The new independent cinema
Programmed by Singapore Film Society
The new independent cinema
Programmed by Singapore Film Society
PALESTINE 36
Directed By Annemarie Jacir | 119 Minutes
Year 1936. As villages across Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest. But history is relentless. With rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe and some arriving with nefarious Zionist-colonial ambitions, and the Palestinian population uniting in the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year dominion, all sides spiral towards inevitable collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and the future of the entire region. Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival; Palestine's Official Submission to the 2026 Oscars.
“Having first met Annemarie Jacir while programming her earlier film, WAJIB (2017), I recall her
reflection that Palestinians often live lives preordained by external forces. PALESTINE 36 arrives as a
timely work set against the 1936–39 Arab Revolt, foregrounding the British Empire’s role in shaping
the conditions of political oppression and violence in Palestine. Incorporating documentary footage
alongside measured melodrama, Jacir builds a film that is both accessible and resonant, where its
power lies in drawing empathetic parallels with the present moment, inviting us to rethink moral and historical justice.” -- Eternality Tan, Vice-Chair & Programming Director
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
M18 (Mature Content) | Arabic and English with English subtitles
Cast: Karim Daoud Anaya, Hiam Abbass, Robert Aramayo,
Yasmine Al Massri, Billy Howle, Jeremy Irons
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
NOUVELLE VAGUE
Directed By Richard Linklater | 106 Minutes
After writing for Cahiers du cinéma, a young Jean-Luc Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He convinces producer Georges de Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature,
and creates a treatment with fellow New Wave filmmaker François Truffaut about a gangster
couple. The result? BREATHLESS, one of the first features of the Nouvelle Vague era of French
cinema.
“Linklater reminds us what a remarkable filmmaker he remains, bringing the ‘hangout’ vibe
of DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993) to the French New Wave era, and, like an obsessive fan,
name-dropping the who’s who of that most fertile and discursive period of film history. Playing
out like a breezy comedy, as Godard attempts to (valiantly) direct BREATHLESS (1960), his
iconic first feature, Linklater portrays the self-appointed cinematic genius with a sense of
self-deprecating humour that probably eluded the rebel director. Don't miss this intoxicating love
letter to cinema and cinephiles.” -- Eternality Tan, SFS Vice-Chair & Programming Director
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
PG13 (Some Coarse Language) | French, English, Italian with English subtitles
Cast: Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
MOJOKU HILANG!
Directed By Min Lim | 135 Minutes
At Moo Magic Dairy, Mojo the cow is more than just a mascot—she's a viral sensation. But
when her theft sparks a clash between the ruthless dairy conglomerate and the last village
of independent farmers, one ambitious young executive finds himself torn between
corporate loyalty and rediscovering his roots.
Adi, once a village boy, traded his family's dairy farm for a shot at success in the big city.
Now tasked with going undercover to recover Mojo and persuade the farmers of Kampung Semerah Padi to sell, he's pulled back into the world he abandoned. There, he reconnects with the land, the people—-and with Ayu, а spirited young farmer fighting to save her
family's heritage.
As secrets of Adi's past unravel, he must choose between the empire he helped build and
the community that has come to believe in him. A heartfelt story of family, sacrifice, and
belonging, this film explores how the sweetest dreams are rooted in the soil we call home.
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
PG | Malay, Indonesian, English with English, Chinese & Malay subtitles
Cast: Adipati Dolken, Mimi Lana, Wan Hanafi Su
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
MARCHING BOYS 進行曲
Directed By Ray Jiang | 117 Minutes
Chiang Hao is a boy who loves the trumpet. To pursue his music dream, he joins the school
marching band without informing his father. However, the marching band, which plays
outdated martial music, is about to be disbanded. Chiang and his teammates gradually learn
to understand each other through many conflicts. They seek to unite, reform the marching
band, and encourage each other to strive forward to win the competition.
SFS is pleased to present a limited number of public screenings of this remarkable film, which
attracted enthusiastic audience response during our recent Singapore Chinese Film Festival.
For those who don’t yet know, we urge you to discover for yourselves what the unique
connection is, between MARCHING BOYS and THE FELLOW WHO REJECTED COLLEGE!
