We present a list of fifteen films you shouldn’t miss at the 30th Singapore International Film Festival which will take place from November 21st until December 1st (2019) in Singapore.

About the festival:
The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) is the largest and longest running film event in Singapore. Founded in 1987 by Geoffrey Malone and L. Leland Whitney, the Festival focuses on showcasing international films and providing a global platform for the best of Singapore cinema. Over the decades, it has grown to become an iconic date in the Singapore arts calendar. With its focus on groundbreaking Asian cinema, this prestigious event is known for its dynamic programming and commitment to the development of a vibrant local film culture.

Selected Films:

A Girl missing by Koji Fukada – Japan, France | 2019 – 111 minutes

Private nurse Ichiko Shirakawa is practically kin to her client’s family. She cares for their ailing grandmother by day and voluntarily tutors the daughters after work. One day, younger daughter Saki disappears. As the catastrophe unfolds and Ichiko is forced to endure its consequences, her life begins to crumble around her. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 26th (Tuesday) | Filmgarde Bugis+, Hall 3 | 7:00 pm

Trailer:

A Sun by Chung Mong-hon – Taiwan | 2019 – 155 minutes

A Taiwanese middle-class nuclear family forms the central unit in A Sun. As the younger son lands himself in juvenile detention, the older son struggles with existence. Father-son relationships are explored in depth, and trouble is a constant in the film be it financial, gang-related or moral. Tensions on-screen are captured precisely, often vibrating off the screen as well. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 25th (Monday) | Filmgarde Bugis+, Hall 3 | 9:30 pm
November 27th (Wednesday) | Filmgarde Bugis+, Hall 3 | 7:00 pm

Trailer:

Accept the call by Eunice Lau – Singapore, USA | 2019 – 83 minutes

Zacharia Abdurahman was first detained in 2014 for trying to board a plane to join ISIS in Syria. Shortly after, he was arrested in an FBI anti-terrorism sting operation. His father, Yusuf, has only one question: Why would Zacharia give up life in America for a foreign terrorist organisation? (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 27th (Wednesday) | Oldham Theatre | 7:00 pm

Trailer:

Balloon by Pema Tseden – China | 2019 – 102 minutes

Content with three children and their sheep, Dargye and Drolkar embrace China’s new one-child policy. However, when lost condoms cause the family’s lives to spiral, some believe that these are all part of a greater plan. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 23rd (Saturday) | The Projector, Green Room | 4:30 pm

Trailer:

Bombay Rose by Gitanjali Rao – India | 2019 – 93 minutes

Painted frame-by-frame at PaperBoat Animation Studios in India, Bombay Rose took two years to complete production. Rao’s designs lend a lushness that reflects the intricacies of love in its many forms. Romance blossoms between Kamala, a Hindu flower-seller who moonlights as a dancer, and Salim, a Muslim who has moved from Kashmir only to struggle to survive on Mumbai’s bustling streets. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 22nd (Friday) | The Project, Redum | 7:00 pm
November 28th (Thursday) | National Museum of Singapore, Gallery Theatre | 9:30 pm

Trailer:

Coming Home Again by Wayne Wang – USA, South Korea | 2019 – 88 minutes

Coming Home Again details a son’s love for his mother, as Chang-rae returns home to nurse his mother who has stomach cancer. Resisting his mother’s insistence for independence, Chang-rae busies himself with as many nursing tasks as possible. This Korean-American drama moves seamlessly between the past and present as it deals with memories and identity.

