Singapore — This year, FreedomFilmFest Singapore (FFFSG) celebrates 10 years of documentary film screenings in Singapore, starting from tomorrow, Dec 10. FFFSG kickstarts its anniversary celebrations, presenting two works from their Film Lab.
‘There to Document’, a short film that tells the story of how this festival began in Singapore and how it managed to survive without government funding and shifting media laws. They will also be screening the films of their four past grant winners:
‘1987: Untracing the Conspiracy’ by Jason Soo;
‘Trailer Boys’ by Yusri Sapari (Shaggy);
‘An Online Citizen’ by Calum Stuart and
‘The Shades of Love’ by Jessica Lee
ABOUT THE 2021 EDITION—#HoldingOurHeadsHigh
The crew has worked very hard over the past decade to bring light to the often-hidden stories of Singapore. And despite the ever-changing landscape of speech and media restrictions in Singapore, they continue to #HoldOurHeadsHigh as they continue to celebrate dignity in diversity.
FFFSG presents 5 film screenings with rich panel discussions
Ticket Link: https://www.cloudtheatre.com/my/org/FFFSG/
ALL TICKET PURCHASES WILL ALLOW ACCESS TO FILMS UNTIL 19 DEC 2021
THERE TO DOCUMENT
TEASER: ZI YOU ZI ZAI
Fri 10 Dec, 7 to 8:30 pm
FILM SYNOPSIS
They were there to document. An intergenerational community reflects on the 10-year history of Freedom Film Festival in Singapore. Started by Malaysia’s Pusat Komas in 2003, activists in Singapore brought the festival here in 2010.
Over the last decade, the festival has brought plural perspectives from around the world to local audiences and sparked discussions about unjust laws, inequality, migrant rights and under-represented communities. The whole festival has continuously and fearlessly presented the struggle towards justice, especially in Southeast Asia.
This film celebrates the festival as part of Singapore’s shifting landscape, examining its place in the changing sociopolitical realities we live in.
Teaser and Filmmaker discussion: Zi You Zi Zai
After accepting a young runaway Meng as his protégé, ex-gangster Ah Gao engages in one last VCD piracy scam to build a new life away from crime and poverty. This blind ambition to become self-made entrepreneurs drags them into a life of petty crime whereby serendipity, Meng encounters a lonely call girl (Lily) dreaming of a faraway utopia. Amidst these faltering, naïve quests, is their brush with the brutal plague of first love that will redeem, and destroy them.
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION
Here’s where you can join in for a frank discussion with four young filmmakers and moderator Tzang Merwyn Tong about the future of storytelling in Singapore.
Freedom Film Fest SG created a Film Lab 2 years ago, in hopes of expanding their story-telling styles for social change-oriented POVs. The world has changed since then, shifting in unimaginable ways.
And yet, stories will never stop being told. Perspectives will continuously be represented. Histories will always be collected. Freedom Film Fest kickstarts our anniversary celebrations, presenting two works from our Film Lab.
1987: UNTRACING THE CONSPIRACY
Sat 11 Dec, 3 to 4:40 pm
EXCLUSIVE PANEL DISCUSSION
Join the crew for a never-before-public conversation with long-time cherished friends of the unlawfully detained. They will be sharing their memories with the public for the first time.
Lai Maylene, was a partner of Teo Soh Lung in the law firm Teo, Lai & Lee that was started in 1981. Many of the detainees were close friends and had attended her wedding in 1984. At the time of the arrests, she had just moved to New Zealand with her husband, Christopher Tremewan and their three-month-old daughter.
Peter Low was the lawyer for ISA detainee Chng Suan Tze who, together with five other detainees, challenged their detention as unlawful — initially, in the High Court and then in the Court of Appeal. Since then, Peter Low has continued to champion legal cases opposed by the authorities.
Moderator: Kirsten Han is a freelance journalist who runs the newsletter We, The Citizens, covering Singapore from a rights-based perspective. Her work often revolves around the themes of social justice, human rights, politics, and democracy.
FILM SYNOPSIS
A film by Jason Soo examines Singapore’s history through the depiction of narrow corridors, a suit, and a tie, and a pristine book. In 1987, 22 people were arrested under Singapore’s Internal Security Act (ISA). Accused of being involved in a Marxist conspiracy to establish a communist state, many detainees were tortured and then coerced into implicating themselves and their friends on public television.
Featuring interviews with ex-detainees and political exiles, the film focuses on the first 30 days of their ordeal. The ex-detainees describe various physical and psychological techniques used by their interrogators. This ignoble history of the ISA is a damning indictment of how detention without trial is not just a special kind of law, but a suspension of law. Visit the website at https://1987untracing.wixsite.com/1987untracing
THE SHADES OF LOVE
Sun 12 Dec, 5 to 6:15 pm
EXCLUSIVE PANEL DISCUSSION
This is a discussion on ‘The Futures of Sex Work in Singapore’, with Project X board member Raksha Mahtani and filmmaker Jessica Lee, together with Selena, one of the featured contributor’s of the film & Caittrin Lee, an international dominatrix.
Jessica is also presenting 2 new interviews she has done recently, almost 2 years after the film’s release, to highlight the diversity and range of sex workers in Singapore
ABOUT THE FILM
The Shades of Love are an intimate journey into the loves, lives and losses of sex workers in Singapore during the time of Covid-19. When Covid-19 struck our shores, it had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of sex workers. It was barely noticed, even as the world’s oldest profession looked like it might not survive a pandemic. Through exclusive and unprecedented access to three sex workers, this film unpacks the realities they face and sheds light on the humanity and dignity of this marginalised group through their own voices.
TRAILER BOYS
Sun 12 Dec, 7 to 8:15 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
The film is followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker Shaggy together with Muhammad Irfan Rafieh, film protagonist and a key member of Abam2 Trailer Singapura. Moderated by Teo You Yenn, researcher, sociologist and author of ‘This Is What Inequality Looks Like’ (2018).
FILM SYNOPSIS
Trailer Boys follows the journey of Muhammad Irfan Rafieh, a key member of Abam2 Trailer Singapura, which is a community of heavy vehicle drivers from Singapore. Truck drivers are mostly seen as uneducated and unskilled compared to the rest of society, especially in fast-paced, competitive Singapore.
This film explores how young truck drivers in Singapore such as Irfan find ways to break stereotypes and improve how society perceives them through their day-to-day work
AN ONLINE CITIZEN
Sat 18 Dec, 7 to 8:10 pm
INTERVIEW WITH LYNN LEE & TERRY XU
An Online Citizen by Calum Stuart (25-minute runtime) followed by a panel discussion with Award-winning documentary filmmaker Lynn Lee and Terry Xu, chief editor and writer of The Online Citizen
FILM SYNOPSIS
Despite having no background or training in journalism, Terry Xu is chief editor, videographer, writer and webmaster of The Online Citizen, one of Singapore’s few independent media outlets.
With a lean team and a tight budget, it’s a struggle to keep the entire enterprise afloat in an environment where mainstream media is government-controlled and the ruling party doesn’t look kindly upon dissent. But with the introduction of anti-“fake news” legislation that would allow government ministers to become arbiters of truth, the environment in Singapore might become tougher than it’s ever been. Film by Calum Stuart.
FFFSG needs your support!
“Please support us! Buy tickets, watch the films and participate/follow/enjoy the post-film discussions with filmmakers, their contributors and community stalwarts with knowledge of issues surfaced by film.” — FFFSG
For more information, email: freedomfilmfestsg@gmail.com
/TISG