“After 43 years in business, New Yorker Films has ceased operations. We would like to thank the filmmakers and producers who trusted us with their work, as well as our customers, whose loyalty has sustained us through the years.”
Founded in 1965 by Dan Talbot, New Yorker has a legendary legacy, boasting a long-standing track record in international film distribution, bringing a staggering number of international auteurs to this country’s movie theaters over more than four decades. The company’s crucial role in establishing a lasting film culture in this country cannot be underestimated. A New York Times profile in 1987, marking a 14-week salute to the company at New York’s Public Theater, listed an illustrious roster of filmmakers whose films were released by the company: Ackerman, Bertolucci, Bresson, Chabrol, Fassbinder, Fellini, Godard, Herzog, Kieslowski, Malle, Rohmer, Rossellini, Sembene, Wenders, Schlondorff, and many others.
“‘These are ‘difficult’ films, not popular mass-market films,’’ Dan Talbot told the New York Times in the 1987 profile. ‘‘They’re meant for a small, elite audience. And nothing has changed in 20 years; it’s still a very tiny, elite audience. There were other distributors who were bringing in these films, but I would say that our role was to introduce some of the more risky films that on the surface did not seem to have a wide audience. Distribution of that kind is a very financially masochistic business. This is an audience that generally knows at least one foreign language, that has done a certain amount of traveling, that is probably interested in wine and foreign cars and that is fed up with all the junk that comes out of the West Coast. There’s been no dynamic expansion; there is still a limited audience for this kind of film.’’
I learnt through Mr Setareki Tale that Mr Alipate Mateitoga, Acting Director of the Ministry of Information, passed away on 23rd January after a short illness.
Alipate was one of the council members of the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association (SEPAVAA). I last saw him during our Executive Committee meeting in Indonesia in November 2008 to survey the venues for the 13th SEAPAVAA Conference. It was the first time I spent much time with him and he was always thoughtful, enthusiastic and kind. Whenever he introduced himself to our hosts, he would proudly state that he was from Fiji. During our discussions, he would speak up for smaller archives that required more support from the Archive community and volunteer for things he felt should have been done. His contribution to the preservation of audiovisual heritage of Fiji and our region will be remembered long after he left us.
Reverend James Bhagwan, a close affliate of Alipate, wrote in Fiji Times about the the loss and I am sharing extracts of that here, with his kind permission:
“At the time of his death, Alipate was acting Director of Information, and during his time as head of the Ministry of Information’s Film and TV Unit was not just a pioneer in television in Fiji but also a mentor to many of the men and women in the fledgling television industry.
My brother Alipate (I call him brother because he was the only person outside my immediate family to call my mother, “mum” and not be reprimanded with a steely glare) was still in his prime at fifty-two. Even after his funeral and burial, many of his family and friends are still in shock. “Pate” as he was known by family, friends and colleagues had worked at Cable and Wireless (FINTEL) and Radio Fiji and was one of the few who were in William Parkinson’s core team when FM96 was started.
He was part of Australian Channel Nine’s original “Fiji TV” team before the 1987 coup scuttled plans for the early introduction of television in Fiji.
He joined the Han Siedel Foundation based at 56 Domain Road which was to become the Fiji National Video Centre and is now the Ministry of Information’s Film and Television Unit, where for many years he was the Prinicipal Information Officer and the driving force behind the Dateline Fiji, Voqa Ni Davui and Sitara programs.
Many of Fiji’s television camera operators, producers and editors were inducted into the industry by Pate, who at the time of his death was the acting Director of Information.
A musician and recording engineer in his own right, Pate is also missed by the Fiji music industry as well as the JICA Alumni where he had served as its president for four years.”
As we hold Alipate in our prayers and thoughts, the Executive Committee of SEAPAVAA has compiled some pictures of him during his times with us in Manila and Indonesia.
