SGIFF announces winners of the 2025 Silver Screen Awards, honouring excellence across Asian cinema

In a night shimmering with cinematic daring, the 36th Singapore International Film Festival unveiled the winners of its 2025 Silver Screen Awards, an event that once again affirmed Southeast Asia as one of the world’s most vibrant storytelling regions brimming with potential. First introduced in 1991 as the pioneering international competition devoted to Asian cinema, the Silver Screen Awards have long stood as a beacon … Continue reading SGIFF announces winners of the 2025 Silver Screen Awards, honouring excellence across Asian cinema

El Colegio De San Ildefonso Presents the Exhibition: The Acapulco–Manila Galleon. We Are the Pacific. The World that Emerged from the Tropics

For 250 years, an unbroken line carved itself across the world’s largest ocean. It was not drawn on maps alone, but etched into languages, markets, kitchens, faiths, and imaginations from Mexico to the Philippines. Today, that story: vast, human, and still unfolding—anchors a major new exhibition at the Colegio de San Ildefonso: The Acapulco–Manila Galleon. We Are the Pacific. The World that Emerged from the … Continue reading El Colegio De San Ildefonso Presents the Exhibition: The Acapulco–Manila Galleon. We Are the Pacific. The World that Emerged from the Tropics

★★★★★ Dance Review: Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT 2) in Singapore

Triptych of dance work from one of the world’s foremost dance companies firmly establishes each choreographer as an auteur, as they comment on community and belonging. Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT 2), one of the world’s foremost contemporary dance companies, returned to Singapore with a programme that reaffirmed why they occupy such a singular place in the global dance landscape. Whether through their deep choreographic lineage … Continue reading ★★★★★ Dance Review: Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT 2) in Singapore

SWF 2025: Theatremakers Jo Tan and Adib Kosnan revisit past writing with ‘Rewrite My Fire’

by D.Y. Jo Tan brings a new initiative to the Singapore Writer’s Festival (SWF 2025); connecting playwrights and their older works with new dramaturgical support, in hopes of revitalisation. As theatre companies produce season after season, smaller local scripts can slowly fade away from public memory, especially in favour of bigger, flashier productions. This is the problem that local theatremaker, Jo Tan, set out to … Continue reading SWF 2025: Theatremakers Jo Tan and Adib Kosnan revisit past writing with ‘Rewrite My Fire’

Theatre Review: Temporary Chinese Theatres《当场》by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Wild, absurd work that attempts to make sense of what it means to enter the contemporary Chinese Theatre scene in 2025 and beyond. What does it mean to be a maker of “contemporary Chinese theatre”? Confronting this sharp question head-on, the pioneer cohort of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ (NAFA) BA (Hons) Contemporary Chinese Theatres programme grapples with the industry they are about to enter, … Continue reading Theatre Review: Temporary Chinese Theatres《当场》by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

SGIFF 2025: An Interview with Girl 女孩 director Shu Qi, and stars Bai Xiao-Ying and 9m88

When Girl opened the 2025 Singapore International Film Festival at Marina Bay Sands, the theatre was filled to its edges, with filmmakers, industry regulars, influencers, and longtime fans gathered to witness one of Asia’s most beloved stars step into a bold new role. For Shu Qi, who has spent decades defining onscreen charisma, the packed house represented both the reputation she’d built up over the … Continue reading SGIFF 2025: An Interview with Girl 女孩 director Shu Qi, and stars Bai Xiao-Ying and 9m88

★★★★☆ Film Review: Girl 女孩 dir. Shu Qi

Shu Qi’s directorial debut is deeply personal, and teases out the pain and potential of girlhood in ’80s Taiwan. Adolescence is rarely tidy. It’s unruly, bewildering, and often defined by the kind of pain we only learn how to name years later. In Girl, her semi-autobiographical directorial debut, Taiwanese star Shu Qi turns that ache into cinema. Known primarily for her collaborations with Hou Hsiao-hsien … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Film Review: Girl 女孩 dir. Shu Qi

Visual Art: ART SG and S.E.A. Focus Announce Leading Galleries, New Curatorial and Programme Offerings for 2026 Edition

When ART SG opens its doors at Marina Bay Sands in January 2026, the fair will look and feel different from every edition before it. Now in its fourth year, Southeast Asia’s largest international art fair is transforming into a wider cultural ecosystem, one that reflects how rapidly the region’s artistic landscape is developing. Spearheaded by Founding and Lead Partner UBS, ART SG 2026 brings … Continue reading Visual Art: ART SG and S.E.A. Focus Announce Leading Galleries, New Curatorial and Programme Offerings for 2026 Edition

da:ns focus: An Interview with Nederlands Dans Theater artistic director Emily Molnar on rigour, collaboration and the joy of platforming new voices

Ten years on from their last tour here, Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (NDT 2) returns to the Esplanade this season with a trio of works that Artistic Director Emily Molnar describes as “a programme that truly shows where we’re at.” For Molnar, bringing NDT 2 back to Singapore is “an absolute pleasure,” and the triple bill, featuring works by Alexander Ekman, Botis Seva, and Marcos … Continue reading da:ns focus: An Interview with Nederlands Dans Theater artistic director Emily Molnar on rigour, collaboration and the joy of platforming new voices

Film: An Interview with SGIFF General Manager Jeremy Chua and Programme Director Thong Kay Wee on the power and future of film

In a cultural landscape obsessed with certainties, guarantees, and KPIs, the Singapore International Film Festival is, in many ways, an act of defiance. Not loud, not rebellious, but simply the act of being utterly committed to the art of cinema and its continuity. As the festival prepares for its 36th edition, running for two weeks from 26th November to 7th December, the people behind it … Continue reading Film: An Interview with SGIFF General Manager Jeremy Chua and Programme Director Thong Kay Wee on the power and future of film