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SINGAPORE : Imagine a time in Singapore’s film industry when movie theatres are rolling out fresh-out-of-the-oven local films, non-stop, week after week, pit squarely against Hollywood blockbusters with huge marketing budgets — and people are still watching them.
It used to sound ridiculous but, ladies and gentlemen, the time is here at last for this month.
In August, that improbable notion became a reality starting with the opening of Jack Neo’s "Money No Enough 2" on July 31, followed by an unprecedented theatrical release of not one but two documentaries, "Mad About English!" and "A Month of Hungry Ghosts". Then came the second instalment of Royston Tan’s getai duology, "12 Lotus". This week sees a nostalgic return to the glorious days of football fever with "Kallang Roar".
After a short breather of two weeks, newcomer Boi Kwong’s "The Days", a feature film about two gangster brothers, brings the magic number to six, yes, six 100-per-cent Lion City flicks opening on a consecutive trot.
For a record-obsessed country such as Singapore, this recent celluloid onslaught should certainly be considered extraordinary enough to shout about, or at least to buy 4D numbers.
Is this a harbinger of exciting things to come for our burgeoning film industry?
Preying On National Pride?
For the cynical and negative, fingers point towards a marketing blitz and conspiracy to capitalise on the nationalistic pride that comes along with National Day celebrations.
It’s easy to assume the worst. That it’s a shameless marketing ploy, perfect timing to pounce on the patriotic side of the jaded Singaporean and cash in on national fervour. But our film-makers beg to differ. After all, only one local film — "881" — was released this time last year.
"'881' was released in August last year and, therefore, I thought it was a nice round-off to finish it one year later in the exact same month,” said "12 Lotus" director Royston Tan. The indie-darling-turned-commercial-success isn’t the only one who had no ulterior motive. Said "A Month of Hungry Ghosts" director Tony Kern: “We didn’t really have much of a choice. Obviously, the best time for us to screen in Singapore was the seventh lunar month itself.”
His producer, Channel NewsAsia’s Genevieve Woo, agreed: “Some releases are time-sensitive ... 'Mad About English!' is about the Chinese learning English for the Beijing Olympics; '12 Lotus' is about getai, which is more active during the Hungry Ghost month, too.”
Woo told us she’s more astonished that no one was being superstitious. “I am surprised by how many local films were released, especially in this traditionally ‘bad luck’ month.”
One film-maker, however, unabashedly admits to wanting a National Day release, but was advised to push his release date back by a few weeks. “I really wanted it to be on August 9. But it is such a small market so (us local film-makers) don’t want to fight each other,” said first-time director Cheng Ding An about his film "Kallang Roar".
His maiden attempt focuses on Singapore’s golden footballing days of yore. It tells the story of national hero and inspirational coach Choo Seng Quee, better known as Uncle Choo, and his undying effort to lead his national team to win back the Malaysian cup, restore national pride and bring glory to a fever-pitch high.
“The nationalistic feeling (from National Day celebrations) still lingers and I think that is a good draw for people to come and watch. The reason is also to stir up feelings and bring back nostalgia. It was a very important time for our nation,” said the 26-year-old director, who had a budget of S$1 million — half of which came from his family’s pocket, the other half from sponsors.
It's The Variety, Lah
Picking the right date to release a film, whether it be Hollywood, Korean, Japanese or Singaporean, has become an art almost as important as making the movie itself. Film-makers don’t want to go up against too-strong competition and be drowned out by the hype of a blockbuster monster.
Why then, release six local films at a go? Was there not a fear, as Cheng pointed out, that local films would “fight each other” in our tiny market?
The healthy opening weekend box-office numbers across the board speak for themselves.
Tan’s beautifully shot tragic-comedy "12 Lotus" opened only last weekend to an already brisk S$400,000. Everyone’s favourite heartland hero Neo clocked an impressive opening weekend number of S$1.32 million with his follow-up to "Money No Enough" (still Singapore’s most successful local film with a total haul of S$5.8 million). The sequel has since accumulated a staggering S$3.41 million since its July 31 opening.
On the other end of the film spectrum is the independently-funded documentary "A Month of Hungry Ghosts", which garnered an impressive S$18,000 on its opening weekend and has steadily grown to S$40,000 since it opened on August 7. In fact, these films aren’t just holding their own against each other — they’re doing well despite competition from Hollywood blockbusters, European art-house smashes and Asian epics, and coming through unscathed.
“We weren’t afraid of (releasing) them one after another,” said Golden Village assistant manager of publicity and promotions Song Ting. Golden Village is the distributor of "Money No Enough 2", "12 Lotus" and "A Month of Hungry Ghosts". “We want to offer audiences a variety to choose from each week. We are more than happy that 'Money No Enough 2' held its own against a Hollywood blockbuster such as 'The Mummy 3' when they both opened on the same week.”
This smorgasbord of themes, issues and genres tackled continues with the crowd-pleasing football flick "Kallang Roar", gangster outing "The Days", and Eric Khoo’s indie drama "My Magic" (opening October 30) which revolves around an alcoholic magician and his estranged son.
Money Finally Enough?
With such encouraging numbers, one will find it hard to ignore the fact that the evident development and visible growth in our local film industry has reached proportionate heights.
A watershed such as this benefits both the movie-loving audience as well as — and possibly more important — the young, eager, if not sometimes disillusioned Singapore film-maker. Apart from industry stalwarts Neo and Tan, the other four local films in cinemas now are feature film debuts. Woo is optimistic: “It reflects distributors’ growing confidence in local films and the healthy box office shows a maturity in appetite of cinema patrons.”
The show’s director, Kern, added: “I think it says that Singapore has its own voice in the movie industry and it won’t just bow to exclusively Hollywood releases or productions from bigger Asian countries.
“Of course, the hope is that this will help push the bar higher and higher, and more quality films will be produced locally. Someone here is eventually going to make the local film that really breaks out globally — and that is very exciting.”
Like that elusive Olympic medal that has finally been won after 48 years, the seemingly impossible is achievable. It just needs talent and national support. So whether or not Singapore film rides this wave to bigger and better heights ultimately depends on how Singaporeans choose to vote with their ticket stubs.
And looking at the way things are going, we might not have to wait 48 years for this goal. TODAY/rose
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