This companion piece to ‘881’ is the lesser of the two – craft-wise it is pretty good, but characterisations are much less convincing here.
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12 Lotus (2008)
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Tag / Singapore
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881 (2007)
One of the most crowd-pleasing Singaporean films of the 2000s, Royston Tan’s getai movie is both riotously funny and a tearjerking melodrama.
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24 (2021)
Royston Tan’s latest would make a strong double-bill with Kiarostami’s ’24 Frames’—a provocative and clever meditation on the ephemerality of mortal existence as captured through the meta-fictivity of his cinema.
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Taste (2021)
Visually engaging, narratively sparse and occasionally surreal, this unique portrait of the lonely and the poor through the nearly silent interactions between a Nigerian man and four Vietnamese women ultimately peters out.
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I Want to Go Home (2017)
This heartfelt, partially-animated documentary centering on a Japanese man who lost his wife in the 2011 tsunami doesn’t have any pretensions and works because of its sincerity.
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Tiong Bahru Social Club (2020)
As a wacky satire on Singaporeans’ pursuit of (a regulated kind of) happiness, this genial comedy might just as well be science-fiction—or not.
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My Magic (2008)
Unteachable (2019)
Authentically depicting the academic struggles of several students from the Normal Technical stream in a Singapore neighbourhood school, this illuminating documentary is a must-watch for teachers, students and parents hoping for a pedagogical way forward.
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Wet Season (2019)
Chen’s introspective sophomore effort features a delicate lead performance by Yeo Yann Yann which elevates a narrative that seems content to operate in a single gear.
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Ilo Ilo (2013)
Resonating, emotionally potent and an astute depiction of growing up in Singapore in the late 1990s, Chen’s work will please both film enthusiasts and the common folk.
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Eternality Tan 