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SINGAPORE: An independent Political Films Consultative Committee has been formed to assess if political films are suitable for public viewing instead of leaving it to government censors alone.
Political films by Ho Choon Hiong were passed by the Board of Film Censors (BFC) last year and filmmakers hope more will make the cut now that a committee has been formed to advise the Board.
The committee is made up of members of the media, union, academia, and legal sector.
Its chairman, Richard Magnus, said films will be judged independently, rigorously and objectively.
Members on the committee include Prof Lily Kong, vice president at NUS; Terry Lee, central committee member of NTUC; Daniel Yun, MD of MediaCorp Raintree Pictures and Lim Jim Koon, editor of Lianhe Zaobao.
The Films Act was amended in March this year to allow political films that are factual and objective and do not dramatise and/or present a distorted picture. Previously, there was a blanket ban on party political films.
Richard Magnus, chairman, Political Films Consultative Committee, said: "Although we are advisory in our deliberations, I think the advise of the committee will need to be given much weight by the BFC. Our objectivity will depend upon how much information we get from the applicant.
"We will encourage the applicant to be completely honest in giving the information. We would expect the applicant to have complete integrity in providing the information and that would be something we are looking for."
Submissions for the political films can be made online.
The committee said it will engage the filmmaker and allow him or her an opportunity to clarify queries before any decision is made.
If a film is not approved by the committee, the Board of Film Censors will be told why and it is up to the board whether or not the reasons will be made public.
If a film is not passed by the committee and the BFC, film makers can also write to the Films Appeal Committee.
Filmmaker Martyn See plans to submit "Singapore Rebel" for consideration. The film, about Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan, was banned in 2005.
Mr See said: "Singapore Rebel is on YouTube and Google Video, and it has been watched by more than 200,000 people. So by submitting the film to the film consultative panel, yes it's a symbolic gesture on my part. However, it also means that if the panel allows the film, then other film makers will be less afraid to make their films because it's not cheap to make a film.
"We can speculate all we want about whether this panel will lead to the opening up of political space. But I think the real acid test is when they sit down and watch Singapore Rebel and decide for themselves if the rest of the population is allowed to watch it."
The government had previously said it recognises that Singaporeans want greater space for political discourse and it has over the years widened that space. - CNA/vm
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