This is not the first time "Ilo Ilo" got an
international award. Last month, the film won 3 awards in Russia at the 11th
Pacific Meridian Film Festival in Vladivostok. Not only that, Chen also won the
Camera d'Or, the award for best feature-length film by a first-time feature
film director, at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in May.
However as many foreign awards won by Chen and the film, the
film faced one big hurdle in Singapore; it is made in Singapore. I know this
may seem very strange to some foreigners but in Singapore, Singaporeans ignored
Singapore-made movies, shows and music. Things are so bad that some movies made
in Singapore marketed themselves as “joint-production” with other countries
like Thailand and Malaysia just to boost their box-office takings here on the island.
To the surprise of no one, the movie only got a 1-2 weeks run here in Singapore. Personally I think it's great that "Ilo Ilo" got 6 nominations at the Golden Horse, but will it change the landscape of the filming industry in Singapore.
I doubt it.
To the surprise of no one, the movie only got a 1-2 weeks run here in Singapore. Personally I think it's great that "Ilo Ilo" got 6 nominations at the Golden Horse, but will it change the landscape of the filming industry in Singapore.
I doubt it.
2 comments:
Great observation. This attitude pervades the country.It starts from the top. "Cambridge educated". "Harvard educated" denote par excellence. Why not "NUS educated"or "NTU educated"? Even when that preson received his basic education here but went to Harvard for a Masters in Government for one year or less he would be hailed as Harvard educated e.g. GCT.
The problem I see is one of culture. Singaporeans are not proud of "the Singapore culture" so we always look to foreign culture (movie, TV, books, music etc) as superior. Even when our home-grow products win foreign awards, it make little to no difference.
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