Top 4 Singaporean Films

By: Cher Tan

It’s been an exciting time for Singaporean cinema. Despite having a flourishing Chinese and Malay film industry in the 1950s and 1960s, the general outlook for film in Singapore declined after independence in 1965, only to slowly pick itself up again from the early 1990s. From Cannes to Jeonju and everywhere in between, Singaporean films have become a fixture. While Singapore’s first Palme d’Or, Golden Bear, or Golden Lion may still be some years away, it’s a better time than ever to take a look at some of the best ones that have come out of the circuit in the last 2 decades.

Postcards from the Zoo: A Magical-Poetic Treatment of Uprooted Beings

By: Ari Purnama

|Screened at the World Cinema Amsterdam Festival 2012 (8-19 August 2012)|

I have considered living in the zoo, actually, instead of in overcrowded Jakarta." —Edwin [Press conference, Berlinale Film Festival 2012]

Postcards from the Zoo (Original title: Kebun Binatang) is the latest film from Edwin, one of the most idiosyncratic young directors from Indonesia today. This film sensuously defies every cinematic category that we normally ascribe to a film. But more importantly, it invites you to ask questions that Indonesian films seldom ask about naïveté, the sense of being removed from your natural milieu and the hypnotic effect of magic.

As the title suggests, the zoo, in this case the Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, is the centrepiece if not ‘the main’ character of the film. Just as important as the zoo, the other central characters in this outlandish universe are the animals, the giraffe in particular. Postcards revolves around a young girl named Lana (Ladya Cheril) who is raised in this zoo and finds parenthood in human inhabitants that seek refuge in the zoo, from vagabonds to an eccentric electronic musician cum wildlife documentarian referred to as Oom Dave.

CINEMASIA PRESENTS ‘OUT & PROUD IN CHINA?’ AUGUST 3 DE BALIE IN AMSTERDAM

This Friday, CinemAsia presents ‘Out & Proud in China?’ during the Amsterdam Gay Pride festival – featuring the Chinese documentary “Our Story: 10-year ‘guerilla warfare’ of Beijing Queer Film Festival” followed by a discussion about LGBT life in Asia.

CinemAsia brings the diversity of Asian cinema to the attention of the Dutch audience and offers a media platform to discuss Asian topics on screen.

OUR STORY – 10-YEAR ‘GUERILLA WARFARE’ OF BEIJING QUEER FILM FESTIVAL (CHINA 2011)

Out & Proud in China? For ten years the Beijing Queer Film Festival has battled oppression and homophobia to fight for more visibility for gays and lesbian issues in China. The film documents this struggle and the ‘guerrilla’ tactics used by the festival’s organisers. Yang Yang, director of the film, has been executive director of the festival for 10 years, providing an essential space for the queer and allied communities of Beijing. The film will be screened in Chinese with English subtitles.

World Cinema Amsterdam Festival

This year's World Cinema Amsterdam Festiva focuses on Brazil. But that doesn't mean Asian cinema will go unnoticed. What to think of Indonesian filmmaker Edwin's Postcards from the Zoo, or Ann Hui's (Hong Kong) A Simple Life? Also some Iranian and Syrian films are featured.

The festival features no less than 48 films in 12 days, from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Besides indoor venues Rialto and De Balie, open air screenings will take place in the Vondelpark Open Air Theatre.

For more info, check out the website of the World Cinema Festival Amsterdam.

The Raid: Redemption

By: Andrew Trigg, first published on Jakarta Expat

The Raid: Redemption is an Indonesian film like no other. It’s a wildly exciting adrenaline rush of a punch fest that recently reached number 11 at the U.S. box office, a phenomenal achievement for an Indonesian film. It has electrified Indonesian audiences and injected new energy into the national film scene, standing head and shoulders above a recent slew of well made, internationally acclaimed releases. Sony Classics has snapped up the rights and an American remake is already in the works.

So what is the secret of The Raid’s remarkable success?

Give it up for West Hill, Chinese Hip Hop band Features in Docu & on Stage!

