The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), which is part of the Singapore Media Festival 2025 hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), returns for its 36th edition from 26 November to 7 December 2025.
For over three decades, SGIFF has been a cultural anchor for the nation and the region, amplifying bold voices and fostering new talent. The 36th edition is both a celebration and a call to action: that stories must continue to be told, that communities must continue to gather and that art must continue to thrive, even in uncertain times.
Deepening its commitment to local storytelling, SGIFF 2025 will present more than 30 feature and short films by Singaporean filmmakers and co-productions. Notably, the festival has doubled its local short film selection compared to last year, showcasing a total of 28 works across the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition and Singapore Panorama, a section dedicated to presenting the latest Singaporean feature and short films that speak to evolving societal concerns.
SGIFF Programme Director Thong Kay Wee said: “In a time when cinema feels upended by the weight of pragmatism in Singapore, we are more determined than ever to defend it as an essential cultural offering to be experienced on the big screen. We will continue to present a smorgasbord of films that can elicit a wide range of emotions, broaden our perspectives, and inspire new imaginations of this art form that we love. Despite surviving many ‘near-deaths’ in its history, we will continue to demonstrate how cinema has persevered in quality and relevance, especially in today’s extraordinarily difficult times.”
Art that Endures: Stories Rooted in Singapore
The 36th SGIFF this year will showcase more than 110 films from over 45 countries, featuring a slate that underscores the enduring importance of creative expression, with Singapore stories taking centre stage.
Anchoring this focus are several world premieres that shine a light on the resilience of local communities.
- Sandbox, featuring Benjamin Kheng, Nathan Hartono and Oon Shu An, is a heartfelt comedy about a struggling stunt training school fighting for survival, a story that doubles as a powerful allegory for the challenges facing Singapore’s creative industries.
- At Home with Work offers a poignant documentary perspective on home-based businesses, capturing the determination of everyday Singaporeans navigating harsh commercial realities.
- Actor Qi Yuwu’s debut short film, Cendol, stars Sharon Au as an award-winning designer who returns home to reconnect with her mother — a moving meditation on identity, family, and belonging.
In addition, the festival will screen Coda, an intimate portrait of alumni choir Victoria Chorale, as 42 non-professional singers reunite under conductor Nelson Kwei to compete internationally after nearly two decades, and 10s Across the Borders, directed by Singaporean filmmaker Chan Sze-Wei, follows pioneering figures of Southeast Asia’s ballroom scene, celebrating the artistry and resilience of queer and trans artists who have built inclusive communities despite prejudice and rejection.
Most of these local films will be screened as part of the festival’s Singapore Panorama section. Opening this section is The Old Man and His Car, which stars veteran actors Lim Kay Tong and Richard Low in a sensitive portrait of a retired widower who finds unexpected connection in the face of bereavement. The film is set for a world premiere at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival.
Audiences will also have the opportunity to discover a piece of cinematic history: a 1970s adaptation of Dream of the Red Chamber set in Singapore by the late Taiwanese filmmaker Chiu Kang-chien, presented in collaboration with and restored by the Asian Film Archive.
Together, these works embody the spirit of SGIFF 2025: art that insists on joy, meaning, and solidarity, while firmly rooted in the stories of Singapore and the region.
Beyond presenting these stories, SGIFF also plays a pivotal role in helping them come to life. The SGIFF Film Fund, which draws from both private donations and the festival’s own resources, invests in Singaporean and regional talent, enabling filmmakers to bring important narratives from script to screen.
SGIFF General Manager Jeremy Chua said: “As much as SGIFF is about celebrating cinema, it is also about ensuring that Singaporean stories continue to be made and seen. This year’s world premieres, alongside the doubling of our local short film selection, reflect how deeply we believe in investing in homegrown talent. With initiatives like the SGIFF Film Fund, which provides tangible support for the development and production of new works, and more forums for public discussions, we hope to create more avenues for filmmakers to share their work and for audiences to take pride in the diversity of Singapore’s voices. In recent years, where exhibition spaces are contracting, it is all the more important that we protect and grow the platforms that sustain our film culture.”
In a time where Singapore’s cinema landscape has weathered shifts and challenges, SGIFF’s 2025 line-up reaffirms the vital role of cinema as art, resistance and reflection, highlighting the need to safeguard our stories, create shared spaces and reflect the realities of a world in constant change.
SGIFF 2025 will unveil its full programme lineup, as well as ticketing information, from 12pm on 24 October 2025.
About the Films
10s Across the Borders
In the ballroom scene, an underground subculture founded by Black and Latinx queer and trans communities in New York City, three of its leading figures in Southeast Asia are Xyza from the Philippines, Sun from Thailand and Teddy from Malaysia. Even as they reckon with racism, homophobia, transphobia and rejection, they hone their craft joyfully and proudly while navigating relationships with their birth and found families. Their sustained efforts to share their knowledge have nurtured flourishing ballroom communities across the region.
Spanning these trailblazers’ home countries and New York City, this energetic and heartfelt documentary celebrates the empowering impact of ballroom in art and in life.
