PROGRAMME 3
| Date & Time | Location |
|---|---|
| Daily, 4-14 Sep 2025, 1pm | Level 5, UOB Theatrette, Supreme Court Wing (General Admission pass required)
|
| Wed, 10 Sep 2025, 12.30pm |
Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, City Hall Wing (Free Admission)
|
About the Films
TUNGGANG LANGGANG (AFTERLIVES)
By Timoteus Anggawan Kusno
By beginning with jathilan, a traditional Javanese war dance here performed to celebrate Independence Day in Indonesia, Afterlives sets itself up as a confrontation with the ghosts of the nation’s colonial past. In the film, the spectre of Dutch rule is traced to portraits of the Governor-Generals of the Dutch East Indies, which were hidden in abandoned sugar factories during World War II. As the film follows their trail to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, we see the original, empty frames woven into Kusno’s installation for its REVOLUSI! exhibition, in a symbolic gesture. Stripped of their powerful images, these frames continue to carry the weight of their invisible presences into current reality, but also indicate space for new interventions.
PETA GULA (SUGAR MAP)
By Ali Satri Efendi
In the colonial era, Indonesian farmers were forced to give up their land to Dutch rulers for the cultivation of sugarcane. While a key component of the glebagan system—the obligatory leasing of land to mills—was abolished in 1975, it has profoundly influenced agriculture and land use in Indonesia. Through documentary footage as well as archival materials, Sugar Map observes how the landscape of a village in the Krembung region has been shaped by the competing use of the land for sugarcane and rice production, and how a cycle of exploitation continues to be perpetuated.
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.