Social Realist Turns in Singapore Filmmaking (1951 – 1958) – Day One

The Singaporean painter Chua Mia Tee has often referred to film to describe his artistic approach, likening his style of realism to “the cinema—real horses, real soldiers”. Chua carefully directed his striking scenes to act as windows into the world—not as it necessarily was, but as he wanted to portray it to be.

The two-part programme, “Social Realist Turns in Singapore Filmmaking (1950s – 1980s)” with artist and film researcher Toh Hun Ping explored how Chua’s views on art developed in parallel with shifts in filmmaking in Singapore. It delved into experimentations in social realist and documentary filmmaking witnessed during this period.

Day One opened with a talk discussing Malay-language melodrama films of the 1950s produced in Singapore, all with a social realist bent. The talk centred on the works of filmmakers like Phani Majumdar, P. Ramlee and Chua Boon Hean, comparing them with the realist artworks of Chua Mia Tee. This talk was followed by a screening of Phani Majumdar’s Doctor (1958).

This programme took place at National Gallery Singapore on 23 July 2022, as part of the “Chua Mia Tee: Directing the Real” exhibition and in conjunction with “Painting with Light”.

Find out more about the exhibition and its programmes at https://www.nationalgallery.sg/direct...

Find out more about Painting with Light at https://paintingwithlight.nationalgal...

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About the Speaker

Toh Hun Ping is an artist-filmmaker and independent researcher. His works have been presented in exhibitions and film festivals internationally. As a film researcher, his investigations on the historical and cultural contexts of film production and distribution in 20th century Singapore have featured in numerous programmes and publications. He also started Singapore Film Locations Archive, a collection of films made in and about Singapore, and runs a website on filming locations in Singapore of the past (sgfilmlocations.com).

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Disclaimer

This video has been edited for clarity and concision. The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. Every effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce audio visual material in the session. All copyright within this session, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.

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