NTU Film Society Overview
Film Screening Session 6
For our final screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be screening Joyland (2022) dir. Saim Sadiq, a film which was briefly banned in Pakistan, that touches on everyday misogyny and transphobia in the inner city of Lahore, as well as the blossoming of a tender queer love story.
Synopsis: Following a long spell of unemployment, Haider lands a job at a Bollywood-style burlesque, telling his family he is a theater manager. In actuality, he is a backup dancer and becomes infatuated with a strong-willed trans woman, Biba.
✏️ Director Saim Sadiq’s bio:
Saim Sadiq is a Pakistani screenwriter and director who won the Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival for directing the drama film Joyland, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes. Joyland also won the Queer Palm award during its world premiere at Cannes.
Ancillary Screening Session 6
For this week’s ancillary programme, NTU Film Society’s programming team seeks to break with the white domination of queer narratives, including explorations on Indigenous communities' particular negotiations of queerness and gender performance. We will be screening I Dream In Another Language (2017) by dir. Ernesto Contreras and Two Spirits (2009) by dir. Lydia Nibley.
I Dream In Another Language Synopsis: A linguist arrives in a small jungle settlement hoping to record a conversation between two elderly men, the last two remaining speakers of the Zikril language. Unfortunately for him, the men are feuding and haven't spoken to each other in 50 years.
Two Spirits Synopsis: Filmmaker Lydia Nibley examines the 2001 murder of Fred Martinez, a transgendered teenager of American Indian descent.
Check out the trailers for I Dream In Another Language & Two Spirits!
✏️ Directors Ernesto Contreras’s bios:
Ernesto Contreras is a Mexican film director and screenwriter. Contreras graduated from the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos of the UNAM. His shorts have received several national and international awards, like the Ariel Award of the Mexican Academy for Best Short Film in 2004, for The non-invited.
✏️ Director Lydia Nibley’s bio:
Lydia Nibley is an award-winning producer, director, writer, script doctor, and creative consultant for film, books, and television. Lydia has collaborated on numerous film and television projects appearing in theatres globally and airing on National Geographic, the BBC, PBS, CBC, and elsewhere. She’s been honored to receive the PBS Audience Award for her documentary Two Spirits as well as Parents’ Choice, Clio, regional Emmy, and numerous film festival awards for a variety of projects. She also produces for her company Riding The Tiger Productions.
Filmmaking Labs Session 5
We look forward to seeing all of you at our final Filmmaking Labs session for this semester!
Film Criticism Labs Session 5
We hope to see you our final Film Criticism Labs session for this semester!
Screening
For this week’s programme, NTU Film Society will be screening ‘Perfect Blue’ (1997) by dir. Satoshi Kon, with our friends over at NTU Japanese Appreciation Club.
Trigger Warning: This film includes psychological trauma, sexual violence, abuse, and disturbing imagery.
Synopsis: A young Japanese singer is encouraged by her agent to quit singing and pursue an acting career, beginning with a role in a murder mystery TV show.
Thank you to those who joined us for our screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
✏️ Director Satoshi Kon’s bio:
Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association. He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University. He is best known for his acclaimed anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), and Paprika (2006), and the TV series Paranoia Agent (2004).
Halloween Film Screening Session 5
This Halloween, you’re invited to a spooktacular screening of ‘The Wolf House’ (2018) dir. Joaquin Cociña and Cristóbal León and the classic film ‘Coraline’ (2009) dir. Henry Selick! 🎃
The Wolf House Synopsis: A young woman takes refuge in a strange house in the woods after escaping from a German colony in southern Chile.
Coraline Synopsis: An adventurous girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.
Thank you to those who joined us for our fourth screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
Check out the trailers for The Wolf House & Coraline!
✏️ Directors Cristóbal León & Joaquin Cociña’s bios:
Cristóbal León (Chile, 1980) and Joaquín Cociña (Chile, 1980) are Chilean stop-motion animators and filmmaker duo. They live and work in Santiago de Chile, and have been working together since 2007. Independent of each other, they make drawings, animations, installations as well as backdrops and they also write texts. Their work often finds direct or indirect inspiration in children's literature, using and resituating their narratives and visual aesthetics.
