Darren Aronofsky to spice up Singapore Film Fest lineup

PanARMENIAN.Net - “Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky will be the subject of an evening event at next month’s Singapore International Film Festival. Simon Yam, one of the most versatile Hong Kong actors, will receive a Cinema Legend Award, Variety said.

The festival, running Nov. 23 – Dec. 4, will open with “Interchange,” by Dain Iskandar Said. Its complete line-up spans 161 films including 16 world premieres.

Among the other highlights are gala screenings for “Mrs K,” directed by Malaysia’s Ho Yuhang and starring Hong Kong’s Kara Wai; and Nia Dinata’s “Three Sassy Sisters,” which premiered in Tokyo yesterday. Also benefiting forma special screening is “The Road to Mandalay,” a social realist portrayal by Taiwan’s Midi Z which has already enjoyed a busy festival career.

Among the festival’s 13 sections are tributes to Hong Kong’s Fruit Chan and Japan’s Naomie Kawase, as well as a selection of South East Asian classics. Among these are “Tiga Dara,” the 1954 Indonesian title that inspired “Three Sassy Sisters.”

From further afield are Cannes Palme d’Or winner “I, Daniel Blake,” and “Notes on Blindness,” by Peter Middleton and James Spinney.

A four film Singaporean panorama includes: omnibus film “4 Love,” Kan Lume’s “Ariel & Olivia,” Ting Min-Wei’s “I’m Coming Up,” and Sam Loh’s “Siew Lup.” K. Rajagopal’s “A Yellow Bird,” which had its debut in Cannes this year, will also play in the Silver Screen competition for Asian films.

Other Silver Screen contenders are: “By The Time It Gets Dark,” “Live From Dhaka,” “Nokas,” “Town in a Lake,” “Turah,” “Verge,” “Wandering,” “White Ant,” and “White Sun.”