2020-03-17

SIFF ASIA x World Express| SIFF Golden Goblet Awards Winner in Singapore

On December 5, the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) embarked on the SIFF ASIA x World Express and travelled to Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore. Together with two Golden Goblet Awards winners for Best Live Action Short Film WHITE SHEEP IN THE CAR and NOWHERE TO PUT, SIFF representatives received a warm welcome from local teachers and students in specially arranged screening and promotion events.

Established in 1963, Ngee Ann Polytechnic set up Singapore\'s very first film and media college in 1989. Over the years, a number of outstanding and award-winning film artists have grown up here, including Anthony CHEN, director of WET SEASON and BOO Junfeng, director of APPRENTICE. The college is also a supporter for students\' independent filmmaking. In 2013, Anthony CHEN won the Golden Camera Award at the 66th Cannes Film Festival for his first feature film ILO ILO – also the first Singaporean film to win a Cannes award. Ngee Ann Polytechnic was one of the producers of the work. Upon the special invitation from the university, SIFF brought two Chinese short films to Singapore for screening and academic exchanges.

SIFF Representatives with Teachers and Students of Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The two specially selected works – WHITE SHEEP IN THE CAR and NOWHERE TO PUT, are winners of SIFF’s Golden Goblet Awards for Best Live Action Short Film respectively in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Written and directed by young directors XU Min and TAN Diwen, WHITE SHEEP IN THE CAR tells about an adventure of the main character named Zhang Shulin and a shepherd in the desert in the northwest China – a seemingly masculine yet gentle story. Another young director HAN Jingzhi’s work NOWHERE TO PUT depicts a touching bond between a woman named Hui zi and her 70-year-old father. Both short films are distinct in style and profound in meaning, reflecting the ordinary and moving life of Chinese people in contemporary times.

SIFF Representatives Talking with Teachers, Students and Professional Guests

During the exchange session, the representatives of SIFF delivered an introduction concerning the Festival, its six-step new talent training system, as well as its latest achievements in competitions, panoramas, and projects – particularly the screening of films produced in Southeast Asia. Then they had extensive talks with the teachers and students about the production and topic selection of short films.

SIFF Representative at Presentation

In June this year, SIFF launched the "SIFF ASIA" framework to promote the exchange and mutual learning of cinema cultures across Asia by means of screening, awarding, salons and more. As an organic part of the framework, SIFF ASIA x World Express has become a bridge for cultural exchanges and connection between Asian countries. This time the Express travelled to Singapore. At Ngee Ann Polytechnic – a university with a glorious history of film education, local audiences and filmmakers were allowed to appreciate the charm of Chinese cinema. As a fruitful attempt to expand the "SIFF ASIA" framework and promote close film collaboration across Asia, it further highlighted SIFF’s positioning of "based on Asia, paying attention to Chinese and supporting new talents".