by Mathias Ortmann (Berlin, Germany)

April 2006 - "Singapore Shorts" is the plain title of a new DVD released in 2005 by the Asian Film Archive in Singapore, and it gives exactly that: a collection of nine short films by nine young Singaporean directors. The inlet states that according to the Archive's chief aim of preserving and furthering Asian film as a vital part of Asian and Singaporean culture in particular, the collection wants to draw attention to some recent works that it thinks deserving of a wider public (and international) recognition.

So, even when first having a short look at the contents, you won't fail to notice the producer’s principal intention of giving the broadest possible overview of current filmmaking in Singapore. The line-up includes almost every genre (from documentary and animation to mini-drama and short-short film poem), films of varying length (ranging from just under 3 minutes up to almost a half hour) and they all have one thing in common: without exception you will find in this collection films of true cinematic quality. As much as this is proof of the obvious fact of the high degree of professionalism among Singapore's younger generation of directors, it also lends credibility to the effectiveness of the city-state's existing infrastructure in this field - and the remarkable richness of talent it doesn't hinder from coming to the fore.

And to state the least complimentary one could say about this DVD right at the beginning: it is in part due to the prevailing high technical standard of the assembled films, that one is at times left with a slight irritation at their relative tameness, wondering just how 'representative' of Singaporean film (or Singapore) they actually are.

That however does hardly seem a fair approach, when judging each single film as a work of art in itself: here the sole measure should be the guiding question of whether or not each one does achieve what it sets out to portray; and, most importantly, if the result works out as a film.

"3ft apart" by Jason Lai is a short animation film developing a comic take on modern means of telecommunications and home-entertainment; an original idea, lovingly drawn and convincing in making its point, that inter-human relations don't necessarily improve by applying ever more electronic devices.

While Wee Li Lin's "Autograph book" with its sympathetic, but somehow luke-warm look at a group of school-girls' "friendship-drama" fails to really make an impact, in spite of some funny details it includes, "The Secret Heaven" by Sun Koh offers plenty of emotional accessibility and succeeds in its portrayal of a 5-6 y.o. girl's suffering from domestic violence and abuse by her cruel mother. Although there are scenes of heightened reality to be found in both of these films, they mostly rely on conventional story-telling and thus it is that - in this collection at least - they don't come in strongest.

"While You Sleep", a neatly staged black-and-white family drama of some 10 minutes by Eva Tang, explores with astonishing skill the diverging currents underlying an ordinary family's make-up, brought to the surface only by the mother's temporary time-out as she falls into a coma after undergoing brain-surgery. As the integrating factor leaves a vacuum at the centre of this one-parent family, the left behind members experience the momentum of their own spin, leaving them strangely vulnerable and susceptible to a drift, that the director beautifully depicts as potentially dangerous and menacing.

A much more tangible menace however comes into view in Han Yew Kwang's epic account of an Indian migrant worker's encounters, as he follows him over the course of a few weeks into his challenging life as a foreigner, who is struggling to provide for his family back home by working hard on a construction site in Singapore. It has to be said, that although this short film at first seems to be barely moving at all, it nonetheless draws you slowly into the experience of the story's troubled protagonist. His growing estrangement is contrasted with an increasingly perceived threat that doesn't arise so much from a cultural clash of any kind, as it does from the absence of operational context, the man finds himself in. Pictures speak of conflicting values, needs and longings are shown, and indeed this film has a very humane quality that is no small achievement.

In stark contrast to this 25 min film, Victric Thng in "Locust" creates a composition of what is in mere fact no more than a filmic canvas in monochrome, a steady zooming-in on one single scene, on which the narration only partially sheds some light. People, teenagers absently drifting by the camera, in and out of focus, sporadically interacting and loosely connected if not entirely anonymous in the crowd, perfectly relate to a narration telling of fate, of human encounter and loss. Very touching, very inspiring, and a visual poem that convincingly, in the fashion of a true painter-genius condenses the maximum of one strong emotion in a single stroke of the brush - i.e. in just little more than 120 seconds of film!

