Singapore International Film Festival Explained

Singapore International Film Festival
Location:	Singapore
Awards:	Silver Screen Awards
Date:	28 November to 8 December 2024

The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore, founded in 1987.^{[1] [2]}

The 35th edition of SGIFF will take place from 28 November to 8 December 2024.

History

Originally launched to give local audiences an opportunity to watch independent and non-commercial films, the festival is now recognized worldwide by film critics for its focus on Asian filmmakers and promotion of Southeast Asian films.

Edition	Year	Opening film	Closing film
1st	1987	The Name of the Rose by Jean-Jacques Annaud	The Mission by Roland Joffé	^[3]
2nd	1989	The Glass Menagerie by Paul Newman	Testimony by Tony Palmer	^[4]
3rd	1990	The Children by Tony Palmer	Blue Steel by Kathryn Bigelow	^[5]
4th	1991	Cyrano de Bergerac by Jean-Paul Rappeneau	Dreams by Akira Kurosawa	^[6]
5th	1992	Raise the Red Lantern by Zhang Yimou	A Brighter Summer Day by Edward Yang	^[7]
6th	1993	The Trial by David Jones	Strictly Ballroom by Baz Luhrmann	^[8]
7th	1994	The Blue Kite by Tian Zhuangzhuang	The Scent of Green Papaya by Tran Anh Hung	^[9]
8th	1995	The Red Lotus Society by Stan Lai	Amateur by Hal Hartley	^[10]
9th	1996	The Confessional by Robert Lepage	Memories by Kōji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura and Katsuhiro Otomo	^[11]
10th	1997	Gabbeh by Mohsen Makhmalbaf	Breaking the Waves by Lars von Trier	^[12]
11th	1998	Hana-bi by Takeshi Kitano	Happy Together by Wong Kar-wai	^[13]
12th	1999	Ordinary Heroes by Ann Hui	The Hole by Tsai Ming-liang	^[14]
13th	2000	Monday by Sabu	The Wind Will Carry Us by Abbas Kiarostami	^[15]
14th	2001	Yi Yi by Edward Yang	Eureka by Shinji Aoyama	^[16]
15th	2002	Kandahar by Mohsen Makhmalbaf	What Time Is It There? by Tsai Ming-liang	^[17]
16th	2003	Chi-hwa-seon by Im Kwon-taek	Divine Intervention by Elia Suleiman	^[18]
17th	2004	Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring by Kim Ki-duk	Goodbye, Dragon Inn by Tsai Ming-liang	^[19]
18th	2005	Steamboy by Katsuhiro Otomo	by Mamoru Oshii	^[20]
19th	2006	Dunia by Jocelyne Saab	by Royston Tan	^[21]
20th	2007	Sankara by Prasanna Jayakody	Opera Jawa by Garin Nugroho	^[22]
21st	2008	The Princess of Nebraska by Wayne Wang	Road to Dawn by Derek Chiu	^[23]
22nd	2009	Sincerely Yours by Rich Lee	Milk by Semih Kaplanoğlu	^[24]
23rd	2010	Mao's Last Dancer by Bruce Beresford	Dear Doctor by Miwa Nishikawa	^[25]
24th	2011	Red Light Revolution by Sam Voutas	Senna by Asif Kapadia	^[26]
25th	2014	Unlucky Plaza by Ken Kwek	In the Absence of the Sun by Lucky Kuswandi	^[27]
26th	2015	Panay by Cheng Yu-chieh		^[28]
27th	2016	Interchange by Dain Iskandar Said		^[29]
28th	2017	Angels Wear White by Vivian Qu		^[30]
29th	2018	Cities of Last Things by Ho Wi Ding		^[31]
30th	2019	Wet Season by Anthony Chen	The Truth by Hirokazu Kore-eda	^[32]
31st	2020	Tiong Bahru Social Club by Tan Bee Thiam		^[33]
32nd	2021	Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Edwin		^[34]
33rd	2022	Assault by Adilkhan Yerzhanov		^[35]
34th	2023	Tiger Stripes by Amanda Nell Eu		^[36]

Awards

See main article: List of Singapore International Film Festival awards.