Director’s Bio: Chan Sze-Wei has directed documentaries and experimental dance films, many of which explore alternate histories, identities and social issues through bodily sensations and movement. They are also a choreographer, arts journalist, organiser, activist and parent. 10s Across the Borders, their debut feature, had its world premiere at Busan in 2025.
At Home with Work
This sensitive documentary follows four home-based entrepreneurs – a permaculture farmer, somatic healer, mom-influencer and meal-prep founder as they creatively transform their living spaces to earn a living and expand their businesses. As they face the pressure to unfailingly turn their lives into social media content, the boundaries between their personal and professional worlds become increasingly blurred.
Through myriad camera angles and careful interweaving of scenes from these four lives, the filmmakers uncover how each household navigates the delicate balance of care, responsibility and individual needs required to thrive and the human cost of ways of life where work never leaves the room.
Director’s Bio: Adar Ng and Dave Lim are Singaporean filmmakers whose work explores the intersections of intimacy, labour, and urban life. Their notable projects include the film The Spaces Between Us (2021) and ON/OFF/SCREEN 2021, a moving image exhibition. Their films combine lyrical realism and social critique, capturing the quiet tensions of everyday existence.
Cendol
An award-winning interior designer returns to Singapore to visit her mother and reminisces about how much she and her city have changed.
Director’s Bio: A household name in Singapore’s Chinese-language dramas, Qi Yuwu makes his directorial debut with his short film Cendol, starring veteran actress Sharon Au.
Coda
For six months, 42 nonprofessional singers gather weekly to indulge in their passion for music. They are Victoria Chorale, an alumni choir led by conductor Nelson Kwei since its inception in 1988. After an 18-year hiatus, Kwei is preparing them for the world stage again, but the thrill of competing soon meets the stress of gruelling practice.
Coda chronicles the choir’s journey from a small room to their rapturous climactic performance in Tokyo. Simmering in the background are mixed emotions that prompt conversations about competition – what if they pursue growth at their own pace without the pressure of winning as validation? Amid tears and jubilation, the fate of Victoria Chorale begins to appear tenuous.
Director’s Bio: Jac Min is a writer and director of films and commercials. He is the co-founder of boutique production outfit Semicolon. His short films include Xiang/Yan (2010) and /mʌm/ (2023), a psychological drama. Coda is his debut documentary feature.
Dream of the Red Chamber
Set against the backdrop of the wealthy Jia clan’s slow financial decline, Jia Bao-yu falls in love with his cousin Lin Dai-yu, newly arrived from Taiwan. Their growing mutual affection gets derailed when his cousin from the United States, Shih Bao-chai, comes between them.
Considered one of the four great masterworks of Chinese literature, Chiu’s adaptation reimagines the classical narrative by transposing it to 1970s Singapore, featuring a largely local cast and weaving in various idiosyncratic film tropes popular at the time. In this rare rediscovery, Dream of the Red Chamber offers a unique and uncommon glimpse into early independent and transnational filmmaking in rapidly developing post-independence Singapore.
Director’s Bio: Chiu Kang-Chien was a Taiwanese filmmaker and wrote numerous scripts for Shaw Brothers Ltd. Dream of the Red Chamber (1977) is his first feature. Released in Singapore, it was never distributed in Hong Kong or Taiwan as originally intended. intended. Chiu is best known for his screenwriting collaborations with filmmakers such as Stanley Kwan (Rouge, Center Stage) and Ann Hui (Boat People).
Sandbox
In Singapore, a stuntman teams up with his brother and ex-sister-in-law to keep their declining stunt school alive. Just as their dream seems about to fade, a rumour that Marvel Studios is scouting locally brings a surge of wannabe superheroes and misfits to their doorstep, convinced they’ll be whipped into crime-fighting shape.
Filled with misplaced egos, failed flips and a total disregard for the craft of stunt work, Sandbox gleefully pokes fun at fantasies of blockbuster fame while spotlighting the precariousness of small businesses. Leading the mockumentary chaos is Peps Goh, joined by a powerhouse cast including Benjamin Kheng, Estelle Fly, Nathan Hartono, Fauzi Azzhar and Oon Shu An.
Director’s Bio: Based in Singapore, James Thoo is an author, playwright and screenwriter with over 20 years of screenwriting experience. His book, Palooka: 12 Rounds To Fatherhood (2020), is a raw, acclaimed memoir on male vulnerability and his family’s path to parenthood. Sandbox is his second feature film.
About the Singapore Media Festival
The Singapore Media Festival, hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), is Asia’s premier international media industry platform. Held annually in Singapore, it is the focal point for Asia’s media community, showcasing diverse media innovations, forging industry deals, and presenting Singapore’s world-class content. The event brings together media professionals, industry leaders, creators, and consumers through the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), Singapore Comic Con (SGCC), and Nas Summit Asia Singapore (NAS).
This edition of SGIFF will also be supported by public forums and discussions that will explore topics ranging from shifting audience habits toward cinema to the future of independent filmmaking. For more information, visit https://www.sgiff.com.
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