There are more than just superficial similarities between this one and "Mother", the 2001 short by the already well-established Royston Tan, which the producers of this compilation had every reason to include in the DVD's line-up. It is a real highlight, this winner of the SIFF short-film competition of that year: as with Thng's short, there is a narrative-monologue juxtaposed to a carefully selected stream of, in this case, 8 mm home-video, showing commonplace family portraits, a get-together, a little girl playing and the like. It is close to impossible to tell in words what the film achieves to evoke emotionally as a montage of (almost) incoherent film sequences and a highly stylized, narrative text, that constantly operates with contrast-building. But it is this unique quality, that comes with the director's ability to capture and translate into film the most simple and, at the same time, the most humane feelings, that make up moments of great intensity which seem to become a trademark with all Royston Tan films.

He devises pictures of extreme beauty and emotional depth that will linger on and stay with you for some time - which after all is the very thing we look out for in films. With "Mother" you once again will feel compelled to ask yourself how it actually is, that he successfully avoids being pathetic, when indeed story and theme of this short tribute to a mother could very easily yield to it. Somehow, Tan avoids treating us to an all too simple and outright display of regretfulness and mere confessional monologue. What he gives instead is an impressive and haunting glimpse into the essence of life itself. Only when seeing it more than just once, one will come to understand that it is the fact of the slight, but all-important mismatch between text and picture, that opens up a little gap, where some "breathing" can enter and thus meaningfully transform "Mother" into the little, but precious piece of art that it is.

Equally good, but for very different reasons, "Moving House" by Tan Pin Pin tells, as a documentary, of a family joining in the effort of relocating the remains of their deceased parents from the old family grave to a niche in a new columbarium complex. The director first takes the opportunity to tell of the history of Singapore's communal housing projects and urban (re-)development measures up to the described undertaking, before returning to the initial family portrait. The film's theme and the respectful approach to it, add up to the documentary's involving quality. Here for once a real-life story is left to speak for itself - and this is exactly where its strength comes from: it is equally well chosen as it is done to make up an insightful document of our times.

Last but not least, "Birthday" has to be considered the outstanding masterpiece of this entire collection. This 30 min mini-feature by Bertrand Lee, which won him the "Goldene Reiter" at the Filmfest Dresden in 2005, stands out because of its spotless visual realization of intense story-telling, combined with something not very often observed even with very good short films such as these: convincing characters and strong acting. As a very young couple struggle to make it through their son's birthday, they are seen facing all the difficulties of young adult- and parenthood, of a loss of job and ensuing financial insecurity, of disillusionment and the inability to ward off an indistinct but pervading feeling of loss at the irreversible end of their youth. All of this naturally takes its toll on their relationship, possibly even marks the last day of it, and so we get a very strong, a vivid and fully drawn picture of real-life and a refreshingly non-stereotype feel for what it is that binds people together at one time and separates them, for many different reasons, at another. Lee creates a moving tale of two (in fact: three) young people driven by internal and external pressures, battling for readjustment and a new balance in life. In "Birthday" you'll find that it all fits: the plot, the atmosphere and the film's aesthetics (which are very reminding of Wong Kar Wei's films). It is as close to perfect as it could get, I would say, and this one film by itself would be enough to make this collection worthwhile: a must-see!

I would strongly recommend "Singapore Shorts" as what by any standards is a very fine and entertaining collection indeed - and a remarkable and laudable undertaking by the AFA. For anyone with a special interest in Singaporean film this DVD is certainly worth more than just cursory viewing and shouldn't fail your notice. Particularly for those in the international Asian film-community who just hate being surprised at film-festivals by yet another so far 'unknown' director making a name for themselves, this one is a must. For there can be little doubt, that we will hear of some of the directors represented in "Singapore Shorts" in the near future.. 


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