Discoveries from Singapore World Cinema

A young kid in the 1980s finds a polaroid camera that lets him take pictures of the Upside Down. Tie-in promotional film for Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights' Stranger Things house.

Lyrical and musical in its style, Tiong Bahru is a thoughtful portrait of 3 very different people caught at a cross-road in their lives. TIONG BAHRU was filmed in Singapore in June 2010 over 3 days and involved over 150 residents of the Tiong Bahru Heritage Estate in Singapore.

Following the birth of her niece, Jing returns to Singapore for the newborn’s full month celebration. Here she is forced to confront her contentious relationship with her estranged mother and a traditional family politic—the causes of her departure a decade prior.

Three mothers, each facing their own hardships, find strength and common ground in each other as their lives converge at a local social service center.

What will happen to the two sisters during the track competition? Sometimes in life, it's not about winning, but the journey that matters.

A brother tries to advice his troubled sister from following in his footsteps. Failed in his attempt, he seeks the help of his good friend.

A story of solitude, serendipity and kindness during a perennial late afternoon downpour in the heart of the city as two souls try to find their way home in the rain.

When depersonalisation and derealisation detach them from reality, a young Thai art graduate and an anonymous Frenchman recount their experiences of feeling alienated and unsure of their existence.

Tired of his turbulent family life, Adam seeks out an alternative arrangement in hopes of finding his place.

A legendary folklore film. Religious leader Tun Jana Khatib and his 2 followers come to Singapore from Pasai to trade. However, due to the rivalry between the Temenggong and the King’s aide, Tun Jana Khatib is slandered. He's sentenced to death and the King’s aide sentenced to life imprisonment. One night, several fishermen are attacked and killed by swordfish. At the coast of Singapore, with his courtiers, the King is also attacked. The Temenggong orders that villagers be used as human shields against the attack. The young son of the King's aide, Hang Nadim, suggests that banana tree trunks be used instead. It works and in return, the King agrees to release his father. However, the sly Temenggong instigates the King against Hang Nadim and his father.

This two-channel video features footage collected over a long period, including moments captured during the artist's forest visits, from his apartment on the 26th floor via a zoom lens, and from motion-capturing and body temperature cameras that he installed in the forest. This secondary forest is a place where natural and man-made elements interact, introduced and native species coexist, and past and present intertwine. Abandoned tents languish under the trees. Animals and migratory birds rest on a trash bin and a broken concrete drain. Remnants of military facilities from the British colonial era and the Japanese occupation, as well as items left behind by migrant workers are scattered and buried in the forest. Layered onto this landscape is the unfathomable narrative of two travellers passing through the forest, who speak of things seen in the forest and things the forest sees.

One day, Luigi receives full marks for his first school test. Excited, he decides to spend the night waiting for his mother’s return so he can share his results.

On an unremarkable weekday afternoon, the film follows eight-year-old Dawn as she spends her birthday planning the perfect surprise, only to be surprised herself.

The film is an investigative story of a troubled antagonist who perpetrates heinous acts of sexual violence due to his own biological shortcomings and traumatic past.

Two teens stumble upon a dead body right outside their house. What happens next forms the rest of the story.

Armed with legendary players like Quah Kim Song, Rajagopal, Samad, Mat Noh, Dollah Kassim, Uncle Choo sets out an impossible journey to remind his fellow countrymen of what it meant to be a Singaporean. This is a tale about sheer grit, unbreakable will and his deep passion, unyielding struggle with society and oneself, to finally achieve glory for one's nation through football and coined one legacy unwittingly, known to all as 'The Kallang Roar' which is of nothing to himself at the end of it.

Tak Giu is a cult film about soccer culture in Singapore. Having taken up the challenge of a friendly match, three soccer-crazy boys realize it is not easy to find a good, free public soccer field in Singapore, if there’s any at all. Through their journey they encounter obnoxious caretakers, locked-up fences, hot weather and a persistent policeman. Will they find their dream pitch?

Born Chinese, Hajar was given away as a baby to a Malay-Muslim family and raised as one. Her past catches up with her as Hajar prepares for her first Haj. How would she deal with the discovery of her hidden past?

In the aftermath of her friend's passing, an artist processes her grief by making a film. She weaves her personal archival footage and an unfinished science-fiction narrative into a deeply raw and emotive work of art.

Two amateur podcasters must decide how far they will go for content when a Trump-loving Singaporean guest derails their show. Meanwhile, the Liberation Day tariffs inch closer.

state. is an exploration of liminal spaces, physical and emotional, from the perspective of a teenager. Unravelling through a desktop screen, the film navigates between different states: physical and digital, reality and whimsicality, and childhood and adulthood.

Overseas Filipino workers, more so those who break their backs in Singapore, have always lived under the large shadow left by the death of Flor Contemplacion and her fate as a domestic helper in a foreign country. In this documentary, Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr. explores what’s beyond this shadow, the lives of Myla, Vhickie, and Bing that revel in small joys and deep sadness; the empathies of places such as Lucky Plaza, Orchard Road, and St. Andrew’s Cathedral where their hopes and dreams are recollected; and the solidarity of spirit that defines the Filipino.

