PROGRAMME 2
| Date & Time | Location |
|---|---|
| Daily, 4-14 Sep 2025, 12pm | Level 5, UOB Theatrette, Supreme Court Wing (General Admission pass required)
|
| Tue, 9 Sep 2025, 12.30pm |
Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, City Hall Wing (Free Admission)
|
About the Film
THE SCATTERED BODY OR A WORLD UNCLOUDED BY DUST
By George Clark
In collaboration with a Vietnamese community archive in Hackney, London, and a state film archive in Hanoi, director George Clark explores the often invisible labour of caring for the dispersed history of Vietnam. The film charts the establishment of the An Việt Archives, the largest known collection of documents and artefacts associated with British-Vietnamese communities, built from what was salvaged from their former building that was nearly completely lost to vandalism in 2020.
The project also brought together Vietnamese and UK artists who explored alternative ways of articulating personal and collective memories, such as musician Bùi Linh Hà, cinematographer Tạ Minh Đức, choreographer Nguyễn Hải Yến, and dancers Lâm Duy Phương and James Olivo.
Explore Other Festival Sections
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.
Artist Films
Presenting films made by artists, this year includes an emphasis on early documentaries by Southeast Asian practitioners and a full-length movie independently made during the Marcos regime in the Philippines. National Gallery Singapore commissioned the digital restoration of two artists’ films on 16mm, Virgilio “Pandy” Aviado’s 1978 Footages and Briccio Santos’ Damortis, which are world premiering at Painting with Light.
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?
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.
This year’s programme is supported by the Québec Government and curated by guest programmer Philippe U. del Drago, who has served as Executive and Artistic Director of the International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal since 2018.
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.