Despite having a flourishing Chinese and Malay film industry in the 1950s and 1960s, Singapore's film industry declined after independence in 1965. Film production increased in the 1990s, which saw the first locally-produced feature-length films. There were a few films that featured Singaporean actors and were set in Singapore, including Saint Jack, They Call Her Cleopatra Wong and Crazy Rich Asians.
I Not Stupid is a 2002 Singaporean comedy film about the lives, struggles, and adventures of three Primary 6 pupils who are placed in the academically inferior EM3 stream. Written and directed by Jack Neo, and produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, the movie stars Huang Po Ju, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Xiang Yun, Jack Neo, Richard Low and Selena Tan.
Be with Me is a 2005 Singaporean drama film directed by Eric Khoo. The film is inspired by the life of deaf-and-blind teacher Theresa Poh Lin Chan. It premiered as the Director's Fortnight selection in the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. It was also the official entry from Singapore for the 78th Academy Awards in the foreign language category. In December 2005, the academy body disqualified the film on grounds that the dialogue is mainly in English. Out of 93 minutes, the film only has two and a half minutes of dialogue.
Eric Khoo Kim Hai is a Singaporean director and producer credited for the revival of the Singapore film industry.
15 is a 2003 Singaporean coming-of-age black comedy-drama film about teenage gangsters in the Singapore suburbs. Directed by Royston Tan, the film is an expanded version of Tan's 2002 award-winning short film, also titled 15. It is one of the few Singaporean films to feature brief full-frontal male nudity, together with the Singaporean-Thai film Pleasure Factory and the Singaporean-Hong Kong film Bugis Street.
Royston Tan is a Singaporean filmmaker, director, screenwriter, producer and actor.
I Not Stupid Too is a 2006 Singaporean satirical comedy film and the sequel to the 2002 film, I Not Stupid. A satirical comedy, I Not Stupid Too portrays the lives, struggles and adventures of three Singaporean youths—8-year-old Jerry, his 15-year-old brother Tom and their 15-year-old friend Chengcai—who have a strained relationship with their parents. The film explores the issue of poor parent-child communication.
Southeast Asian cinema is the film industry and films produced in, or by natives of Southeast Asia. It includes any films produced in Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The majority of the films made in this region came from the Philippines and Thailand where its filmmaking industries in these countries are already well-established with film directors such as Lino Brocka and Apichatpong Weerasethakul are well-known outside of the region. Notable production studios in Southeast Asia include Star Cinema, TBA Studios and Reality Entertainment in the Philippines, GDH 559 and Sahamongkol Film International in Thailand and Studio 68 in Vietnam
Singapore Dreaming is a 2006 Singaporean drama film. It follows the Loh family, a typical Singaporean working-class family, through their aspirations and dreams for a better and affluent life and the reality that would make it difficult for them to fulfill these aspirations.
Tan Pin Pin is a Singapore-based film director. She is best known for the documentary film Singapore GaGa (2005). It was the first Singaporean documentary to have a theatrical run. In 2014, her documentary To Singapore, With Love (2013) was denied for all ratings by the Media Development Authority, effectively banning it in Singapore.
Jacen Tan is a Singaporean independent film director, and has been named by The Straits Times Life! as one of Singapore's "most exciting young talents" and “Singapore’s latest film funnyman”.
Loo Zihan is an Singaporean actor, film director, artist and dancer. He was a part-time teacher at School of the Arts, Singapore, National Institute of Education (Singapore) and Nanyang Technological University.
Boo Junfeng is a Singaporean filmmaker. Boo's films have been nominated at the Cannes Film Festival on multiple occasions, beginning with his debut, Sandcastle (2010), which was an International Critics' Week nominee.
Ilo Ilo is a 2013 Filipino-Singaporean-Taiwanese drama film. The debut feature of director Anthony Chen, the film features an international cast, including Singaporean actor Chen Tianwen, Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann, Filipino actress Angeli Bayani, and debut of child actor Koh Jia Ler.
Anthony Chen is a Singaporean film director, screenwriter and film producer. He has directed two feature films Ilo Ilo (2013) and Wet Season (2019). He is also the first Singaporean to win the Camera d'Or award in the Cannes Film Festival.
Shomshuklla is an Indian film director, script writer, theatre personality, singer and writer.
Apprentice is a 2016 Singaporean drama film directed by Boo Junfeng. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It was selected as the Singaporean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.
A Land Imagined is a 2018 neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Yeo Siew Hua. A Singapore-France-Netherlands co-production, the film tells the story of a police investigator who uncovers the truth behind the disappearance of a construction worker.
Kirsten Tan is a Singaporean film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 2017 feature film debut, Pop Aye, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and was Singapore's official submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
To Singapore, With Love is a 2013 Singaporean documentary film written and directed by Tan Pin Pin. The film featured interviews with nine Singaporean political dissidents, former activists and student leaders who fled Singapore from the 1960s to 1980s, living in exile.