The Silver Screen Awards Competition was introduced in 1991 to encourage advances in Asian film-making standards.^[37] Every year, a selection of Asian feature and short films take part in the competition. In 2014, the Southeast Asian Short Film category was introduced, replacing the Singapore Short Film category. The first Southeast Asian Film Lab was introduced in 2015.^[38]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 'Angels Wear White' to Open Singapore Film Festival. Patrick. Frater. 17 October 2017.
2. Web site: Golden Horse-nominated thriller Angels Wear White to open the Singapore International Film Festival. hermesauto. 17 October 2017.
3. Web site: 1987: SGIFF 1 - Singapore International Film Festival.
4. Web site: 1989: SGIFF 2 - Singapore International Film Festival.
5. Web site: 1990: SGIFF 3 - Singapore International Film Festival.
6. Web site: 1991: SGIFF 4 - Singapore International Film Festival.
7. Web site: 1992: SGIFF 5 - Singapore International Film Festival.
8. Web site: 1993: SGIFF 6 - Singapore International Film Festival.
9. Web site: 1994: SGIFF 7 - Singapore International Film Festival.
10. Web site: 1995: SGIFF 8 - Singapore International Film Festival.
11. Web site: 1996: SGIFF 9 - Singapore International Film Festival.
12. Web site: 1997: SGIFF 10 - Singapore International Film Festival. 2017-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20150519011939/http://sgiff.com/explore-past-festivals/1997-sgiff-10/. 2015-05-19. dead.
13. Web site: 1998: SGIFF 11 - Singapore International Film Festival.
14. Web site: 1999: SGIFF 12 - Singapore International Film Festival.
15. Web site: 2000: SGIFF 13 - Singapore International Film Festival.
16. Web site: 2001: SGIFF 14 - Singapore International Film Festival.
17. Web site: 2002: SGIFF 15 - Singapore International Film Festival.
18. Web site: 2003: SGIFF 16 - Singapore International Film Festival.
19. Web site: 2004: SGIFF 17 - Singapore International Film Festival.
20. Web site: 2005: SGIFF 18 - Singapore International Film Festival.
21. Web site: 2006: SGIFF 19 - Singapore International Film Festival.
22. Web site: 2007: SGIFF 20 - Singapore International Film Festival.
23. Web site: 2008: SGIFF 21 - Singapore International Film Festival.
24. Web site: 2009: SGIFF 22 - Singapore International Film Festival.
25. Web site: 2010: SGIFF 23 - Singapore International Film Festival.
26. Web site: 2011: SGIFF 24 - Singapore International Film Festival.
27. Web site: 2014: SGIFF 25 - Singapore International Film Festival.
28. Web site: 2015: SGIFF 26 . Singapore International Film Festival . October 26, 2023 . October 26, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231026101403/https://sgiff.com/past-edition/2015-26/ . live.
    Web site: India's 'The Fourth Direction' takes top award at Singapore fest . Silvia . Wong . . 7 December 2015 . October 26, 2023 . October 26, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231026101854/https://www.screendaily.com/indias-the-fourth-direction-takes-top-award-at-singapore-fest/5097669.article . live.
29. Web site: 2016: SGIFF 27 - Singapore International Film Festival.
30. Web site: 2017: SGIFF 28 . . October 13, 2023 . October 13, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231013181552/https://sgiff.com/past-edition/2017-28/ . live.
31. Web site: Festival 2018 - Singapore International Film Festival.
32. Web site: Frater . Patrick . Singapore Festival to Focus on Asian Excellence for 30th Edition . Variety . 24 October 2019 . en . 22 October 2019.
33. Web site: Frater . Patrick . Singapore Festival Unveils Lineup for Hybrid Edition . Variety . 5 November 2020 . en . 5 November 2020.
34. Web site: Past Edition – 2021 - SGIFF 2022 . sgiff.com . 4 January 2023 . 13 November 2022.
35. News: Lui . John . SGIFF 2022 to open with Kazakh film, Ken Kwek’s banned #LookAtMe still part of festival programme . 4 January 2023 . The Straits Times . Singapore Press Holdings . 26 October 2022 . en.
36. Web site: Singapore film festival unveils 2023 lineup, honorary award for Fan Bingbing. Michael . Rosser . October 26, 2023 . December 11, 2023 . ScreenDaily. en.
37. Web site: Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Award for Best Film (Singapore Short Film) . 2023-12-22 . www.roots.gov.sg.
38. Web site: Brzeski . Patrick . 2014-07-15 . Singapore Film Fest to Launch Southeast Asian Film Lab . 2023-12-22 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US.