Through Artists' Eyes: Southeast Asian Documentaries

THROUGH ARTISTS' EYES:
SOUTHEAST ASIAN DOCUMENTARIES

This programme screens four early documentaries by Southeast Asian artists made from 1969 to 1979. Their subjects range widely from personal collaborations to the life of racehorses to a group dance performance to death customs in a small fishing town. Through Artists’ Eyes is a testament to the artists’ visions and the diverse ways they cast their film camera on the world around them.

When: Sat, 13 Sep 2025, 8pm
Where: Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, City Hall Wing
Pricing:
$10 per ticket (see Ticketing for more information)

1978 FOOTAGES

By Virgilio "Pandy" Aviado

Philippines Silent 1978 14 min 20 sec Colour 16mm transferred to 4K digital video PG

This silent film will be accompanied by music selected by the artist.

This film captures the friendship, collaboration and shared adventurous spirit between two pioneers in Philippine experimental filmmaking. After returning from Europe in 1977, Virgilio Aviado’s vision found a crucial collaborator in veteran actor and producer Michael “Mike” Parsons. Their partnership led to "The Monastery", an art workshop in Baguio, which soon became a crucible for their joint creative endeavours. Significant arrivals from Japan—an etching press and a brand new 16mm SLR Canon Scoopic—further solidified their multimedia aspirations.

Early test footage from the Canon Scoopic reveals intimate moments at their Baguio studio and Parsons’ playful spontaneity, alongside footage from their trip to a Visayas island. What truly stands out is Aviado’s audacious experimentation: he manipulated frame rates, executed dissolves and stop motion, crafted intricate vignettes, and pioneered film-to-video transfers and back to film. The 1978 footages are a powerful testament to the free-spirited artistic inquiry that characterized early Philippine experimental cinema.

It is currently the sole known remaining photochemical film by Aviado, solidifying his legacy as a pioneer of Philippine experimental filmmaking. Recognizing its historical and artistic value, the National Gallery Singapore has commissioned the 4K digital restoration of this newfound film. L’Immagine Ritrovata carried out the restoration while respecting the artist’s wishes to reflect the age of the film.

Virgilio “Pandy” Aviado (b. 1944, Philippines) is a senior visual artist from the Philippines with European printmaking training and a keen interest in film. He championed the intrinsic connection between printmaking and filmmaking within the visual arts. His fascination with moving images was cemented in the 1960s when the documentary “The Printmakers”, which depicted American printmakers' societal impact, deeply resonated with him. This experience catalyzed his groundbreaking exploration into both print and homemade cinema.

He participated in the inaugural Thirteen Artists exhibition at Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1970, which developed into a prestigious recognition for emerging artists in the Philippines. He and his collaborator, Michael Parsons, were honoured at the 1984 Manila Short Film Festival for their groundbreaking efforts in creating films beyond the mainstream.

PACER

By Banchong Kosalwat

Thailand Sound 1976 21 min 52 sec Black-and-white 16mm film transferred to digital video PG

Banchong Kosalwat, a pioneer of Thai experimental film, created this empathetic documentary on racehorses while he was based in the United States. He presents a racehorse’s life from birth to death. Various oral interviews of those involved in the racing industry are combined with footage of horses forced to comply with their cruel fate. Pacer, titled after horses’ man-made gait of pacing, appeals for compassion, asking for more than a utilitarian relationship to animals for entertainment and greed.

Kosalwat shot this film while pursuing his master’s degree at Temple University, known for its focus on documentary filmmaking.

Banchong Kosalwat (b. 1943, Thailand) began as a painter and printmaker, studying fine arts at Silpakorn University, Bangkok. While furthering his studies in art in New York City in the late 1960s, Kosalwat became captivated by film and took up avant-garde and experimental cinema at the Millennium Film Workshop and cinematography classes at New York University. He later graduated with an MFA in Radio, Television, Film from Temple University supported by a Rockefeller grant. He taught filmmaking at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication. While a pioneer of Thai experimental films, Kosalwat has also created several feature films. In 2023, he was awarded National Artist in Performing Arts (Film) by the Thai Ministry of Culture.

