Preview: Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2026 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

The Esplanade’s annual Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts returns from 27 February to 8 March 2026 with an expansive, story-rich programme inspired by Chinese dialects, dynasties and regional folklore. This 24th edition promises audiences a vibrant mix of theatre, dance, music and family-friendly works featuring celebrated artists from Singapore, the region and beyond. As the festival team notes, audiences can expect “legends told through … Continue reading Preview: Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2026 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

SGIFF 2025 draws to a close with 44 sold-out screenings and 33% increase in tickets sold

The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), part of the Singapore Media Festival 2025 hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), closed its 36th edition on a historic high on 7 December, setting a new festival record with 44 sold-out screenings. For the third consecutive year, SGIFF achieved a new box office record, with ticket sales rising 33% from 2024. This year, the festival also saw its strongest turnout with a 28.7% increase in participation compared to last year, marking the festival’s strongest … Continue reading SGIFF 2025 draws to a close with 44 sold-out screenings and 33% increase in tickets sold

★★★★☆ Review: ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends by Dramalab

Jit Murad’s lost play transforms The Playhouse into a spiralling night of ’90s excess, nostalgia, and danger, resurrecting his voice with bold direction and an unforgettable ensemble. KUALA LUMPUR – Stepping into The Playhouse, it begins as though the audience has stumbled into a party already in progress: a beautiful, artsy house with a bar, a living room, and the specific kind of lived-in aesthetic … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends by Dramalab

An Interview with Dr Louis Ng, Director, Hong Kong Palace Museum and Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General, Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) of Egypt on the museum’s landmark Ancient Egypt Unveiled exhibition

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s cultural landscape has taken a giant step into the world of ancient civilisations with the grand opening of the Hong Kong Palace Museum’s (HKPM) latest special exhibition, “Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums”. Opening to the public on 20 November 2025 and running through 31 August 2026, the exhibition marks the first time a major collection of Egyptian artefacts … Continue reading An Interview with Dr Louis Ng, Director, Hong Kong Palace Museum and Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General, Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) of Egypt on the museum’s landmark Ancient Egypt Unveiled exhibition

SGIFF 2025: SGIFilmFeud and #SaveOurCinemas bring up urgent conversation on the state and future of cinema

In the era of the streaming wars and the grief from closure of major cinemas, this year’s Singapore International Film Festival raised the pertinent question of the now and future state of communal film culture in Singapore across two panel discussions. Though framed differently, one gamified and playful, the other urgent and elegiac, SGIFilmFeud and #SaveOurCinemas, converged and circled the anxieties, structural challenges, and diminishing … Continue reading SGIFF 2025: SGIFilmFeud and #SaveOurCinemas bring up urgent conversation on the state and future of cinema

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

Reviving Jit Murad’s Lost Play: An Interview with director Zahim Albakri, and cast members Ghafir Akbar and Sabrina Hassan of ‘ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends’

It begins, unexpectedly, with a laugh. “I actually think it’s one of his most well-crafted plays,” says Dato’ Zahim Albakri, the director of ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends, and one of the late Jit Murad’s closest collaborators. “Some of the writing is his best and really quite fabulous. It’s different from his other plays, but it’s definitely him; you recognise the writing.” Then, almost in … Continue reading Reviving Jit Murad’s Lost Play: An Interview with director Zahim Albakri, and cast members Ghafir Akbar and Sabrina Hassan of ‘ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends’

SGIFF 2025: An Interview with ‘Silent Friend’ director ldikó Enyedi and star Tony Leung

For Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, her new work Silent Friend began as an instinct, an idea circling her for decades about how humans seek connection with the natural world. “I wrote this script very instinctively,” she says. “These topics were interesting to me for decades.” The film moves across three vastly different eras—1908, 1972, and 2020—each anchored by a centuries-old ginkgo tree and characters whose … Continue reading SGIFF 2025: An Interview with ‘Silent Friend’ director ldikó Enyedi and star Tony Leung

★★★★☆ Theatre Review: Mission Malligapoo by AGAM Theatre Lab

AGAM Theatre Lab ventures into dark comedy with this original wartime epic that balances humour, humanity and heartbreak. Playing as part of the 2025 Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts, AGAM Theatre Lab’s new original work Mission Malligapoo opens with a directive, as the overhead PA announces “Welcome aboard Mission Malligapoo,” and before you know it, the audience is subtly enlisted. It feels as … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Theatre Review: Mission Malligapoo by AGAM Theatre Lab

Review: We Make Spaces Divine ft. Dey by the Esplanade, Pooja Nansi, Shivram Gopinath, Isuru Wijesoma & RAAJ

Pooja Nansi and Shivram Gopinath’s tongue-in-cheek, electric verse meets sick beats to create a profoundly healing experience. In tiny Singapore, it can be all too easy to feel a creeping sense of claustrophobia. Shared third spaces vanish, and opportunities for uninhibited self-expression grow scarce. For poet Pooja Nansi, the solution is not to wait for transformation, but to seize agency: to uncover beauty in the … Continue reading Review: We Make Spaces Divine ft. Dey by the Esplanade, Pooja Nansi, Shivram Gopinath, Isuru Wijesoma & RAAJ