Vancouver Singapore Film Night - June 7 - 4:30pm to 10:30pm

Asia Pacific Bizlinks (APB) and the Toronto Singapore Film Festival (TSFF) are proud to present the inaugural Vancouver Singapore Film Night (VSFN), to be held on Saturday, June 7th 2008 at the James Cowan Theatre at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby, B.C.

The TSFF has held 3 successful film festivals in Toronto since February 2006, with the recent 3rd TSFF being held from April 4 to 6 which was well attended. This event was well covered by the press and media in Toronto and Singapore. TSFF brings this experience and expertise with us to partner with APB for the organizing of the VSFN.

The VSFN will showcase a movie marathon featuring made-in-Singapore films with genres ranging from action, comedy and horror, to drama, politics and romance.

Tickets are $25 inclusive of two feature films and three short films, as well as a buffet dinner featuring authentic Singaporean/Malaysian cuisine. Available at the James Cowan Theatre at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (6450 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby), online at: boxoffice@burnaby.ca or by telephone: 604-205-3000

Details of the films that will be screened at VSFN are as follows.

Feature films:

Just Follow Law - Directed by Jack Neo and produced by Simon Leong, Hazel Wong and Kok Siok Mien in 2006. Duration: 111 Minutes. English, Mandarin, Hokkien (English and Chinese Subtitles). Cast: Fann Wong, Gurmit Singh, Brandon Wong, Suhaimi Yusof, Lina Ng, Amy Cheng, Moses Lim and Steven Woon.

Synopsis: Lim Teng Zui is a junior employee working under Tanya Chew, a high-ranking officer in one of Singapore's statutory boards. When Teng Zui's incompetence leads to the injury of a government minister, he is sharply reprimanded by Tanya. Infuriated at being singled out for blame, Teng Zui confronts Tanya. But when their argument leads to a car crash in which they exchange souls, Teng Zui and Tanya are given a rare opportunity to experience life from the other person's perspective.

JUST FOLLOW LAW was an official selection at the 3rd TSFF. It has received a Golden Horse Award nomination for Gurmit Singh as Best Actor.

Visit the film's website at http://www.jteam.com.sg/justFollowLaw and trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llOiIOppC8A

Director Jack Neo is a familiar name to Singaporeans. Following his success in local television productions like the highly rated Comedy Night, he ventured into filmmaking in 1998 with his debut Money No Enough, Singapore's highest grossing feature film to-date. This was followed by I Not Stupid, Homerun, The Best Bet, and his latest work Just Follow Law. In recognition of his achievements and contributions towards Singapore's media industry, Jack Neo was awarded the 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2004 Multi-Talent Award from Mediacorp Singapore during the Annual Star Awards. The recipient of the Public Service Medal Award in August 2004 and the Arts Cultural Medallion Award in October 2005, Jack Neo is also known in Singapore as a producer, screenwriter, composer, and singer.

Singapore Dreaming - Directed, written, and produced by Yen Yen Woo and Colin Goh in 2006. Duration: 105 minutes. Mandarin, English, and Hokkien (English Subtitles)
Cast: Richard Low, Alice Lim Cheng Peng, Serene Cheng, Yeo Yann Yann, Lim Yu-Beng, Dick Su.

Synopsis: A dissatisfied husband and his devoted wife, a married couple expecting their first child, and a newly engaged couple looking forward to their upcoming marriage form the core of this poignant yet darkly humorous look at the aspirations of Singapore's middle class. Set against the twin backdrops of the global marketplace and the elaborate rituals of a traditional Taoist funeral, Singapore Dreaming captures the hopes and trepidation of one family looking towards an uncertain future.

SINGAPORE DREAMING was the closing film of the 3rd TSFF. Visit the film's website at http://www.singaporedreaming.com and trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk2N-SLVxfM

Husband-and-wife team Yen Yen Woo and Colin Goh have made numerous films together, including 3 Meals, Talking Cock: The Movie, and eAhlong.com: Loan Shark Online. The founders of Singapore's most popular satirical website, TalkingCock.com, they are also the compilers of a definitive Singlish dictionary, which the Times of London pronounced 'indispensable'. Singapore Dreaming has been screened around the world to great acclaim, including the Montblanc New Screenwriters Award at the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2006.

Short films:

Café – Written and directed by Kelvin Sng in 2005. Duration: 22 minutes in Japanese, Mandarin, English, Filipino.

Synopsis: "What is love?" asks Yutaka, a disillusioned Japanese man. He sits in a café night after night watching others' stories unfold before his eyes, trying to find his answer. One night, the tales from three of the surrounding tables respond to him: Candy and May May, two childhood friends, discuss the man who is beginning to come between them; Gabriel and Sophia, long-time lovers, are rushing towards a precipice in their relationship; and a high-school reunion takes an interesting turn. All the while, a beautiful young woman searches for something. Four tables, five stories – Café reflects the cosmopolitan society of modern Singapore while contemplating upon universal ideas of self-deception and hypocrisy.

CAFÉ was the opening film at the 1st TSFF.

Visit the film's website at http://www.cafe.ai-films.com

G23 - Written and Directed by Anthony Chen. Produced by Felicia Tan in 2005.
Duration: 19 minutes · Cantonese, English, Mandarin and Tamil (English Subtitles)

Cast: Rick Tan, Renu Joane, Ding Chu Hui and Li Xie

Synopsis: An usher obsesses over three regular patrons in an old cinema where he works, is empathizing with the reasons they keep returning to this escapist realm. For one of them, it's a caged existence in an ironhanded household; for another, it's the loss of a loved one who had meant everything; for one other, it's the deprivation of love and affection. Little insanities - syndromes that cinema has mediated time and again throughout its history. Fusing moody romanticism with degrees of harsh reality, Anthony Chen's debut short also recalls some recent features set in cinemas, but whose inhabitants are just a tad more incomprehensible - notably Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang, 2003) and its Argentinean homage, Fantasma (Lisandro Alonso, 2006). The title, G-23 refers to the usher's choice seat in the house, much like Susan Sontag's third-row-centre fetish.

G-23 was the opening film for the 2nd TSFF. It was also screened at over 30 international film festivals, notably the Tous les Cinémas du Monde sidebar at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. It also won awards in Belgium, France, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

Blood Ties - Written and Directed by Yuwei Chai in 2007 Duration: 12 minutes. Mandarin and Cantonese with English subtitles

Synopsis: Qing was the sole witness to her brother's murder. But when her brother's murderers turn up dead, things don't appear to be as simple as it seems. Madam Lee, after having to cope with the recent death of her son, now has to deal with the possibility that her daughter is involved with the deaths of these killers.

Visit the film's website at http://www.bloodtiesthemovie.com

For more information please contact:
Albert Lee
Asia Pacific Bizlinks Inc.
Tel: 604-463-9506
Cell: 778-991-3988
Email: asiapacbizlinks@gmail.com

Screenings info: http://vancouver.shawtv.com/smc/smc_singapore.htm#films