'Uncle Boonme' comes to Singapore

(Picture by Looi Wan Ping) Sharing a picture with director of 'The Blue Mansion' Glen Goei in a windbreaker that matches the 'Uncle Boonmee' banner behind

When a headliner-type movie like Palme D'or Best Picture 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives', you can expect familiar faces from the film community to come face to face, shoulder to shoulder. Here are some snapshots from the charity premiere on Saturday 15 Jan at the Cathay.

(Picture by Lai Weijie) Folks from the Asian Film Archive huddle and say cheese - Juliana Montgomery (from New York who is on a 1-yr fellowship in Singapore), Chew Tee Pao and Ethan Yeo

(Picture by Lai Weijie) Film producer Juan Foo and 2 friends including recognisable screen face Keagan Kang

Have Faith - Faith, a volunteer, opens the charity screening

(Picture by Lai Weijie) Filmmaker Wesley Leon Aroozoo catches up with a friend during the post-screenig Q & A.

(Picture by Lai Weijie) Me feeling like I could almost kiss the camera lens in this shot with filmmkers Charles Lim, Wee Li Lin and Elizabeth Widjaya.

(picture by Colin Teo) The man himself in his quiet splendour- Apichatpong Weerasethakul, director of 'Unclee Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives'.

(picture by Colin Teo) Karen of the Asian Film Archive with Apichatpong during the post-screening Q & A.

(picture by Colin Teo) I was basically stuttering when I approached the auteur for an autograph, whose films I have watched repetitively on DVD and the big screen.

Looi Wan Ping, one of the photographers of the night and local filmmaker (White Days) is engrossed in his duty. This photo taken by Colin Teo is particularly interesting given the 'motley bunch' effect formed by the people here.

Asian Film Archive:Save Our Film Campaign

A simple Television,a not really prominent one to be seen along Orchard Road,is all it takes as part of the Save Our Film Roving Showcase along Orchard Road.(But it attracts the CROWD!)

A "quiz show"contestant attempting to get her own copy of Singapore Shorts Vol.2.

By answering 3 simple(Really Simple) questions,getting them correct,and Ta-dah,you have a copy of Singapore Shorts Vol.2!

Extinct Singapore Films

This is a response to the Nearly got FOOLED on This,dated on Feb 17,2010.

The 1st impression that it gives me is that it is a series of old movie remastered into a DVD. But to my disappointment,in the DVD case,it is an empty case.

I was initially wowed by the DVD and thought "eh, CD-rama is a great store selling exclusive old movies in DVD,but got to know from the brochure that the 5 films on the case are old films which are "lost".

This is not real,but it is a Campaign.

This is a campaign as part of Asian Film Archive's 5th Anniversary and the ‘Save Our Film’campaign aims to raise awareness of Singapore's rich local film heritage and the importance of keeping it alive for our future. Targeting youth aged 15 to 35, the initiative shows them the value of local films and encourages them to seek out local film memories from their elders,thereby using local films to breach the generation gap through collective film memories.

Here are some events that are of the past and upcoming

1. 'Save Our Film' posters have been put up at Shaw, Filmgarde and Cathay cineplexes, the Substation and Sinema Old School until the end of February when the campaign ends.
Also,'Save Our Film' DVDs have been placed on the shelves of HMV, selected Popular CD-Rama and Gramophone outlets and Sinema Old School.These posters and DVDs promote five early Singapore film titles, with the twist that these films are lost. The public can share information they have on these and other missing films on the campaign website's Singapore Lost Films Wiki.

2. From 6 to 27 February, flash mob style 10-minute video projections will be screened at mystery locations every Saturday. The video features interviews with prominent community members who share their best film memories. Some of these personal tributes include Baba Peter Wee, First Vice-President of the Peranakan Association, whose grandfather owned the Alhambra and Marlborough theatres, Wong Han Min, a Singapore film memorabilia collector and Willy Why, former cameraman for Cathay-Keris Films with over 45 years of filmmaking experience.

3. Singaporeans are invited to share their film memories in the first-ever public Call for Memories. This can be done by recording a video of themselves or others sharing their memorable local film experiences and uploading the video on the AFA Youtube channel. This Call is open for the length of the campaign from 1st to 28th February 2010. The first ten best uploaded video clips stand a chance to win a free DVD of Singapore Shorts Vol. 2 as well. More details on the Call for Memories can be found on AFA's website.

4. The closing event of the ‘Save Our Film’ campaign will screen the best video clips from the Call for Memories on a roving television travelling down the length of Orchard Road and ending at The Cathay. At the same time, we will take this opportunity to engage the public in conversation with us to share the joys of watching local films.

Event 3 and 4 are the upcomings for the campaign.

For More Information,please go to http://asianfilmarchive.org/5th

Let us save our film,so that they will be enjoyed by the future Generations the way that the film were meant to be seen!

Nearly got FOOLED on this!

(My apologies if the photo is not clear...cos it is shot on a 2.0 megapixel phone camera.)