A small rural hospital in Japan battles an international cybercriminal gang that is holding them ransom with their stolen patient data.

Uneven Steps charts the Butoh body as it moves, struggles and convulses in its tussle with pain. It moves to connect, yearning to dissolve its suffering, towards a newfound catharsis.

Marni, a policewoman, is tasked to investigate the accusation of child molestation, allegedly done by an expatriate teacher at an International School in Jakarta. As Marni goes deep in her investigation, she has to navigate the media circus and public hysteria that manipulates and corrupts the truth.

Tracing the memefication, redubbing and recycling of the final scene of Hindi box office hit Krantiveer (Brave Revolutionary), Kush Badhwar and Renu Savant call the authority of authorial voice into question, and unveil the power of subjective interpretation.

Using a unique format of episodes and advertisements: GUNKWORLD is a short film about a horror cult cartoon series on TV where the main characters: Gunkman, Sallysweets and Roboji, are cute monster schoolchildren who terrorize human characters. Outside the TV show, GUNKWORLD begins to advertise its brand through commercials and merchandise, which quickly gains popularity at an unholy rate. The entire planet eventually becomes crazed, all their thoughts replaced with messages from GUNKWORLD. Back in the TV show, Gunkman starts to miss his lines. Gunkman is up to something... As a film, GUNKWORLD overloads the viewer with loud, colorful and compressed visuals, audio, stories and designs, playing with ideas of hypnotic subconscious consumption. It paints a vibrant yet ugly picture of needless ‘over-consumption’ and loss of control. GUNKWORLD is also a love letter to Japanese media, seen from the eyes of a child growing up in Singapore during the 90s.

A lost man falls apart in a forest. The quiet, atmospheric terrain of the forest is undisturbed until a man comes along. Seemingly lost, he enters the unknown space, observing and exploring the area, before he starts to fall apart.

Tells the tale of two brothers Indera Bangsawan and Indera Sakti who has gone out in search of buluh perindu on the orders of their father His Royal Highness. On their oath searching for the buluh perindu they were seperated by a tornado ending up Indera Sakti in a land called Antah Berahi. The land is very much quiet due to its history where a Garuda attacked the land. Indera Bangsawawn on the other hand ended up in a cave occupied by his grangdfather Kuban Shah. He asked his grandfather for help to search for the buluh perindu. He was willingly enough to help him out but before that he needs to go to Antah Permata and marry with Puteri Ratna Saerah. Will the two lost brothers ever find the buluh perindu?

Samseng’ is an action-drama about two brothers. Daud, the elder brother, is serving a prison sentence for forgery and the younger Ahmad is a gangster who specialises in extortion and robbery. Daud prevents a jail-break and saves the life of a prison warden for which his sentence is reduced. After leaving prison, Daud notices that gangsterism is rampant in the town and decides to join the police force as a detective.

Partitions draws on photographs, state documents, audio recordings and footage of domestic spaces and routines, to tell a story of Sindhi migration following the Partition of India in 1947. Inspired by the life of a woman who was born in Hyderabad, Sindh, grew up in Madras (Chennai) and lived the rest of her life as a Singaporean, the film juxtaposes fragmented recollections of the past with enduring practices of the present.

A stressed-out middle-aged woman discovers the wonders of a vibrator, but soon becomes addicted to solo pleasure sessions and loses touch with reality.

While working in a trauma unit, a social worker investigates mysterious deaths connected to supernatural phenomena and forbidden rituals.

A man and a woman escape their mundane office life to look for a refuge to fulfill their desires, going through more extreme lengths the further out they venture.

A Hmong guide's daily life in the mountains of Sapa, North Vietnam.

A couple broke up due to religious differences. 25 years later, a girl brought all the memories back.

In a household bounded by faith, Jamaliah struggles to reconnect with her teenage daughter, Aliyah, while longing for companionship. Unbeknownst to her, Aliyah is grappling with the same emotional turmoil. As both mother and daughter navigate their unspoken parallel desires, the growing distance between them threatens to fracture their fragile bond.

In a beautiful holiday island of Hawaii Island held a large celebration with dancing , singing and boat racing . Among the visitors to the island is a merchant Goya and his assistant Moku . They met with Makali and Priyo who lived there and also took part in the event were provided. Makali have a beautiful little girl named Aloha . Aloha Priyo and love each other but also merchant Nagoya has feelings for Aloha . Nagoya threatened Aloha merchant father of Makali to bless their marriage because the merchant knows that Goya was formerly pirate Makali actually required and never known by the name Sankali . Merchant Nagoya also sent her daughter to bring Priyo Silpi to a different island so Aloha can forget it. Priyo good friend , a musician named Banjo get to know the real thing and go to the island to help his friend .