✏️ Director Henry Selick’s bio:
Charles Henry Selick Jr is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic horror films and for directing the stop-motion animated films The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Monkeybone (2001), Coraline (2009), and Wendell & Wild (2022). Selick is also known for his collaborations with the late voice actor and artist Joe Ranft.
Deepavali Screening Session
For this week’s programme, let us celebrate Deepavali together! NTU Film Society will be discussing ‘The Holy Man’ [Mahapurush] (1965) dir. Satyajit Ray and ‘The Boy in the Branch’ (1993) dir. Lalit Vachani!
Synopsis: Mahapurush is based on a short story Birinchibaba by Rajshekhar Basu. After the death of his wife, Gurupada Mitra (Prasad Mukherjee), an advocate, has not been at peace. He and his daughter Buchki (Gitali Roy), meet Birinchi (Charuprakash Ghosh), who claims to be ageless.
Thank you to those who joined us for our fourth screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
✏️ Director Satyajit Ray’s bio:
Satyajit Ray was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. Ray is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema. He brought the Indian cinema to world recognition with Pather Panchali (1955; The Song of the Road) and its two sequels, known as the Apu Trilogy. As a director, Ray was noted for his humanism, his versatility, and his detailed control over his films and their music. He was one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century.
✏️ Director Lalit Vachani’s bio:
Lalit Vachani is a documentary filmmaker and producer/director of the New Delhi based Wide Eye Film. Vachani's films have received support from the Soros and Sundance Documentary Foundations, the Jan Vrijman Fund, and the India Foundation for the Arts. Vachani lives in Göttingen, Germany where he teaches courses on media and politics, the political documentary film and documentary theory and production at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS) at the University of Göttingen.
Filmmaking Labs Session 4
For our fourth Filmmaking Labs, participants will have get the chance to have a 20-minute online consultation on their piece. Participants will choose their preferred slots closer to the date.
Film Criticism Labs Session 4
For our fourth Film Criticism Labs, participants will have get the chance to have a 20-minute online consultation on their piece. Participants will choose their preferred slots closer to the date.
Ancillary Screening Session 4
For the fourth ancillary screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing ‘1987: Untracing the Conspiracy’ (2015) and ‘The May 13 Generation’ (2014) dir. Jason Soo!
Thank you to those who joined us for our fourth screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
✏️ Director Jason Soo’s bio:
Jason Soo is a human rights defender and an independent filmmaker who also documents historical and civil society events related to human rights. He is the recipient of the Jacques Derrida Exhibition and Prize (Melbourne, 1999).
His first narrative work (A Short Film on The May 13 Generation) is based on historical events in 1954 Singapore when 800 students took over Chinese High School in order to support classmates affected by military conscription.
Film Appreciation Session 4
For the fourth screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Chicago by Rob Marshall.
Synopsis: Nightclub sensation Velma kills her philandering husband. Chicago's adroit lawyer, Billy Flynn, is set to become her defence lawyer, who also defends Roxie, under trial for murder.
Thank you to those who joined us for our fourth screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
Cohesion
Thank you for those who came to the cohesion, we hope you had fun–we certainly did! Click here for a recap of the evening!
What's a better perk-me-up in the middle of semester than a chill, laidback get-together with your favourite NTU cinephiles? Take some time off the mid-term revision and join NTU Film Society's BBQ Cohesion for food, friends and fun (Hearsay got film-themed quiz... 🎞️🤓🎮). It will also be a potluck, so feel free to bring your favourite bites and thirst-quenchers to share 🤤
🗓 3rd October 2024, Thursday
⏳6-10.30pm
📍Saraca Hall BBQ Pit, 38 Nanyang Cres, S 636866
NTU Film Society will be catering (in limited quantities) the following: nasi goreng, mee goreng, satay, and more… Please bring exciting food/drinks options to spice up our potluck-styled BBQ!
P.S. There will be communal cooking like in The Bear but there will be no shouting or ordering around... For those who are disappointed (and masochistic), we sincerely hope you find an alternative avenue (or therapy) to experience this.
To RSVP, fill up the form here with your details.
