The people behind Sinema Old School

Tucked underneath a flight of stairs is a small room plastered in movie posters, selling movie memorabilia and stacks of DVDs. This is the retail space for Sinema Old School’s cash-and-credit goodies, but the main action happens outside the store on a modest wooden bench. It’s out here that the directors meet regularly to discuss plans to further their campaign. The goal? To improve local industry standards, thus making Singapore a regional leader in film. 

These brainstorming sessions are attended by Sinema’s co-founders Randy Ang and Nicholas Chee, along with deputy executive director Olivia Loh, all collectively striving to nurture the island’s future filmmakers. ‘In addition to having a movie theatre and promoting Singaporean films, we’re interested to see that all aspects of Singapore’s film industry – the scriptwriters, film editors, cinematographers and producers – are looked into,’ Loh elaborates. With regular screenings of classic and contemporary films, documentaries produced both locally and regionally, and Q&A sessions with visiting actors and directors, they are focusing on getting the word on the street. 

First opened in December 2007, Sinema Old School started as a social enterprise and is on its way to becoming a non-profit organisation. ‘With that in mind, we’ll be able to target more corporate sponsors,’ Loh says. The interiors of Sinema have already been fitted with donated user-friendly electronics. With such technology graciously provided, Ang and Chee are able to provide mentorship in their very own creative incubator – the Sinema Academy of Motion Pictures. ‘We don’t just want to screen films, there are gaps to be filled – and if we keep self-funding, our resources will be depleted,’ Chee says.

‘In the early ’90s, Singaporean filmmakers were making a measly average of one to three films a year. Last year, 28 films were produced.'

Having worked in Hollywood, Loh, a keen observer, reflects on the Asian co-production sphere that includes Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and China. ‘Our audience is used to reading subtitles regardless of the spoken language. Because of this unique property, there’s a lot of potential for collaboration within the region,’ she says. From an economic perspective, the three believe that Singapore is a good contender for fronting the joint movement. ‘We’re a bilingual, trilingual country, with a lot of money and government support. All we need to do is learn how to harvest it,’ Loh concludes. 

This month, Sinema Old School will again serve as a screening venue for the 22nd Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF). One of the films nominated for Best Cinematography this year in the SIFF is The Days [read our Interview with Justin Chan, lead actor of The Days], produced by Ang’s production company Originasian Pictures. He is sensitive to the inertia of an industry that has only recently bulked up its resources. 

Aside from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts opening its first-ever campus branch in Singapore, polytechnics around the island now offer diplomas in film-related fields. ‘About a thousand film students graduate each year,’ Ang enthuses. ‘In the early ’90s, Singaporean filmmakers were making a measly average of one to three films a year. Last year, 28 films were produced. We have to invest in the infrastructure, like film equipment’. 

Interior of Sinema Old School 

But before any movement is to begin, the group is determined to open the minds of audiences both here and abroad. ‘It’s a stereotype that local films have to be in dialect or made in Singapore,’ Ang says. Foreigners ask why Eric Khoo’s films are in English, and locals may question how a film like Happily, Even After, made in America by a Singaporean, can be considered a local film.

Sinema Old School hopes for increased support and awareness among both public and government bodies, as well as private enterprises. ‘Granted, there’s a lot of crap that gets made and shown. However, we need to give filmmakers a chance to show their work to the public. We don’t feel the need to sieve through potential film entries…if the film is sh*t, the word of mouth won’t be good, filmmaker’s lesson learnt,’ Ang says.

Loh, Ang and Chee use determined words and share a common sentiment. It’s clear that Sinema Old School is in the business of changing the mindset of the industry and pushing local talent to a higher standard.

At 8.30pm a group of film students, along with aspiring filmmaker Eric Hsu and myself, shuffles up the stairs to Sinema Old School’s 136-seat theatre. Local veteran Lim Yu Beng (Triple 9, Army Daze, Anna and the King) and Alaric Tay of MediaCorp’s The Noose are among the panel of actors on the plush red seats tonight. I find myself in a room full of people who either belonged, belong or want to belong in the local film industry – and this feels like the place where their dreams could reach fruition.

Get your weekly fix of film vignettes at Sinema Showoff! & check out our review of Salawati (available on DVD at Sinema Old School).