“Singapore Dreaming”
by YenYen Woo and Colin Goh
Tuesday 24 August, 17:30
AUD 1
Winner of the Montblanc New Screenwriters Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2006.
Disappointed by his failed dreams, Loh Poh Huat vents his frustrations on his family. So when he wins the lottery, everyone believes the money will deliver them from their struggles. However, Loh dies abruptly and his elaborate and surreal Taoist funeral pitches the family into a battle where the stakes are the very meaning of life itself.
Singapore Dreaming (whose Chinese title translates as ‘A Perfect Life’) is a poignant yet darkly humorous story which follows the lives of six individuals as they navigate the rapidly changing conditions experienced in today’s modern South-East Asian cities. It is the second feature film by the husband-and-wife writing/producing/directing team of Yen Yen Woo and Colin Goh.
In Singapore, colloquial languages and dialects are restricted in favour of English or Mandarin. This is the first film to document accurately how Singaporeans speak in real life. Great care has been taken to reflect the actual speech cadences of Singaporeans – with different languages and dialects intertwining seamlessly in conversation, a growing phenomenon in many immigrant nations. There has also been increasing international curiosity about “World Englishes” and Singapore Dreaming will provide a wonderful opportunity to see and hear vernacular Singaporean English (“Singlish”) .
Singapore Dreaming captures the hopes, dreams and fears of a family in a society that is rapidly modernizing, like many countries in South-East Asia. In many respects, it is similar to films such as Ozu’s Tokyo Story in exploring the emotions of a group of people set against a historic moment of transition, as well as broader social issues such as the role of women, cultural memory and material expectations.
Prof Woo will be present at the screening.
