Sinema Retrospective! Fran Borgia’s Tapas Treats6 min read
Reading Time: 6 minutesSinema Retrospective! is a new programme hosted by Sinema Old School and curated by Singapore Polytechnic.
The debut session will feature Fran Borgia, a prominent foreign talent whose name we have often seen appearing on the credits of local films as director, assistant director and producer.
True to the retrospective format we have selected six films where Fran has worked as a director, assistant director and producer over a span of six years (2004 – 2010).
This selection best reflects the diverse range of films in terms of genres and languages Fran has been involved with.
The curatorial team also felt that these six short films just as ‘Tapas’ in Spanish cusine when combined can offer a full and entertaining experience for mainstream audience.
Fran Borgia will be in attendance for an intimate Q&A session moderated by arts journalist & director Tara Tan.
Sinema Retrospective! Fran Borgia’s Tapas Treats
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
7.30pm. Admission is FREE.
Programme of Films
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1. ASIA (Director / Writer / Editor)
Fran Borgia | Dialogue-Free | 5 mins | PG | 2004
“If a man crosses to paradise in a dream and is given a flower to prove he was there and when he wakes up he finds the flower in his hands, then what?” S.T. Coleridge
~~~ Awards & Festivals ~~~
Third Prize, Festival Nacional de Cortometrajes de Jerez, Spain
19th Brest European Short Film Festival, France
Fike ““ Évora International Short Film Festival, Portugal
Prends ça court ““ Montreal Short Film Festival, Canada
Festival Signes de Nuit, Paris, France
Short Shorts Film Festival Asia 2005, Tokyo Japan
Cinepura ““ Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Bucharest Short Film Festival, Romania
SMU Film Festival 2009, Singapore
Open Cinema International Short Film Festival 2009, St. Petersburg, Russia
2. THE CHANGI MURALS (Assistant Director / Supporting Actor)
Boo Junfeng | English | 18 mins | PG | 2006
Based on real-life events. The Changi Murals are a set of five (5) wall paintings of biblical theme by Stanley Warren (Stephen Black), a British bombardier and prisoner-of-war (POW) interned at the Changi Prison, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II (WWII). His murals were completed under very difficult conditions of sickness, limited materials and hardships. With a message of universal love and forgiveness, they helped to uplift the spirits of the POWs and sick when they sought refuge in the prison chapel.
Warren survived the war and came back three times in 1963, 1982 & 1988 to supervise restoration works on the murals.
Funded by Singapore Film Commission (SFC).
~~~ Festivals ~~~
Official Selection, Singapore International Film Festival 2006, Singapore
Open Cinema International Short Film Festival 2009, St. Petersburg, Russia
3. REFLECTIONS (Producer/AD/Editor)
Ho Tzu Nyen | English | 12 mins | PG | 2007
Based on a story by the 19th Century Greek writer Lafcadio Hearn, who settled in Japan as Koizumi Yakumo, this film is a parable about how man is a creature that perpetually cannot see beyond his own reflection.
Starring Shaun Lim and Ashley Ong.
Funded by Singapore Film Commission (SFC).
~~~ Festivals & Installations ~~~
54th Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Germany
9th Jeonju International Film Festival, Korea
2nd Kratkofil International Short Film Festival, Bosnia-Herzegovina
11th Expresion en Corto International Film Festival, Mexico
Singapore Short Cuts 2008, Singapore
19th Ljubljana International Film Festival, Slovenia
Fike ““ Évora International Short Film Festival, Portugal
2nd Asian Hot Shots, Berlin, Germany
San Joaquin International Film Festival 2009, USA
Open Cinema International Short Film Festival 2009, St. Petersburg Russia
Singapore Short Film Festival 2009, Singapore
Singapore Art Show 2007, Singapore
Asia ““ Europe Mediations, National Gallery of Poznan, Poland
Soft Power, Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art, China
Asia Moves On, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul, Korea
4. KATONG FUGUE (AD)
Boo Junfeng | English | 10 mins | PG | 2007
A young Bach-loving pianist (Luke Kwek) strives to hide his homosexuality from his mother (New Swee Lin).
Funded by Singapore Film Commission (SFC).
