This is a documentary about people with mental illness.
Gained an understanding of the clinic's daily operations and what the patients were going through! Most of them are just normal human beings like the rest of us. I especially liked the poetry by one of the patients towards the end!
The story is about a man who dreams of building a movie theatre together with a girl he met. He stole money from an influential guy and had to hide from him and his gang.
Liked how the film was divided into chapters with a paper drawing of what we might expect! It probably has some reference to the film "Le Samourai" so would want to check it out if I have the chance to see the similarities.
Wanted to watch some short films during the Singapore International Film Festival, so I picked the following 10 films as a bundle.
Liked the great acting by the female lead in "New Born", the dramatic twist in "Here is Not There", the little boy's efforts to bring the family together in "Rocketship" and the nice songs in "Nursery Rhymes".
Both "Sexy Sushi" and "Water Melon Please" were a little abstract and touched on some existential issues.
Learnt about the history of Uzbek films in "Her Five Lives" and appreciated Hou Hsiao Hsien's films better with "Casting a Spell to Alter Reality".
Liked the special effect to make the father figure fuzzy in "Judy Free" and the chit chat in "Sunrise in My Mind".
This is a story about a documentary director who covers scandals and what happens when she is about to be involved in one herself.
Liked the moral dilemmas presented in the film! Is it better to tell the truth and risk getting shamed by society or be burdened with having to tell lies the rest of your life and potentially harming others? Not really sure if the lead actress made the right choice in the end.
This is a story about an athlete who skis and her relationship with her coach and family.
Great acting by the lead actress! Realized it is not so easy to spot a possible offender as it may happen suddenly under specific circumstances.
This is a documentary on the sights and sounds in Singapore during its SG50 celebrations.
Liked the scenes with people from different religions and cultures! Learned more about people from all walks of life from the interviews!
The story is about a family trying to move on in their lives in their own ways.
The pace was a little slow at the start but I appreciated the film more after all the characters were introduced. Liked the nice family atmosphere of them eating together and the grandson showing off his dance! The old song that the grandfather listened to was quite nice too!
The story is about a little girl trying to bring her family together through cooking and planning a family trip. She made friends with two girls who are even younger than her by chance.
Liked the happier moments when the three girls played together! Thought some parts were not very logical such as the mother's reaction towards the milk incident, the little girl refusing to answer her calls and the fear towards a man sleeping in his cart but I still enjoyed the film.
This is a documentary about a son making a puppet theatre show as a tribute to his father.
Liked the interesting concept but also wondered if it was worth spending so much time and money on the project! The puppet handlers were pretty skillful in my opinion!
This is a documentary on an ancient Chinese wind instrument that is made of bamboo.
Liked the nice Shukuhachi music in the film! Was impressed by the woman who imitated the music of different Chinese minorities that were inspired by nature such as the rooster or the sheep!
The story is adapted from a novel and it is about a young girl trying to find out more about her past when she digs deep into the history of Tamaran Hill.
Liked the voice over narration, the animation sequences of the words flying and the mother singing as well as the old historic photographs! I felt that reality and fiction fused together at times.
This is a documentary on the impact of social media on the world.
Liked how the film physically showed what the artificial intelligence might look like in person! Didn't realize how entire nations like Myanmar and Hong Kong were affected by social media! The takeaway for me is to turn off notifications so that I still can enjoy my offline social life.
The story is about four women trying to learn a dance created by a choreographer to commerorate her children who died in an accident.
The pace was a little bit slow but I liked the elegant dance movements and the different perspectives on how different people approach a subject: from a book, bouncing ideas with each other through conversations and personal experience.
This is a documentary about the Paralympics.
Liked the personal stories of the athletes and how different sports and different countries were featured!
This is a documentary about the video game industry, how it evolved from the arcade, to specialised console and then to the personal computer.
Liked the use of the nice cartoonish animation to tell parts of the story! Used to play Street Fighter II quite a bit when I was doing my National Service so it was quite nostalgic to see it on the screen.
This is a documentary about a scandal involving the United States Gymnastics Olympics team doctor, Larry Nassar.
Liked the interviews with the gymnasts and the people who were helping them! The doctor should have been caught long ago, thank goodness he is being punished for his bad deeds now!
The story is about a food critic interviewing hawkers of traditional local food. The film also shows his relationship with his colleagues and with his father.
Liked the heartfelt interviews that focused more on people rather than the food itself! Might be interesting to do a food tour around Singapore to visit those stalls!
The story is about students finding love at a fictional junior college. It is based on the novel "The Teenage Textbook" by Adrian Tan.
Liked the old Singapore landmarks like Borders and the old style bus stops! The characters were a little bit too stereotypical and some scenes were not quite believablebut I enjoyed watching the ups and downs of their relationships.
