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Singapore International Film Festival

Film festival in Singapore

Film festival in Singapore

FieldValue
nameSingapore International Film Festival
logoSingaporeInternationalFilmFestival.jpg
image_size250px
locationSingapore
founded
awardsSilver Screen Awards
website
date26 November to 7 December 2025
mainCurrent: 36th
previous35th
next38th

The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore, founded in 1987.

The 36th Singapore International Film Festival took place from 26 November to 7 December 2025.

History

Originally launched to give local audiences an opportunity to watch independent and non-commercial films, the festival is now recognized worldwide by film critics for its focus on Asian filmmakers and promotion of Southeast Asian films.

The SGIFF was founded by Geoff Malone and Mill Valley Film Festival board member L. Leland Whitney in 1987.

The 24th edition of SGIFF held in 2011 faced issues such as poor organisation and financial woes due to lack of sponsorships. Founder Geoffrey Malone also resigned as the chairman of the Board of Directors with Shaw Soo Wei, former Executive Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, taking over as the chairman.

The SGIFF went on a hiatus for the next two years and in 2013, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim announced the 25th edition of the SGIFF will be held in 2014 in combination with the Asia TV Forum and Market, Screen Singapore and the Asian Television Awards in a two-week event.

For the 33rd edition in 2022, the film #LookAtMe, directed by Ken Kwek, was originally scheduled to be screened at the SGIFF but was refused classification by Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which effectively barred the film from being screened in Singapore for "its potential to cause enmity and social division". IMDA, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and Ministry of Home Affairs also stated that the pastor in the film engages "in an act prohibited by his professed religious faiths"; that the depictions of the pastor in the film are "suggestive of a real pastor in Singapore", and the allegations may be "perceived to be offensive, defamatory and contrary to the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act". However, even with the ban, SGIFF decided to include the film in its advertised line-up, though the film was marked as unavailable for screening.

For the 35th edition in 2024, the SGIFF was managed by a new general manager, Jeremy Chua. Local actress Rebecca Lim was named as SGIFF's first ambassador for the festival. Daniel Hui's film, Small Hours Of The Night, an official selection for the SGIFF was submitted for classification by IMDA for the festival but was refused classification by IMDA in November. The lack of classification for the film resulted it being unable to screen at the SGIFF. SGIFF programme director Thong Kay Wee continued to support the film and list it as an official selection.

Overview

EditionYearOpening filmClosing filmRef(s)
1st1987The Name of the Rose by Jean-Jacques AnnaudThe Mission by Roland Joffé
2nd1989The Glass Menagerie by Paul NewmanTestimony by Tony Palmer
3rd1990The Children by Tony PalmerBlue Steel by Kathryn Bigelow
4th1991Cyrano de Bergerac by Jean-Paul RappeneauDreams by Akira Kurosawa
5th1992Raise the Red Lantern by Zhang YimouA Brighter Summer Day by Edward Yang
6th1993The Trial by David JonesStrictly Ballroom by Baz Luhrmann
7th1994The Blue Kite by Tian ZhuangzhuangThe Scent of Green Papaya by Tran Anh Hung
8th1995The Red Lotus Society by Stan LaiAmateur by Hal Hartley
9th1996The Confessional by Robert LepageMemories by Kōji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura and Katsuhiro Otomo
10th1997Gabbeh by Mohsen MakhmalbafBreaking the Waves by Lars von Trier
11th1998Hana-bi by Takeshi KitanoHappy Together by Wong Kar-wai
12th1999Ordinary Heroes by Ann HuiThe Hole by Tsai Ming-liang
13th2000Monday by SabuThe Wind Will Carry Us by Abbas Kiarostami
14th2001Yi Yi by Edward YangEureka by Shinji Aoyama
15th2002Kandahar by Mohsen MakhmalbafWhat Time Is It There? by Tsai Ming-liang
16th2003Chi-hwa-seon by Im Kwon-taekDivine Intervention by Elia Suleiman
17th2004Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring by Kim Ki-dukGoodbye, Dragon Inn by Tsai Ming-liang
18th2005Steamboy by Katsuhiro OtomoGhost in the Shell 2: Innocence by Mamoru Oshii
19th2006Dunia by Jocelyne Saab4:30 by Royston Tan
20th2007Sankara by Prasanna JayakodyOpera Jawa by Garin Nugroho
21st2008The Princess of Nebraska by Wayne WangRoad to Dawn by Derek Chiu
22nd2009Sincerely Yours by Rich LeeMilk by Semih Kaplanoğlu
23rd2010Mao's Last Dancer by Bruce BeresfordDear Doctor by Miwa Nishikawa
24th2011Red Light Revolution by Sam VoutasSenna by Asif Kapadia
25th2014Unlucky Plaza by Ken KwekIn the Absence of the Sun by Lucky Kuswandi
26th2015Panay by Cheng Yu-chieh
27th2016Interchange by Dain Iskandar Said
28th2017Angels Wear White by Vivian Qu
29th2018Cities of Last Things by Ho Wi Ding
30th2019Wet Season by Anthony ChenThe Truth by Hirokazu Kore-eda
31st2020Tiong Bahru Social Club by Tan Bee Thiam
32nd2021Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Edwin
33rd2022Assault by Adilkhan Yerzhanov
34th2023Tiger Stripes by Amanda Nell Euurl=https://www.screendaily.com/news/singapore-film-festival-unveils-2023-lineup-honorary-award-for-fan-bingbing/5187292.articletitle=Singapore film festival unveils 2023 lineup, honorary award for Fan Bingbingfirst= Michaellast= Rosserdate=26 October 2023access-date=11 December 2023website=ScreenDailylanguage=en}}
35th2024Stranger Eyes by Yeo Siew Hua
36th2025Girl by Shu Qi