META EKOLOGI (META ECOLOGY)

By Gotot Prakosa

Indonesia Sound 1979 15 min 38 sec Black-and-white 16mm film transferred to digital video PG

In this mesmerising film, Gotot Prakosa captures a performance of human bodies melding with the earth. Internationally renowned Javanese dancer Sardono Kusomo choreographed the performance with the aim of creating “an awareness of earth and water and to emphasize the importance of the interdependence of human and natural ecologies.” Prakosa, then a teacher at the Jakarta Institute of Arts, filmed the event at the Taman Ismail Marzuki in Jakarta, Indonesia, and edited it to create his own hypnotic sequence. Prakosa called it “a process of poeticisation”.

This film had its Singapore premiere at National Gallery Singapore in 2022.

Gotot Prakosa (b. 1955, Indonesia; d. 2015, Indonesia) was a painter, filmmaker and author. For much of his adult life, he was based in Jakarta, where from 2008 to 2012 he was Dean of the Faculty of Film and Television at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts. Gotot’s work is noted for its sensitivity, light-heartedness, perceptiveness, and often irreverent humour, making him a completely original, yet unpretentious talent. In addition to his numerous minimalist short films and books on experimental filmmaking, Gotot worked on innovative projects with other Indonesian artists, such as performance artist Sardono W. Kusumo and writer-director, Eros Djarot.

RECUERDO OF TWO SUNDAYS AND TWO ROADS THAT LEAD TO THE SEA

By Bibsy Carballo, Romeo Vitug and Eric Torres

Philippines Sound 1969 16 min 45 sec Black-and-white 16mm film transferred to digital video PG Singapore Premiere

This wistful documentary focuses on funeral rituals in Navotas, a fishing town in the Philippines which has one of the largest fish ports in Southeast Asia. Bibsy Carballo, Romeo Vitug and Eric Torres portray the disappearing customs and how life goes on while mourning the deceased. Although it centres around death, Recuerdo of Two Sundays and Two Roads that Lead to the Sea expresses the connections between the living in this elegiac short.

Dolores “Bibsy” Carballo (b. 1941, Philippines; d. 2016, Philippines) was a teacher, journalist, entertainment columnist and film producer. In 1966, she cofounded Gallery Indigo with Ben Cabrera, Salvador Cabrera and Francisco Navarro, promoting photography as an art form. She also produced Himala (1982), a film by Ishmael Bernal that is now recognised as a classic of Philippine cinema.
Photo courtesy of Winnie Ferrer.

Romeo “Romy” Vitug (b. 1937, Philippines; d. 2024, Philippines) was a photojournalist and cinematographer. He represented the Philippines in the Paris Biennale in 1969 with his photography work. Cinemanila International Film Fest recognised him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and the Metro Manila Film Festival instated him into their Hall of Fame for best cinematography in 2019.
Photo credit: Wig Tysmans

Emmanuel “Eric” Torres (b. 1932, Philippines; d. 2021, Philippines) was a poet, teacher, art critic and curator of the Ateneo Art Gallery, the first museum of Philippine modern art, from its beginning in 1960 until his retirement in 2002. He served as commissioner-general of the Philippines’ first pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1964, showing works by Jose Joya and Napoleon Abueva, who later became National Artists of the Philippines. As a critic, Torres wrote abundantly, publishing articles in different periodicals and authoring important books on Philippine art.
Photo credit: Image courtesy of Ateneo de Manila University Archives

Opening Film

Magellan is an intimate portrait of the 16th century Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, starring Gael García Bernal in the titular role.

Art History, Co-authored

Art History, Co-authored presents films that explore seminal moments in art and film history.

Exhibition Readings

Exhibition Readings presents film programmes conceived in response to the art in the Gallery’s ongoing exhibitions.

Special Focus

The Special Focus section presents films that speak to the issues of the day. This year’s programme features the work of women filmmakers and artists who advocate for ways of being that are informed by an ethics of care. Bold, innovative, and profoundly relevant, these films ask the enduring question at the heart of artistic endeavour—what does it mean to be human?

Southeast Asian Shorts

Southeast Asian Shorts presents short films on the stories of Southeast Asia. This year’s programme is co-curated by independent programmer Viknesh Kobinathan, and festival curator Pauline Soh.

Movement Pieces

Movement Pieces celebrates the visual poetry found in moving image art. It features short films that convey meaning through non-verbal modes of communication, like gesture and musicality, in lieu of dialogue.

Closing

We Are Toast is an expanded cinema performance by Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen that utilises multiple 16mm film projectors to create a live film.

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