Official Site >>~~~ Festivals ~~~
Winner – Special Jury Prize, Singapore International Film Festival 2007
3rd InDPanda International Short Film Festival, Hong Kong
4th Singapore Short Cuts, Singapore
Encounters Short Film Festival, United Kingdom
Berlin Asian Hotshots Festival, Germany
30th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, France
Open Cinema International Short Film Festival 2009, St. Petersburg, Russia
5. MASALA MAMA (Producer / Assistant Director)
Michael Kam | Language | 9 mins | PG | 2010
A Chinese boy (Vernon Ng) steals a comic magazine from a “˜mama’ store (traditional convenience store run by an Indian uncle). The gentle “˜mama’ (Mohan Vellayan) lets him go in the presence of a policeman (Narainda Subramaniam), but confronts him later.
He finds out the boy is the son of a poor a “˜garung kuni’ (rag & bone) man (Oh Eng Soon) who loves to draw. Pitying him the effeminate “˜mama’ encourages the boy and gives him more magazines becoming a super-hero in the eyes of the boy.
~~~ Awards & Festivals ~~~
Official Selection ““ Generation KPlus Programme (Children’s Film Section), Berlin Film Festival 2010
Arte-Short Film Award, Hamburg International Short Film Festival 2010
Official Selection, Cleveland International Film Festival 2010
Official Selection ““ Singapore Panorama Shorts, Singapore International Film Festival 2010
5th Lola Kenya Screen Golden Mboni Award Competition for the Best Children’s Film, Lola Kenya Screen
Curator’s Pick, Sinema Showoff! Masala Mix 2 (Season 2010), Singapore
Nominated for three (3) Awards, Singapore Short Film Awards 2011 (Upcoming)
* Nominee, Best Director
* Nominee, Best Script
* Nominee, Best Performance
6. TIMELESS (Producer)
K. Rajagopal | English | 12 mins | PG | 2010
What does the murder in Pasir Salak, Perak, Malaysia on the 2nd November 1875 and the slaying in Jalan Kayu on 1st June 1969 have to do with an alienated post-modern man? It restates that impotency can cast a long shadow over time. Beyond its depiction, this is the story of Siva through the looking glass, weaved over time with the threads of humanity.
Timeless is a visceral experience which disrobes the human condition over three epochs drawing upon searing images inspired by Francis Bacon’s triptych series. It is an examination of the question “Time changes but do people change?” If people do change, why does history repeat itself?
Starring Sivakumar Palakrishnan, Neo Swee Lin, Daniel Jenkins and Gunalan.
Commissioned by the National Museum of Singapore
~~~ Festival ~~~
The Short Films of K. Rajagopal, Singapore Short Cuts 2010
Nominated for six(6) Awards, Singapore Short Film Awards 2011 (Upcoming)
* Nominee, Best Director
* Nominee, Best Fiction
* Nominee, Best Editing
* Nominee, Best Performance
* Nominee, Best Art Direction
* Nominee, Best Cinematography
Total running time: 66 mins.
Q & A Session
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Fran Borgia will be in attendance for an interactive Q&A session following the screening of the films. The session will be moderated by arts journalist and director Tara Tan.
Biography ““ Fran Borgia
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Born in 1980 in Spain, Fran Borgia first came to Singapore as an international exchange student in 2004 for a stint at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, School of Film and Media Studies while doing his Bachelor of Arts in Film & Video at University of Barcelona, Spain.
He returned to Singapore in year 2005 after graduation to set up Akanga Film Asia, an independent production company in Singapore to produce all kinds of arts activities, from filmmaking and theatre to photography and the performing arts.
Fran aims to create a cultural link between Asia and the rest of the world with his work and production company.
Most recently he was also producer for Boo Junfeng’s debut feature film ‘SANDCASTLE’ which had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival this year.
Fran is married to a Singaporean.
Moderator’s Bio – Tara Tan
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Tara Tan is a former arts journalist and dance critic with The Straits Times and is currently a copywriter with boutique creative agency 10AM Communications. She graduated from the University of Bristol, UK, where she earned first class (Hons) in Drama: Theatre, Film and Television. Her creative works span from performance to screen and include the documentary short Mrs Santha Bhaskar (2010), which was shown at theSingapore Pavillion of Shanghai World Expo 2010, and Imagined Future Benefit (2011), a theatrical duet with 100 chairs to be staged at The Gallery, Old School in April.
Official site:
http://tara-tan.com/
