, dir. Ryan Yong Thanakan)
Dinner (2005, Ghazi Alqudcy & Ying Li Looi-Garman)
Floating (2004, dir. Lynn Loo)
Moomeow The Catcow (2005, dir. Wesley Leon Aroozoo)
Fairly-A-Tale (2013, dir. Koh Chong Wu)
Playback (2010, dir. Tan Siang Yu)
Zo Hee (2007, dir. Jacen Tan)
Selection Panel
Clarissa Chikiamco
Curator
Clarissa Chikiamco is a curator with research interests in the moving image and post-war art in Southeast Asia. She was the acquisition curator of the inaugural collection of video art at the Philippine modern art museum, the Ateneo Art Gallery. At National Gallery Singapore where she is a curator, she co-curated exhibitions such as Between Worlds: Raden Saleh and Juan Luna, A Fact Has No Appearance: Art Beyond the Object, Chua Mia Tee: Directing the Real and collaborated on the Singapore edition of Nam June Paik: The Future is Now. She was a jury member of the Oberhausen Short Film Festival in 2019 and is a PhD candidate in film studies at King’s College London. She is co-curating an exhibition on early video installation of Southeast Asia, opening in May 2023.
Nikki Draper
Assistant Chair, Students & Alumni
Senior Lecturer
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Nikki Draper is a media industry and film production educator, and a filmmaker. She’s a Senior Lecturer at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication, founding faculty member of the Perspectives Film Festival at WKWSCI and founding member of SGIFF’s Youth Critics Programme.
Nurul Huda Rashid
Researcher/ Writer / Visual artist
Nurul Huda Rashid is a researcher-writer currently pursuing a PhD in Cultural Studies. Her dissertation examines the role of algorithms in the circulation of Muslim women images. It is a continuation of years of unpacking the image through her visual arts practice in photographic works such as Hijab/Her (2012-2014), in writing and activist work with local groups and communities, and in lecture-performances such as Women in War (2016-2019) and Nodes (2022). Bridging perspectives from visual and archival methods alongside feminists and decolonial theories, Nurul develops and facilitates art and photography workshops, focusing on issues of care in image-making and annotation as approach. She loves smelling books and hopes to adopt a cat someday.
Chew Tee Pao
Film Archivist, Asian Film Archive
Tee Pao has been with the Asian Film Archive (AFA) since 2009. As lead Archivist, Tee Pao plans AFA’s preservation strategies and oversees the development of film collections, as well as curating various film programmes to showcase these collections. He also selects and oversees AFA’s film restorations, including works like Mike de Leon’s Batch ’81 (1982) and Dharmasena Pathiraja’s Bambaru Avith (1978), which was selected for Cannes Classics in 2020. He has delivered presentations on AFA’s advocacy efforts and the issue of film preservation. His publications include an article on NANG magazine (Issue 8, 2020) and a co-written chapter on “Independent Digital Filmmaking and its Impact on Film Archiving in Singapore” for the book Singapore Cinema: New Perspectives (2017).
Oldham Theatre’s opening hours
Instructions for Friends of AFA Member Complimentary Ticket Redemption:
1) You are able to view your membership number on the Account page. Go to the ticketing pages you wish to purchase tickets for.
2) Click Get Tickets
3) You should be able to see the ticketing options available to you depending on your membership tier. Please select the one applicable to you. (In the future, if you are purchasing for friends, please select the General option, and only use Explorer for your own tickets)
4) Click Book Now
5) You will be able to see the option to use complimentary coupons from the payment page onwards.
6) Please apply the coupons before you make your payment. In your next payment you will see that you have x number of coupons left.
For further assistance, please contact us at ticketing@asianfilmarchive.org
Important Notice:
Do note that Oldham Theatre does not play ads and screenings will start promptly. Doors will open 20 minutes before showtime, so arrive early to register and find a seat. Arrive early so as not to disrupt the screenings. All patrons are encouraged to purchase your tickets online to be able to secure a seat. If you choose to purchase tickets or merchandise at Oldham Theatre’s box office, cashless payment is preferred.
—
