Curator's notes

Do Singaporeans have a sense of humour? I always wonder.

Hello. Once again, it gives me great pleasure to present yet another wonderful series of Singapore short films.

Sourced and acquired from the four corners of Singapore, what you can expect from this line-up is probably a deeper insight at how Singaporeans deal with their daily mundane lives. And no, it will not be boring, in fact, it can be pretty entertaining, I assure you.

I am very glad to bring back Jacen Tan and Anthony Chen again. In my opinion, these 2 are some of the most important young filmmakers in Singapore right now. While Jacen’s wacky indie flicks blown the local underground film circuit away, Anthony’s assured works garnered international recognitions and made us proud.

Besides these 2, I am also very delighted to introduce some other highly promising young filmmakers - Loo Zihan, Michael Tay, Wendy Chee and Rae Lee. Evidently, each one of them already possesses an individual voice and personal style in their films. I am half-guessing that if these budding filmmakers continue true to their passion, we may just expect another new wave of Singapore Cinema.

It will be interesting to note that there is one person in this programme who is not a filmmaker but a photographer. Ming takes the honour to open this programme with his short -‘4 Days 3 Nights’, a quirky look at a ‘Win-a-Car Challenge’. Though the film was merely less than 2 minutes long, it was actually shot over a span of 4 sleepless days. This film is a simple observation of how crazy we can get over a (free) car.

Among them, we also have more noted filmmakers like Han Yew Kwang, Yeo Lee Nah and Martyn See, whom by their own, gained much respects of their works. However,
I’d like to mention that I am exceptionally thrilled to have included Martyn’s film this time. Martyn is a vital voice that needs to be heard and reckoned with. We should pay attention to filmmakers like him. His poignant piece – ‘Nation Builders’, closes this series.

Once again, I’d like to thank everyone in creative [SIN]ergy, especially to the very lovely Brian Tan. My thanks also go to Asian Film Archive for providing Yew Kwang’s film and Thunk Pte Ltd who helped me graciously in both the slingSHORT I curated. Above all, to all the filmmakers, thank you very much, because without you, we will not be able to see such worthy films.

Taking this opportunity, it is also my pleasure to introduce to you the next curator of PROJECT:slingSHORT – Eva Tang. Someone, whom I regard as one of the strongest short filmmakers in Singapore. I am very sure that she will bring you another good selection of short films, as I know that she has good taste.

So, do Singaporeans have a sense of humour?
Do we laugh at ourselves?
I hope you find the answer from the short films you are about to watch. Enjoy!

Victric Thng