Awards

Main article: List of Singapore International Film Festival awards

The Silver Screen Awards Competition was introduced in 1991 to encourage advances in Asian film-making standards. Every year, a selection of Asian feature and short films take part in the competition. In 2014, the Southeast Asian Short Film category was introduced, replacing the Singapore Short Film category. The first Southeast Asian Film Lab was introduced in 2015.

References

References

  1. Frater, Patrick. (17 October 2017). "'Angels Wear White' to Open Singapore Film Festival". Variety.
  2. Wai Yee, Yip. (17 October 2017). "Golden Horse-nominated thriller Angels Wear White to open the Singapore International Film Festival". The Straits Times.
  3. Lui, John. (21 February 2022). "Geoff Malone, architect and co-founder of Singapore International Film Festival, dies after long illness". [[The Straits Times]].
  4. Loh, Genevieve Sarah. (5 December 2013). "S’pore film festival to return after 2 years".
  5. Chew, Hui Min. (17 October 2022). "Local film #LookAtMe barred from screening in Singapore over potential to cause social division".
  6. "IMDA refuses classification for local film #LookAtMe for denigrating religious community".
  7. Lui, John. (26 October 2022). "SGIFF 2022 to open with Kazakh film, Ken Kwek's banned #LookAtMe still part of festival programme".
  8. Wong, Silvia. (26 October 2022). "Singapore film festival stands by banned film '#LookAtMe' (exclusive)".
  9. (4 October 2024). "Singapore International Film Festival 2024 to open with Stranger Eyes, Rebecca Lim named first-ever ambassador".
  10. "Singapore film about censorship refused classification by IMDA, remains in SGIFF lineup".
  11. (6 February 1987). "It's a multinational feast". [[The Straits Times]].
  12. "1989: SGIFF 2 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  13. "1990: SGIFF 3 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  14. "1991: SGIFF 4 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  15. "1992: SGIFF 5 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  16. "1993: SGIFF 6 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  17. "1994: SGIFF 7 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  18. "1995: SGIFF 8 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  19. "1996: SGIFF 9 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  20. "1997: SGIFF 10 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  21. "1998: SGIFF 11 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  22. "1999: SGIFF 12 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  23. "2000: SGIFF 13 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  24. "2001: SGIFF 14 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  25. "2002: SGIFF 15 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  26. "2003: SGIFF 16 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  27. "2004: SGIFF 17 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  28. "2005: SGIFF 18 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  29. "2006: SGIFF 19 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  30. "2007: SGIFF 20 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  31. "2008: SGIFF 21 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  32. "2009: SGIFF 22 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  33. "2010: SGIFF 23 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  34. "2011: SGIFF 24 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  35. "2014: SGIFF 25 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  36. Wong, Silvia. (7 December 2015). "2015: SGIFF 26". Singapore International Film Festival.
  37. "2016: SGIFF 27 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  38. "2017: SGIFF 28". Singapore International Film Festival.
  39. "Festival 2018 - Singapore International Film Festival".
  40. (22 October 2019). "Singapore Festival to Focus on Asian Excellence for 30th Edition".
  41. (5 November 2020). "Singapore Festival Unveils Lineup for Hybrid Edition".
  42. (13 November 2022). "Past Edition – 2021 - SGIFF 2022".
  43. (26 October 2022). "SGIFF 2022 to open with Kazakh film, Ken Kwek’s banned #LookAtMe still part of festival programme". Singapore Press Holdings.
  44. Rosser, Michael. (26 October 2023). "Singapore film festival unveils 2023 lineup, honorary award for Fan Bingbing".
  45. Ramachandran, Naman. (23 October 2025). "Shu Qi's 'Girl' to Open Singapore Film Festival, Deepa Mehta and Youn Yuh-jung Receive Honors". [[Variety (magazine).
  46. "Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Award for Best Film (Singapore Short Film)".
  47. Brzeski, Patrick. (15 July 2014). "Singapore Film Fest to Launch Southeast Asian Film Lab".
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