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
NC16 (Some Coarse Language) | Mandarin with English & Chinese subtitles
Cast: Rosen Tsai, Liu Yu-ren, Yu Jie-an, Lee Lee-zen, Umin Boya
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
THE STORY OF SOUTHERN ISLET 南巫
Directed By Chong Keat Aun | 105 Minutes
A wife finds herself thrown into a complicated world of spiritual confusion when her husband
is struck down by a mysterious illness he himself a ributes either to black magic or divine
wrath. Chong Keat Aun’s feature directorial debut is partly a treatise on the absurdity of
national borders but also one of cosmological ambiguity in which the acceptance of that which
cannot be explained provides the only hope of cure for those burdened by the sin of
transgressing against the gods. THE STORY OF SOUTHERN ISLET won the Golden Horse Best
New Director Award, as well as the FIPRESCI Prize at both the (2020) Golden Horse and (2021)
Hong Kong International Film Festivals. “Beautifully shot with a lingering ethereality, Chong’s
mystical tale places gods and demons amid the everyday while demonstrating the ebb and
flow of deeply held cultural beliefs in a border community where harmonious coexistence has
long been the norm.” -- Hayley Scanlon, Windows on Worlds
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
PG13 (Some Disturbing Scenes) | Hokkien, Malay, and some Mandarin with English & Chinese subtitles
Cast: Jojo Goh, Season Chee, Pearlly Chua, Ling Tang
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
MOTHER BHUMI 地母
Directed By Chong Keat Aun | 129 Minutes
In late-1990s Malaysia, Hong Im, a widowed farmer and ritual healer, struggles to protect her
family in a multi-ethnic rice-farming village. By day, she resists land seizures; by night, she
heals and exorcises. As colonial-era conflicts resurface, strange events unfold – spirits return,
black magic stirs, and a monk leads a buffalo. The legacy of empire haunts the land, the living,
and the dead of Bujang Valley. One of the swiftly sold-out films from our Singapore Chinese
Film Festival 2026. Winner of the 62nd Golden Horse Awards for Best Leading Actress, Best
Cinematography, and Best Original Film Song.
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
PG13 (Some Nudity & Disturbing Scenes) | Mandarin, Hokkien, Thai, Malay with English & Chinese subs
Cast: Fan Bingbing, Natalie Hsu, Bai Run-yin, Pearlly Chua
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
THE TOWERING INFERNO
Directed By John Guillermin | 165 Minutes
THE TOWERING INFERNO, one in a string of disaster movies of the 1970s, was promoted as a
tribute to firefighters and their heroic work. It was also among the highest-grossing box office
draws of the mid-1970s. The finishing touches have just been made to the Glass Tower, a 138-
story skyscraper in the heart of San Francisco. A huge celebratory gala, complete with VIP
invitees, has been planned to celebrate the dedication of what has been promoted as the
world's tallest building. But the building's architect, Doug Roberts, suspects all is not right with
the construction. The contractors have used shoddy materials, not the heavy-duty wiring he
had specified. The overworked system develops short circuits, coincidentally enough during
the height of the celebratory extravaganza; it isn't long before the building is ablaze and
hundreds of people become trapped on the 135th floor, where the party takes place. Fire
Chief Michael O'Hallorhan immediately devises a daring plan to rescue the trapped guests,
but his efforts quickly become a battle against time and the panicked guests. A breathtakingly
spectacular epic film, even after many decades!
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
PG | English, No subtitles
Cast: Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
BLUE VELVET
Directed By David Lynch | 121 Minutes
There’s something going on behind the while picket fences of Lumberton, North Carolina.
And after stumbling upon a severed human ear in a field, mystery-loving college student
Jeffrey Beaumont is determined to find out what. Teaming up with the daughter of a local
police detective, Jeffrey’s investigation leads him into a strange world of sensuality and
violence, with the intrigue of the missing ear seemingly stemming from the relationship
between a troubled nightclub singer and a sociopathic sadomasochist. One of David
Lynch’s best films!
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
M18 (Violence and Some Nudity) | English (No Subtitles)
Cast: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
ITAM: A SUN BEAR STORy
Directed By Raymond Tan | 80 Minutes
Three years in the making, this remarkable documentary was filmed entirely in Sabah, Malaysia.
It follows the rehabilitation and release of a rescued sun bear named Itam. Developed in close
collaboration with the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, the production was granted rare
access to archival records, veterinary logs, field operations, and the complete rewilding process.
This access allows the film to move beyond surface observation into deeply-researched, character-driven storytelling. Combining immersive cinematic language with investigative scientific inquiry,
ITAM: A SUN BEAR STORY positions Southeast Asian conservation stories within global discourse.
His interest in cross-cultural identity and social issues shaped engineer-turned-filmmaker
Raymond Tan’s previous award-winning features, WAYANG BOY and THE WAYANG KIDS, which
respectively won Best Foreign Comedy Feature and Best Feature awards in the USA and Chile.
“This film is personal because it asks how we measure worth. In a world that often values scale
and speed, Itam asks us to slow down and see the dignity of one life. If we can care this much for
one bear, the compassion may not be that small after all.” – Director Raymond Tan
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
PG | English, Mandarin & Malay with English subtitles
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
THE OLD MAN AND HIS CAR 老破车
Directed by Michael Kam | 82 Minutes
A recently widowed old man finds himself confronted with the bittersweet task of parting with his cherished old car as he prepares to migrate to another country. He reluctantly embarks on a journey that forces him to confront his past, his profound sense of loss, and his enduring love. “Beyond being a narrative about letting go, the film delves into the themes of ageing and caregiving …..
I strive to infuse moments of levity throughout the narrative, and hopefully deliver a cinematic experience that resonates with audiences on multiple emotional levels.” – Director Michael Kam
All tickets are subjected to availability and are for free seating.
We recommend arriving early to secure preferred seats.
NC16 (Some Coarse Language) | English, Chinese, Hokkien & Malay with English subtitles
Cast: Lim Kay Tong, Richard Low,
Steven Woon, Sunny Pang
Age limits apply for films rated
NC16, M18, or R21
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