SINGAPORE: Iranian film Disappearance on Saturday (Dec 2) won best film in the Asian Feature Film Competition at the 28th Singapore International Film Festival’s (SGIFF) Silver Screen Awards. 

Best Southeast Asian Short Film, meanwhile, went to Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month by Filipino filmmaker Carlo Francisco Manatad.

Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari’s Disappearance beat seven other shortlisted films to win the top honour. This is his debut film, which tells a tale of two young lovers who run from hospital to hospital to seek medical aid while facing setbacks along the way.

According to the four-member jury, the plot took place over the course of one night, but managed to exude “amazing simplicity, truth and compassion” while also “conveying the complexity of a whole culture and human relationships”.

Actress Sadaf Agsari, who played Sara in Disappearance, clinched the award for Best Performance as well.

The jury commended her “ability to convey complex emotions in an amazingly understated performance” and said that she drew the audience “into her world” and “grips” the viewer to “explore every small nuance of the character’s intense emotions”.

Thai filmmaker Anucha Boonyawatana was awarded the title of Best Director for Malila: The Farewell Flower, a story that explored the mysteries of love and spiritual redemption. 

The film was said to have a “quiet, extremely sensitive, beautifully shot exploration of fundamental themes of our existence”, according to the judges.

“The film gently nudges us into a meditative state to enable us to explore for ourselves, the meaning of being in the present. Of being in the now. Of Life and of Death,” the judges added.

This year, the jury for the Asian Feature Film Competition was made up of the director of the Oscar-winning film Elizabeth, Shekhar Kapur, Hong Kong-Australian filmmaker Clara Law, Iranian-American screenwriter and director Ana Lily Amirpour and the head of programming at the Locarno Film Festival Mark Peranson.

LOCAL ANIMATED FILM CLINCHES AN AWARD 

Dark humour worked well for Filipino filmmaker Carlo Francisco Manatad. His film Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month was awarded the the Best Southeast Asian Short Film.

The film showed a gas station attendant’s last day of duty with a “farcical approach in the storytelling” that depicted worldly “issues of lawlessness, crime and violence”, said the judges in their verdict. 

Singapore was also among the award winners with Tan Wei Keong’s Between Us Two winning the Best Singapore Short Film. 

The film showcased a gay son’s conversation with his mother through animation. The jury felt that the topics addressed by the film were important and that the personal approach by Tan made it “even more poignant”.

The judges praised the film and said: “The personal approach and the use of animation was effective and it added another layer to the story telling.”

Asian film icons were also recognised as the Cinema Legend Award was awarded to Japan’s leading actor Koji Yakusho, whose career spanned 39 years.

As the SGIFF closes its 28th edition on Sunday with more than 14 awards presented, Disappearance will be screened at the National Museum of Singapore. 

SINGAPORE: The Boys’ Brigade’s annual Share-a-Gift project is aiming high this year, with a total of 42,296 beneficiaries to reach out to, the most number in its 30-year history.

However, it said donations and the number of people volunteering to help with deliveries have fallen short of previous years’ at this stage of the project.

As of Saturday (Dec 2), 11 days since the launch of the project, the Boys’ Brigade Share-a-Gift (BBSG) initiative has only achieved 34 per cent of its general wishes target, compared to 39 per cent at this time last year.

There are also more than 400 slots left for daily delivery signups.

“With only 16 days left, BBSG is urgently appealing for members of the public to come forward with their contributions especially for food items such as cooking oil, soy sauce and halal canned food, and to volunteer to help out with delivery of food hampers,” it said in a media release.

On Saturday, the Boys’ Brigade launched its first wave of food hamper deliveries with a fleet of more than 80 vehicles from volunteers and two buses.

A total of 860 food hampers were delivered to needy families. Each hamper contains 25 essential grocery items such as cooking oil, soy sauce and halal canned food.

The boys’ brigade said members of the public can help by buying food hampers that cost S$20, S$30 and S$50 via NTUC FairPrice’s online portal.

They can donate food items at BBSG gift boxes located at 12 NTUC FairPrice outlets islandwide until Dec 18. A list of suitable items to donate and delivery slots for volunteers can be found on the project’s website. 

SINGAPORE: Two children and four adults were injured after a collision at the junction of Marymount Road, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 on Saturday (Dec 2).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at about 8.25am and immediately dispatched its resources to the scene. It sent four adults to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the two children to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The accident resulted in heavy traffic stretching back to the Central Expressway, with the Land Transport Authority tweeting at 8.46am about the accident. 

Eyewitness Joanne Chan told Channel NewsAsia she was on the way to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park for a walk when she saw the aftermath of the accident at about 8.50am. At least two children and a woman were being treated by paramedics, while an elderly woman was still in the white car and SCDF officers were trying to get her out, she said. 

At about 9.55am, Ms Chan said a tow truck had arrived at the scene.

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