Screening:
November 25th (Monday) | Filmgrade Bugis+, Hall 3 | 7:00 pm
November 28th (Thursday) | Filmgrade Bugis+, Hall 6 | 7:00 pm

Trailer:

Krabi, 2562 by Ben Rivers, Anocha Suwichakornpong – UK, Thailand | 2019 – 93 minutes

An experimental exploration of the landscape in Krabi, 2562 sees locals from the pre-historic and recent past interweave with foreigners who resemble the past, present and future. It is a unique drama centered on the filmmakers’ vision of capturing this tourist destination in a manner that spans various dimensions. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 24th (Sunday) | Filmgrade Bugis+, Hall 6 | 4:30 pm

Trailer:

Midnight Traveler by Hassan Fazili – USA, Qatar, UK, Canada | 2019 – 86 minutes

In 2015, filmmaker Hassan Fazili profiled a Taliban commander turned civilian. After it aired on national television, the Taliban executed his documentary subject and put a hit out for Fazili. He fled with his family to Tajikistan, only to be deported back months later. Faced with a hostile homeland, they chart a course for safer soils that will take them through border fences, anti-immigrant gangs and Kafkaesque bureaucracies.

Screening:
November 23rd (Saturday) | The Projector, Green Room | 2:15 pm

Trailer:

Revolution Launderette by Mark Chua, Lam Li Shuen – Singapore, Japan | 2019 – 71 minutes

In Tokyo, a young man, Tomo, and his companion, Hiroko, have hardly any money left to their name. Convinced that their misfortune is part of a larger, unexplainable joke, they agree to throw themselves into all the encounters that come their way with the singular hope of defeating this joke before it plays out. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 26th (Tuesday) | Oldham Theatre | 9:30 pm

Trailer:

Soul by Emir Ezwan – Malaysia | 2018 – 82 minutes

Cut off from civilisation, a single mother puts her children on high alert when they bring home a young girl caked in clay. She tells of spirits and spirit hunters, but these are not mere superstitions. As more strangers show up on her doorstep, she quickly finds another reason to fear the forest. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 22nd (Friday) | Filmgrade Bugis+, Hall 6 | 11:55 pm

Trailer:

The Missing Picture by Rithy Panh – Cambodia, France | 2019 – 92 minutes

In 1975, 13-year-old Rithy Panh and his family were taken away from their home, and sent to “re-education” camps along with the rest of Cambodia. There, the hostages found themselves either compelled to do hard labour or tortured and killed. All this to destroy social divisions and bring a professedly triumphant revolution.

Screening:
November 25th (Monday) | Oldham Theatre | 7:00 pm

Trailer:

The Tree Remembers by Lau Kek-Huat – Taiwan | 2019 – 89 minutes

Malaysia-born, Taiwan-based filmmaker Lau Kek-Huat returns with a story of the Malayan Peninsula. This time, he explores the Orang Asli’s dwindling rights and the 1969 racial riots. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 30th (Saturday) | Oldham Theatre | 7:30 pm

Trailer:

The Wild goose lake by Diao Yinan – China, France | 2019 – 113 minutes

Mid-level gang leader Zhou Zenong returns from prison to continue his work in the underworld. After a violent territorial disagreement and a botched assassination attempt, Zenong finds himself on the run with a hefty bounty on his head. With the help of mysterious “bathing beauty” Liu Aiai, can he escape his fatalistic destiny? (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 23rd (Saturday) | The Projector, Redrum | 5:00 pm

Trailer:

Verdict by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez – Philippines | 2019 – 126 minutes

Dante, a small-time petty crook, comes home with alcohol-fuelled rage and viciously attacks his wife, Joy, and their six-year-old daughter, Angel. To protect herself and Angel, Joy stabs Dante in the arm before fleeing to the nearest police station to file a complaint. At the station, she is humiliated and threatened by law enforcers, and soon realises that finding justice is an uphill battle. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 27th (Wednesday) | National Museum of Singapore, Gallery Theatre | 9:15 pm
November 28th (Thursday) | Oldham Theatre | 4:30 pm

Trailer:

Wet Season by Anthony Chen – Singapore, Taiwan | 2019 – 103 minutes

The monsoon season brings storm clouds, uncertainties and the warm promise of spring in Wet Season, as Chen traces the fragile dissonances in the lives of two individuals. (SGIFF 2019)

Screening:
November 21st (Thursday) | Capitol Theatre | 8:00 pm

Trailer:

We also recommended 12 Short Films you cannot miss, to see the see the article go HERE

For more information about the programme please visit the official website of the festival: Singapore International Film Festival