In a remote, war ravaged Sri Lankan jungle village, a red rain begins to fall at night, amplifying the dark proclivities of the villagers, dismantling all societal order.

In the not too distant future, humanity has harnessed cosmic forces and expanded its reach far beyond Earth. But this is no new golden age. The eternal struggle for resources remains, pitting the water-starved Empire of Mars against our species’ home planet. The Second Great War has raged for decades. Kai’s father has fallen in battle, his mother gone missing on a mission to Saturn. Now 18 years old, Kai is determined to do his part (and find his mother), and follows in his father’s footsteps to the Mecha Corps Academy. Though brilliant in theoretical matters, Kai is physically weak, and hides the asthma that would disqualify him. With the support of his squad—overachiever Waye, easygoing Ean, neurotic Ren, and the sympathetic if incomprehensible brute Rock—Kai earns his place at the controls of his own mecha, which he names Little Dragon. So begins the deep bond between Kai and his robot, which will need to be strong as steel if either will survive the incredible challenges ahead.

Mahsuri is a Malay film produced in Singapore in 1959.It was produced in Black and white. Ti was based on a local Malay folklore.. The script was written by the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and was bought by Cathy Keris at RM10,000.

1956 / Love Song / L. Krishnan / Keris

Xuan (8) is struggling to find the perfect outfit for her school’s upcoming Children’s Day celebration. Her sisters are mean, her father authoritarian, her mother busy with the new baby. Xuan tentatively approaches a classmate and makes a new friend.

The first feature-length documentary on the journey of the Indonesian National Team.

A wildlife documentary highlighting some of the 300-over species of birds that were native to Singapore. It also addressed the diminishing population of birds due to Singapore’s urbanisation.

Set during the Sultan Era. Megat Terawis and Megat Sari are the two sons of Paduka Haji, a commoner, who's wife, Princess Kamariah is the younger sister of the Sultan of the country. Although, the Sultan had consented to the marriage, his younger brother Tengku Long who is the Prime Minister, resents their sister being married to a commoner and has nudged a secret grudge against Paduka Haji ever since.

Singaporean comedian Fakkah Fuzz opens up about life in his mid-30s, dishing out stories on family and society's expectations, and his own identity.

Dang Anom, the beautiful daughter of Sang Rajuna Tapa, is engaged to Panglima Malang. Having fallen for Dang Anom, the Sultan makes her his concubine against her wish. Panglima Malang is helpless but manages to sneak into the palace for a secret meeting with Dang Anom. Unfortunately, they are caught and the Sultan sentences the lovers to be killed in a cruel manner. In order to save his daughter, Sang Rajuna Tapa opens the gate of the fort and lets the army of the Majapahit into the sultanate.

After months of lockdowns and quarantines, four migrant workers finally get their long deserved Sunday only to discover that the field they have their weekly game of cricket on has been cordoned off for construction! Unwilling to let their beloved off day go to waste, they embark on an adventure for a new spot to play. And between meeting quirky characters, overcoming obstacles and seeing Singapore they helped built... this one unexpected day could mean more than any of them ever dreamed.

A scientist studying the first human time traveller falls in love with her subject. But if her research succeeds they will become separated by eons of history. She must find a way to connect with him across the ages or lose him forever.

Set in a neighborhood primary school in Singapore, Ms Chen becomes the new form teacher of 6F, the worst class in the school.

Mat works at a turtle slaughterhouse and discovers a tiny book of magical spells that he believes will transform his life. He quits the job and begins a journey of exploring the world of magic with the book. All his plans go awry when a group of pirates forcibly recruits him as a cook and he is made to take part in robbing a village and kidnapping the village chief and his daughter, Mariam. Mat escapes with Mariam and teams up with a band of colourful villagers to rescue the village chief from the pirates’ hideout.

The film tells the story of the Jia family, a family of talented Taiwanese con men, who are recruited to Singapore by veteran fraudster "Jun Ming" on a Robin Hood-like mission to defraud corrupt tech tycoon "Huai Ren". He forms an unlikely alliance with the family to stop "Huai Ren's" new strategy - a Ponzi scheme that involves tricking ordinary people into buying a digital product he is launching that will "completely change the world".

A re-staging of instructional texts from Home Economics Textbooks used in the 1970s, outlining the correct manner for personal grooming, house-keeping, and entertaining. The film critiques the extreme performativity of femininity through gestures and costumes to a soundtrack of highly gendered phrases taken verbatim from the textbooks.

Jamal the son of Kamal a woodsman owner is married to Aminah. Their marriage is blessed even more with Mardiana their new born. But their happiness was short lived when Jamal started to mix around with Harun and his bad influenced friends. Harun is an insurance representative who also works for Aishah the stunning beauty. Jamal is attracted to Aishah so much that he starts to abandon his family. Jamal had to spend a lot of his money to accompany Aishah who is used to the lifestyle of a rich person. Will Jamal ever repent and come back to his originally family and be the father figure he has been all these while?