Singapore International Film Festival 2024 to feature 105 films from 45 countries

The full programme of this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) has been revealed. On Monday (Oct 28), the organisers of SGIFF 2024 announced that the festival will showcase 105 films from 45 countries – including The Shrouds by horror master David Cronenberg, Grand Tour by Cannes award-winning director Miguel Gomes, and a newly restored version of Bong Joon-ho’s debut feature Barking Dogs Never Bite.
Early bird tickets will be available from Oct 29.
The 35th edition of SGIFF will run from Nov 28 to Dec 8. Opening the festival is the acclaimed thriller Stranger Eyes, directed by Singaporean filmmaker Chris Yeo Siew Hua. It was the first-ever Singapore film to be up for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and is now up for six awards at this year’s Golden Horse Awards.
SGIFF 2024 will also feature two special presentations, each accompanied by a gala reception with the films’ talents.
The first is the Hindi film The Fable, directed by Raam Reddy. The film follows Dev, played by Bollywood star Manoj Bajpayee, a man whose tranquil existence on his sprawling estate is threatened by a series of mysterious fires.
Shot entirely on 16mm film, The Fable embraces a raw, nostalgic visual aesthetic that enhances its otherworldly atmosphere. Bajpayee will also participate in an exclusive dialogue session, where he will discuss his experience working on the film.
The second presentation is The Unseen Sister, a psychological drama from Myanmar-born Taiwanese filmmaker Midi Z. Adapted from Zhang Yueran’s novel Qiao Sisters, the film features Zhao Liying as a star actress haunted by the appearance of her estranged sister, played by Xin Zhilei, forcing her to confront the buried secrets of her past.
This year, Yang Kuei-mei and Lee Kang-sheng will be the first Taiwanese actors to win SGIFF’s Screen Icon Award which honours Asian actors who have made an enormous impact on the film industry.
Yang and Lee were previously co-stars in Vive L’amour, the classic 1994 film about three lonely people who unknowingly inhabit the same luxury apartment in Taipei. The pair will also reunite at a dialogue session on Nov 30 at the National Museum of Singapore, where they will look back on their decades-long collaborative projects which include 1997’s The River and 2005’s The Wayward Cloud.
In a statement, Thong Kay Wee, the programme director of SGIFF said: “The festival continues to engage with global cinema trends and reflect upon the realities of the world, while imbuing a strong curatorial stance and our unique Asian perspective on how these can be reimagined.
“As we mark our 35th anniversary this year, we are dedicated to expanding our legacy of championing talents from Singapore and around the Asian region, all while presenting a multifaceted and distinctive festival programme deserving of our audiences’ support.”
Head to the official website of SGIFF 2024 for more information.