SGIFF 2021: An Interview with Tan Chui Mui, director of ‘Barbarian Invasion’

If it’s one person you should expect the unexpected from, it’s Malaysian director Tan Chui Mui. A pioneer of the Malaysian New Wave, Tan is a chameleon of a person, constantly challenging herself to go one step further in her artistry, her head a chaotic but dazzling swirl of ideas, and always ensuring that the work she puts out is of a high quality. In … Continue reading SGIFF 2021: An Interview with Tan Chui Mui, director of ‘Barbarian Invasion’

★★★★☆ Review: The Edge of Daybreak dir. Taiki Sakpisit

It’s always darkest before the dawn. Across horror films, the haunted house trope has remained one of the Western world’s strongest. From its humble beginnings as simply a cursed space where visitors and inhabitants meet gruesome ends, the modern haunted house film has evolved to explore how generations of trauma infect the space, becoming a musing on cycles of violence and pain households become ensnared … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: The Edge of Daybreak dir. Taiki Sakpisit

★★★★☆ Review: Barbarian Invasion dir. Tan Chui Mui

Finding strength and power through film. “When I was younger, film was everything,” says director Roger Woo (Pete Teo), in Malaysian filmmaker Tan Chui Mui’s new film Barbarian Invasion. “Now, everything is film.” In many ways, that’s the quote that encapsulates Barbarian Invasion as a whole, as it considers the thin line between fiction and reality, and the redemptive qualities of performance and film. Playing … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Barbarian Invasion dir. Tan Chui Mui

SGIFF 2021: An Interview with Edwin, director of opening film ‘Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash’

Hot on the festival circuit and making waves as the first Indonesian film to win the prestigious Golden Leopard at the 74th Locarno Film Festival, Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash already came in with high expectations, even before its premiering as the opening film of the 32nd Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). And after watching it, there’s really no question why it’s been … Continue reading SGIFF 2021: An Interview with Edwin, director of opening film ‘Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash’

★★★★☆ Review: Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash dir. Edwin

Homage to 80s culture and entertainment laced with wicked sociopolitical commentary. We’re starting off this review by making one thing clear: this is a love story. But as its title suggests, Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash goes far above and beyond that. Drawing together elements as far flung as action, Western and even horror into this genre hodgepodge, this is a film that … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash dir. Edwin