Going GaGa

By Ong Sor Fern
26 January 2006
Straits Times
(c) 2006 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

SINGAPORE film-maker Tan Pin Pin has scored another first.

Her 55-minute film Singapore GaGa is the first made-in-Singapore documentary to get a theatrical release here.

The film, which captures Singapore through a whimsical study of its soundscapes, will open at the Arts House's Screening Room on Mar 11.

It is scheduled for a five-week run, with three screenings a week on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Mr Wan Ching Yee Soon Kin, the Arts House's audience development executive, says that Singapore GaGa fits in perfectly with the venue's second anniversary celebrations in March which centre on the theme Bizarre.

"Singapore GaGa focuses on the quirkier aspects of Singapore," he said, adding that the Arts House will consider extending the film's run if audience response is good.

The 36-year-old Tan is the first Singaporean to win a Student Academy Award for her documentary Moving House (2002).

She has been touring Singapore GaGa - her 16th film - in schools here since its debut at the Singapore International Film Festival last year.

Shot on a shoestring budget of $100,000 over nine months, it has also been winning acclaim on the international circuit with screenings at the well-regarded Rotterdam Film Festival last year and France's Festival Of 3 Continents.

It will also be screened at the Bangkok Film Festival next month.

Tan is now shooting a followup to GaGa which will focus on spaces and places in Singapore.


Please go catch this show, you won't regret it. More details will be available in the local press and on this blog in due course.