19 Aug 2025 was a very, very dark day for cinephiles, filmmakers, artists, cultural changemakers, and so many more communities living in Singapore.

Our beloved The Projector, the country’s go-to indie cinema, which began in 2014, shuttered abruptly and entered voluntary liquidation. It hurt many of us so much, and it will be painful for quite some time. As we mourn this tremendous loss, we must also try to heal one piece at a time by sharing our memories.

Wow, what wonderful, deeply felt memories – more than a decade’s worth!

CNA article: As credits roll on The Projector, fans mourn the loss of a cinema that was a rare place for community (20 Aug 2025)

I was there at the beginning, at the Golden Mile Tower (not Complex!), as their website constantly reminded us. With barely a makeshift registration table and old R(A) movie posters from a bygone era yet to be torn down, the cinema hosted selected screenings presented by what was then the rebranded Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF to SGIFF), itself after a two-year hiatus.

I caught Aferim, which led me to discover Radu Jude, who is now my favourite filmmaker from Romania, and Leviathan, by the great Andrei Zvyagintsev. It would be some years later that I would programme Zvyagintsev’s Loveless, and Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, both at The Projector, as part of my volunteer work with the Singapore Film Society (SFS).

Today, I’m still volunteering with SFS, and much of what has kept me going all these years is that vital freedom to curate, free from commercial interests and state interference.

Due to the unique nature of SFS being a non-profit society since 1958, we don’t own a cinema location but instead work with a range of cinema operators. With The Projector, I found a safe and loving home for presenting a new title every month as a Singapore premiere, branded as SFS Showcase.

This started in Jan 2022, and part of the idea was to galvanise post-COVID interest in going back to the cinemas, and to add one more cultural and audience touchpoint to The Projector’s already incredibly diverse programming and loyal fanbase.

Fast forward to August 2025, after more than 40 consecutive months of Showcases, it has all come to an end at The Projector. I will especially miss those Saturday afternoons, greeting audiences and doing my film intros in the Blue Room.

Thank you so much to the founders – Karen Tan, Sharon Tan and Blaise Trigg-Smith – and The Projector team for your enthusiasm and dedication. There was a strong and admirable sense of joie de vivre in how you had operated the cinema that we could all learn from.

Special shoutout to Prashant, Jerome, Viknesh, Walter, Darien, Jacob, Azman, Bernard, Worms and MVP Deepag, with whom I’ve worked the closest in various projects over the years.

I’ll remember the Golden Mile legend, Yati, who would cheekily ‘peruse’ my R21 ticket before she let me into the hall. She and her team had kept the premises clean and vibe-y for a long time. Plus, Tanima at the box office, who always asked me if I wanted to use any of my membership’s remaining complimentary tickets.

Well, not yet, maybe for another time.

It’s a quiet Wednesday. 19 Feb 2020, 8.25pm to be precise. I’m a time traveller standing in line, and it’s my turn.

Can I get a ticket to Anticipate Pictures’ ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ at the Redrum? The beanbag seat in the front, please. I’ve never tried that… and because I don’t want anyone to see me cry.

For future generations and nostalgists looking back, I have documented below the films we had presented at The Projector Golden Mile and Cineleisure as part of SFS Showcases.

2022:

• 29 Jan: NITRAM (dir. Justin Kurzel, Australia)
• 26 Feb: VORTEX (dir. Gaspar Noe, France)
• 23 Apr: COMPARTMENT NO. 6 (dir. Juho Kuosmanen, Finland)
• 28 May: DONBASS (dir. Sergei Loznitsa, Ukraine)
• 25 Jun: ENNIO (dir. Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy)
• 30 Jul: THE CROSSING (dir. Florence Miailhe, France)
• 27 Aug: MY SMALL LAND (dir. Ema Kawawada, Japan)
• 24 Sep: CHILDREN OF THE MIST (dir. Ha Le Diem, Vietnam)
• 22 Oct: CLARA SOLA (dir. Nathalie Alvarez Mesen, Costa Rica)
• 12 Nov: BEAUTIFUL BEINGS (dir. Guomundur Arnar Guomundsson, Iceland)
• 17 Dec: BURNING DAYS (dir. Emin Alper, Turkey)

_{*Note: March 2022 was REVOLUTION OF OUR TIMES at Golden Village VivoCity due to, shall we say, unique screening conditions recommended by IMDA.}

2023:

• 14 Jan: TORI AND LOKITA (dir. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium)
• 18 Feb: DELIKADO (dir. Karl Malakunas, The Philippines)
• 18 Mar: THE BLUE CAFTAN (dir. Maryam Touzani, Morocco)
• 15 Apr: SUBTRACTION (dir. Mani Haghighi, Iran)
• 13 May: WHILE WE WATCHED (dir. Vinay Shukla, India)
• 17 Jun: SAFE PLACE (dir. Juraj Lerotic, Croatia)
• 15 Jul: SEVEN WINTERS IN TEHRAN (dir. Steffi Niederzoll, Germany)
• 19 Aug: CHICKEN FOR LINDA (dir. Sebastien Laudenbach & Chiara Malta, France)
• 16 Sep: THE SALES GIRL (dir. Janchivdorj Sengedorj, Mongolia)
• 14 Oct: 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES (dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, Spain)
• 18 Nov: THE OLD OAK (dir. Ken Loach, UK)
• 16 Dec: INSHALLAH A BOY (dir. Amjad Al Rasheed, Jordan)

2024:

• 20 Jan: DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD (dir. Radu Jude, Romania)
• 17 Feb: THE MONK AND THE GUN (dir. Pawo Choyning Dorji, Bhutan)
• 16 Mar: BYE BYE TIBERIAS (dir. Lina Soualem, Palestine)
• 20 Apr: GREEN BORDER (dir. Agnieszka Holland, Poland)
• 18 May: MEMORY (dir. Michel Franco, USA/Mexico)
• 22 Jun: THE BEAST (dir. Bertrand Bonello, France)
• 20 Jul: IN THE LAND OF BROTHERS (dir. Raha Amirfazli & Alireza Ghasemi, Iran)
• 17 Aug: SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT (dir. Johan Grimonprez, Belgium/France)
• 14 Sep: PELIKAN BLUE (dir. Laszlo Csaki, Hungary)
• 19 Oct: MEMORIES OF A BURNING BODY (dir. Antonella Sudassasi Furniss, Costa Rica)
• 16 Nov: THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE (dir. Magnus von Horn, Denmark)
• 14 Dec: ONCE UPON A TIME IN A FOREST (dir. Virpi Suutari, Finland)

2025:

• 18 Jan: GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS (dir. Shuchi Talati, India)
• 15 Feb: WORLDS APART (dir. Natsuki Seta, Japan)
• 15 Mar: I’M STILL HERE (dir. Walter Salles, Brazil)
• 12 Apr: KNEECAP (dir. Rich Peppiatt, Ireland)
• 17 May: MEMOIR OF A SNAIL (dir. Adam Elliot, Australia)
• 28 Jun: AGENT OF HAPPINESS (dir. Arun Bhattarai & Dorottya Zurbo, Bhutan/Hungary)
• 19 Jul: TOXIC (dir. Saule Bliuvaite, Lithuania)