*Please note this event is for Film Society members only. If you are not an NTU Film Society member, but you're a current NTU student interested in becoming one, sign up for an NTU FilmSoc membership!
Ancillary Screening Session 3
For the third ancillary screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing the documentary Palestine Under Siege.
Synopsis: Shot in Palestine on West Bank and in Jerusalem in June and July, this recently completed documentary features Australians, Dr Peter Slezak UNSW Honorary Associate Professor of Philosophy and his two companions, Rand Darwish, Australian Palestinian student and former Greens Senator, Lee Rhiannon and assisted by Bashir Sawalha, President of the United Australian Palestinian Workers Association, spent time talking to Palestinians and Jews in Lebanon and Palestine on the themes of the 1948 Nakba, settler colonialism and the apartheid nature of the Israeli state.
Thank you to those who joined us for our third screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
Watch the trailer here!
Film Appreciation Session 3
For the third screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Tale of The Three Jewels by Michel Khleifi.
Synopsis: Tale of the Three Jewels is an allegorical tale about the twelve-year-old Palestinian boy, Yussef, who falls in love with the girl Aïda. Aïda takes Yussef into her fantasy world and tells him about the three missing jewels from her grandmother's necklace.
Thank you to those who joined us for our third screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
✏️ Director Michel Khleifi’s bio:
Michel Khleifi, born in 1950 in Nazareth, is a Palestinian film writer, director and producer, presently based in Belgium. Khleifi emigrated to Belgium in 1970, where he studied television and theatre directing at the Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle.
Watch the trailer here!
Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984)
For the second ancillary screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Lino Brocka’s Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (This Is My Country).
Synopsis: Turing is forced into a life of crime to pay off his wife's hospital bills after the printing press he used to work in shuts down.
✏️ Director Lino Brocka’s bio:
Catalino Ortiz Brocka was a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema.
Pop Aye (2017)
For the second screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Kirsten Tan’s Pop Aye.
Synopsis: An architect bumps into his long-lost elephant on the streets of Bangkok and embarks on a road trip across Thailand in search of their hometown and the farm where they grew up together.
Thank you to those who joined us for our second screening, check out our recap of what transpired here!
✏️ Director Kirsten Tan’s bio:
Kirsten Tan is a Singaporean film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 2017 feature film debut, Pop Aye, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and was Singapore's official submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Happy Together (1997)
For the first ancillary screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together
Synopsis: Yiu and Po visit Argentina to mend their problematic relationship. As things turn worse, they part ways and start a new life. However, after Po reappears in Yiu's disillusioned life, chaos ensues.
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
For the first screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle.
Synopsis: An aspiring gangster pretends to be part of a notorious gang and tries to terrorise a neighbourhood. However, unknown to him, three martial arts experts live there and are ready to take him down.
The Gold Rush (1925)
For the sixth screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush. Before the screening, Professor Kevin Chew will be giving a lecture on Chaplin and the silent film era.
Synopsis: While on a gold-hunting mission to Alaska, a rogue is hit by a storm and seeks refuge in a hut, where he meets a fugitive and a gold-seeker. However, after reaching the town, he falls for a girl.
✏️ Professor Kevin Chew’s bio:
Kevin Chew is an Assistant Professor at WKWSCI. He previously completed his PhD as a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge, writing on political conflict in contemporary Disney animation. His research interests are centred on popular animation, militarism and the maritime world. His teaching experience spans American, European and Japanese cinema.
Suspiria (2018)
For the fifth screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria.
Synopsis: A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.
Brazil (1985)
For the forth screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.
Synopsis: In a retro-future world, Sam Lowry, a clerk in the ministry department, is given the task to rectify an administrative error. However, in the process, he becomes the enemy of the state.
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
In conjunction with home-based learning week, NTU Film Society will be discussing Wayne Wang’s The Joy Luck Club on Discord.
Synopsis: Four Chinese women along with their mothers delve into their past and try to find answers. Slowly, this search helps them to understand the complex relationship they share with each other.
Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
For the second screening of the semester, NTU Film Society will be discussing Eiichi Yamamoto’s Belladonna of Sadness.
Synopsis: A peasant woman is sexually assaulted by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil himself who appears as an erotic sprite and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire.
