After 1990 Cinema of Singapore

1 after 1990

1.1 1990s pioneers
1.2 late 1990s successes
1.3 jack neo , royston tan
1.4 2005 2009
1.5 2010 , beyond

after 1990
early 1990s pioneers

the first singapore funded film came in 1991 s medium rare, based on real-life local cult killer, adrian lim, hanged in 1988 murder. although cost on s$2 million in production, film performed dismally @ box office. film took in merely s$130,000 locally broke ice next coming singapore movie, bugis street, released in 1995. bugis street gaudy film famous sleazy district transvestites , transsexuals found. both medium rare , bugis street directed non singaporeans. same year saw release of mee pok man, first full-length film made independent singaporean filmmaker, eric khoo, on tight budget of s$100,000. concerning lonely noodle seller falls prostitute, mee pok man earned critical accolade worldwide , encouraged more experimental, independent filmmaking in nation.

army daze, made in 1996, took humorous @ singapore s national service, , turned in high profits @ box office.

in 1997 came eric khoo feature film, 12 storeys, highly acclaimed production first singaporean film shown @ cannes. interweaving 3 stories life in hdb high-rise flats, 12 storeys seen breakthrough singaporean films, combining coherent plot singaporean production crew , actors, such jack neo , koh boon pin. rest of decade encouraging growing film industry. glen goei s forever fever (1998) picked miramax s$4.5 million , re-released in u.s. s way it. these 2 years saw releases of number of other films, such road less travelled (1997), god or dog (1997), tiger s whip (1998) , teenage textbook movie (1998).

late 1990s successes

however, phenomenal success of money no enough (1998) catapulted nation s drive towards movie-making. using local crew of actors drawn television comedies, heartland comedy written jack neo used smattering of singlish , hokkien make realistic, identifiable drama s quest make quick buck. made less s$1 million, raked in s$5,800,000, making commercially profitable local film date. demonstrated viable potential of singapore s film industry. next year boom year local films. 8 singaporean feature films made in 1999 alone, notable being liang po po: movie (starring jack neo in reprisal of television cross-gender role), 1 no enough, first directorial effect of jack neo, , eating air, made film critic kelvin tong , film editor jasmine ng on budget of s$800,000. eating air did not break even; 1 no enough barely did , liang po po: movie continued vein of commercial success of money no enough, collecting s$3.03 million.

1999 marked watershed singapore films. raintree pictures, filmmaking subsidiary of mediacorp productions, started. raintree pictures invested in 2 regional co-productions, liang po po , truth jane , sam, starred singaporean television lead actress fann wong taiwanese singer peter ho , hong kong director derek yee. raintree pictures finance number of local , hong kong productions in years come, , producer company of films of jack neo. subsequent productions, such 2000 ad (2000) , tree (2001), drew on hong kong star power; company invested in critically acclaimed regional films such eye (2002) , infernal affairs ii (2003). raintree pictures produced 2 english-language local productions, chicken rice war (2000) , 1 leg kicking (2001).

with financing of local production company , setting of organisations such singapore film commission (sfc, set in 1998), budding filmmakers, independent ones, found easier make movies on subsidies , loaned funding. advent of digital video meant novice filmmakers experiment cheaper alternatives. features stories love (2000) , return pontianak (2001) both shot on digital videos, though not commercial successes.

jack neo , royston tan

the success story since turn of 20th century must local comedian-turned-director jack neo. financed raintree pictures, made number of hits dealing singapore s heartland problems in engaging , deceptively light-hearted fashion. not stupid (2002) peek ultra-competitive academic lifestyle seen through 3 local students performed poorly in grades; acerbic social commentary marked height singaporean films. homerun (2003) remake of iranian children of heaven in local, pre-independent era context; won young lead megan zheng first golden horse award best newcomer. best bet (2004) took humorous dig @ heartlanders obsessions lotteries. neo averages film per year , productions feature local singaporean (usually television) artistes in filmic roles. have been successes locally , abroad, in places chinese-language market, such hong kong. has started own artiste management company, j-team productions.

royston tan, young singapore tv commercial director has been making award-winning shorts years, released 15: movie, first feature, in 2003. expanded version of earlier short film made, 90-min movie on fringe , drug-abusing delinquents used bold subject-matter , featured graphic scenes non-professional actors. when film censorship board passed cuts, prompted backlash director in form of cut, all-singing musical satire à la tsai ming-liang lampooning system. interestingly, short film passed uncensored board , seen during singapore international film festival, there open discussions during local parliamentary sessions, prompting remarks government not amused it. royston tan has since made 3 more features, 4:30 (2005), 881 (2007) , 12 lotus (2008).

2005 2009

2005 seen mini-boom year singaporean cinema, commercially successful fares kelvin tong s horror flick maid, 2 jack-neo co-directed movies, do , 1 more chance, , less mainstream offerings eric khoo s critically acclaimed cannes opener me, , perth, djinn s dark take on scorsese s taxi driver.

in 2006, independent feature becoming royston paid homage above-mentioned filmmaker. made under new originasian pictures. film went on festival run in europe , south asia , released in 2007. 2006 saw premiere of singapore dreaming woo yen yen , colin goh, won montblanc new screenwriters award @ san sebastian international film festival, first singaporeans so. film screened @ numerous festivals worldwide and, in 2007, became first singaporean feature win audience award narrative feature @ asian american international film festival in new york.

in 2007, jack neo released film known follow law (我们在政府部门的日子) took dig @ bureaucracy in civil service, lengthy procedures 1 had go through in singapore permit various things. film garnered positive reviews , moderately successful @ box office. however, success story of year royston tan s 881, brought singapore s seventh month getai culture big screens. while intended niche film, exceeded expectations , became 1 of highest grossing local films of time. critics gave positive reviews, , many believe fact film gave younger singaporean chinese more insight traditional culture made success. in addition, use of hokkien songs, had been suppressed government part of speak mandarin campaign, may have contributed popularity.

in 2008, eric khoo s tamil language social drama magic became singapore s first film compete palme d or @ cannes film festival.

2010 , beyond

a wave of young filmmakers, educated in local , overseas film schools, begin dominate film scene.

in 2010, young filmmaker boo junfeng, known time in international film festival circuit award-winning short films, completed debut feature film sandcastle. became first singaporean film selected @ international critics week @ cannes film festival (competing caméra d or) , listed wall street journal 1 of notable films asia in 2010. produced eric khoo s zhao wei films, film delicately tackled controversial subject matters such chinese middle school riots , operation coldstore. picked international sales agent fortissimo films , funded singapore film commission. in same year, artist/filmmaker liao jiekai completed debut film red dragonflies, traveled several film festivals around world.

ilo ilo (chinese: 爸妈不在家), debut feature of director anthony chen, premiered @ 2013 cannes film festival part of directors fortnight on 19 may 2013 positive reviews. film awarded camera d or award, becoming first singaporean feature film win award @ cannes film festival. received 6 nominations @ golden horse film festival , awards., , won 4: best film, best new director, best original screenplay , best supporting actress yeo yann yann. in total ilo ilo has received 21 awards , 10 nominations around world, highest ranking singaporean-made film on imdb, making critically acclaimed film in history of singaporean cinema.