By: Yvette Benningshof

‘I’m the pioneer of Yunnan’s local hip hop culture’, says MC ‘Nan’ laughing about his own statement in the documentary ‘Say Sing’. It’s a funny, honest and hilarious docu about the journey of the progressive Chinese hiphop group ‘West Hill’. Combining rap with traditional Chinese instruments and rhymes written in their local Kunming dialect with a healthy dose of self-mockery; ‘I’m the king of pop!’

Straight after the screening of ‘Say Sing’ at the CinemAsia Filmfestival in Amsterdam West Hill performed their songs and in no time the audience was jumping, while no one understood what they were rapping about. ‘The energy of those guys is just catching’, says Kuang-Chong Yu, Taiwanese music producer and director of ‘Say Sing’. ‘When I started filming I also didn’t understand what they were talking about. I just felt the atmosphere was important enough to keep filming. Afterwards when we translated the texts into Mandarin it proved that it was worth filming.’

CinemAsia Festival Filmtour 14-15 April

By: Yvette Benningshof & Emma Kwee

Did you miss the CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam? Blast! But luckily, CinemAsia is going on tour with a few selected films. Don't miss your last chance to watch Arisan!2 in The Netherlands, as well as other Indonesian and Chinese films, during the CinemAsia Festival Filmtour.

Director Nia Dinata’s Arisan: Sex and the City with Substance

By: Yvette Benningshof

Flashing Jakarta big city life, the pristine beaches of the Gili’s, socialites, parties, fashion, friendship and romance: you’ll find plenty in ‘Arisan!2’. But there is more to this film than meets the eye. In this Indonesian style ‘Sex and the City,’ controversial topics are tackled with humor and satire in a playful setting. The long awaited sequel of Arisan! (2003) that featured the first homosexual kiss ever in Indonesian Cinema, cheerfully carries on where the first installment left off.

Nia Dinata Wins Another One

Award winning Indonesian filmmaker, director and producer Nia Dinata received the CinemAsia 2012 Achievement Award at the CinemAsia Filmfestival in Amsterdam. She was praised ‘because through her films as a director and producer she has brought the topic of women, gays and marginalized people to the forefront in Indonesia’.

‘We have a special history with Dinata’, says festival director Doris Yeung, ‘At our first edition in 2004 we world premiered Arisan! and now eight years later we come full circle with the screening of Arisan!2 and carrying out the Achievement Award.’

Children of Srikandi: The First Indonesian Docu about Queer Women

By: Yvette Benningshof

For the first time in the history of Indonesian cinema, queer female filmmakers are breaking the code of silence. Eight Indonesian women, all lesbian, had their coming out on the big screen, as they produced a documentary together about themselves: ‘Children of Srikandi’.

This is the first documentary about queer women in Indonesia; unique in this country with the largest Muslim population. The film is inspired by the mythological figure Srikandi from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. In traditional Javanese shadow puppet theater (wayang kulit), Srikandi signifies a strong and brave character who is neither woman nor man. Srikandi is often depicted as a female warrior.

Headshot: a Buddhist Crime-Noir?

By: Ari Ernesto Purnama

A Review of Headshot (Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, 2011) at CinemAsia Film Festival, De Balie 4-8 April, Amsterdam

Last Saturday at the CinemAsia film festival (De Balie, Amsterdam) was the premiere of Headshot, the latest film made by the internationally reputed Thai filmmaker Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. Ever since the trailer came out, I have anticipated the day of watching this first attempt at crime drama by Ratanaruang firsthand. So, here is my take on the film.

Headshot, an Action Flick Made Difficult?

Headshot entails the story of a cop turned a hitman turned a Buddhist monk turned a hitman again, but this is not all. There’s so much more to it than one could expect from a crime thriller. Tul, a plain clothed police officer in a big city somewhere in Thailand is framed by a crooked politician, because he refuses to compromise by not giving up the case that involves a high ranking government official. From there the turbulent rollercoaster ride of chase and run begins.