SINGAPORE, Oct 5 – Ten entertaining and thoughtful short films were chosen as finalists for the third Viddsee Juree Singapore, an annual festival of short films that celebrates and supports filmmaker communities in Asia.
The nominated films were submitted by a range of independent filmmakers, who covered a range of genres, including dark comedies, family drama, horror, animation and more. Among the finalists are comedies ‘Teo Beh Pio’ by Sherry Yap, ‘Two Men In A Room’ by Zheng Xiang Ang, and ‘Who Stole Tua Pek Kong?’ by Goh Ying Sheng; dramas ‘Hiding Birds’ by Danica Pablo; ‘Better Together’ by Phoebe Ho, and ‘Huan Express’ by Simin Lee. Horror was also a genre represented by ‘Paranoia’ by Jonathan Cheok and ‘Scar’ by James Fong. The list also includes ‘The Kitchlets’, an animation by Clarisse Chua, and a documentary, ‘Beyond Words’ by Amanda Chang.
The filmmakers in this year’s list comprise of relative newcomers to the filmmaking world as well as experienced hands. Among the more notable filmmakers are Goh Ying Sheng, whose 2011 short film ‘Project Home’ was nominated for Best Screenplay at ciNE65; Jonathan Cheok, who is known for his YouTube channel, Cheokboardstudios; producer, actor and director James Fong, whose accolades include the Best Actor Award by the National Youth Film Awards.
The finalists also include graduates from schools such as the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University; Temasek Polytechnic; The School of Art, Design and Media in Nanyang Technological University; Lasalle College of The Arts; and the California Institute of the Art.
Two top entries will be named Gold and Silver winners, who will be picked by an international panel of judges comprising Kiki Fung, the programmer for the Hong Kong International Film Festival; Filipino producer Alemberg Ang, who has produced award-winning films such as Liway and ‘2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten’; Singaporean producer Juan Foo, who produced ‘Return To Pontianak’, ‘Perth’ and the-soon-to-be released ‘Circle Line’, Singapore’s first monster film.
Said Nikki Loke, Viddsee’s Head of Content: “We’re excited to see such a wide range of accomplished films that were submitted for our third Juree Awards Singapore. What struck us about this year’s finalists was their capacity to highlight various pertinent issues, from sexuality and politics to the pandemic and mental health in entertaining ways, while capturing the intimate nuances of local culture that can only come from passionate filmmakers.”
An All Virtual Juree Awards Supported by Podcasts, Screenings and More
This year will also be the first time the Viddsee Juree Awards Singapore will be held exclusively online, with the awards ceremony streamed live on YouTube, Facebook and Viddsee on November 21. In the lead up, the Awards will be supported by various activities including online film screenings and Juree-edition episodes of Viddsee’s All Credits Due podcast featuring interviews with judges. The podcast is available now on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.
The Gold winner will be awarded the Filmmaker Gold Kit, which includes a 13-inch Macbook Air, a gold plaque, and exclusive Viddsee merchandise. The Silver winner will take home the Viddsee Filmmaker Silver Kit, which includes a silver plaque, and exclusive Viddsee merchandise. All 10 finalists will be awarded finalist certificates, and a 12-month Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, sponsored by Adobe.
Aside from the main winners, finalists and out-of-competition films can also vie for the Audience Choice Award, which will be picked based on the most number of ‘likes’ it receives on Viddsee.com. The voting period for the Audience Choice Awards is held from October 5 - 26. The Audience Choice Award winner will take home an Apple TV and Audience Choice certificate.
The annual Juree Awards initiative debuted in Indonesia in 2016, and expanded to include the Philippines in 2017, and Singapore in 2018. Find out more about the Juree Awards at https://www.viddsee.com/channel/juree.
The public can learn more about the Juree Singapore Awards Programme, as well as watch all nominated and other out-of-competition films for free on https://www.viddsee.com/channel/juree/singapore2020.
For more film stills, information, and press images of the directors, visit https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1PCUqPXw6aG2B_gRJLpVgCdwc6Zu4kKXH
About Viddsee Juree Awards
Viddsee Juree Awards (‘Juree’) is an annual industry pick award celebrating best short films from Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. In each edition, the countries’ brightest talents and storytellers submit their films to a panel of international judges, who will then handpick the winning entries. Viddsee amplifies the out-of-competition entries and finalists to our audience communities. Juree is part of Viddsee’s commitment to grow a network of prestigious storytellers, to support local film communities, and to inspire a new generation of storytellers across Asia.
About Viddsee
Viddsee is a leading video entertainment platform for short premium content. With over 1 billion views powered by data insights and a trusted community, we empower storytellers by enabling the creation of films and amplifying stories to targeted audiences.
Media contacts
John Lim john@viddsee.com