SEAPAVAA Conference in Manila (2008) by Dhani Sugiharto
SEAPAVAA Conference in Manila (2008) by Dhani Sugiharto
SEAPAVAA Conference in Manila (2008) by Tuenjai Sinthuvnik
Excursion after the SEAPAVAA Conference in Manila (2008) by Adrian Wood
Excursion after the SEAPAVAA Conference in Manila (2008) by Adrian Wood
“There is no longer a literate audience for the masculine picture-making that Hawks and Wellman exploited, as there was in the 1930′s. In those exciting movie years, a smart audience waited around each week for the next Hawks, Preston Sturges, or Ford film – shoe-stringers that were far to the side of the expensive Hollywood film. That underground audience, with its expert voice in Otis Ferguson and its ability to choose between percetive trash and the Thalberg pepsin-flavored sloshing with Tracy and Gable, has now oozed away. It seems ridiculous, but the Fergusonite went into fast decline during the mid-1940′s when the movie market was flooded with fake underground films – plushy thrillers with neo-Chandler scripts and a romatic style that seemed to pour the gore, histrionics, decor out of a giant catsup bottle. The nadir of these films: an item called Singapore with Fred MacMurray and Ava Gardner.” – Manny Farber, Negative Space.
The print, the only one left in the world, of Moon Over Malaya (1957) directed by Chun Kim (assistant directed by Chor Yuen) reached us last month. We are preparing for the first Charity Screening to raise funds for the Asian Film Archive, a non-governmental and non-profit organisation, dedicated to save, explore and share the art of Asian Cinema. More details will be released soon.
Through the kind contribution of 南大网侍郎, Lai Chee Kien and Bibah, we’ve managed to identify the location of this still: the garden of Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque, Johor Bahru.
Moon Over Malaya, also known as 椰林月 or The Whispering Palm, was shot in Singapore and Malaysia. It was produced by Kong Ngee, founded by the Ho brothers (Ho Khee-yong and Ho Khee-siang). Shaw Brothers, Cathay Organisation and Kong Ngee were the three major studios in Singapore in the 50s. The Nanyang Trilogy by Kong Ngee in 1957, was shot in Singapore and Malaysia. Moon Over Malaya, the most acclaimed of the three films, was in Cantonese and starred Patrick Tse, Nam Hung and Patsy Kar Ling. The other two films of the trilogy were Blood Stains the Valley of Love and She Married an Overseas Chinese.
Other early Chinese films made in Singapore include:
1. New Immigrant or Xin Ke directed by Liu Pei Jing (1926) should be the first Chinese language film made in Singapore. The film, however, was lost. No film historian or scholar or programmer I know, has actually seen it.
2. Chinese filmmakers Hau Yaw and Wan Hai Ling directed 8 Malay films in Singapore with the Shaw Brothers from 1938-1941. Wan Hai Ling was also the first female director recruited to make feature films in Singapore.
3. Lion City (1960), directed by Yi Sui, was the first Chinese film in Mandarin, shot in Singapore and produced by Cathay-Keris. The Asian Film Archive holds this title in our collection.
Two Ships Heading Away from Shore (1856 – 1857) by Gustave Le Gray
Some of the first moving images of Singapore the world saw, were of that its seaport. French filmmaker George Melies shot A Day at Singapore (1913) and commented: “A most interesting little trip around the show places of Singapore, Straits Settlements, one of the largest seaports in the world.” Three years earlier, Pathé made a film, Singapore (1910) documenting the scenes of its waterfront scenes, city-centre and the Chinese and Malay quarters. In 1928, MGM made Across to Singapore. In it, the male protagonist, Joel, was left abandoned in Singapore.
Most interesting for me: Road to Singapore (1931) by Alfred Green and Out of Singapore or Gangsters of the Sea (1932) by Charles Hutchinson. Made one year apart, the films were about journeys to and from Singapore. Despite the prominence of Singapore in its title, both films were shot primarily in the seas. In Out of Singapore, the Caucasian cast was also made to look like Asian. Made in the same year, Samarang(Out of the Sea) (1932) by Ward Wing (Pathé) was set in Singapore using Malay Bangsawan actors, one of whom was Shariff Medan. The film about pearl divers, bathing beauties and sharks, premiered in U.S in 1933 and was released in Sg in 1934. Eighteen years later, Jaafar Wiryo made Perwira Lautan Teduh or Warrior of the Calm Seas (1952) with the Cathay-Keris Film Productions.
How Wee, a Chinese teacher by day and DJ by night, invited me to his radio programme – 1003漫游UrbaNite – to respond to an extensive report on Singapore cinema (1990-present) written by Eista Lee and Lim Fangwei from Lianhe Zaobao. Eista wrote to me earlier when she was preparing for the article to compare notes on films made during this period.
What is Singapore Cinema?
Indeed, 2008 was a bumper year for Singapore Cinema. 32 feature films were exhibited in cinema theatres and alternative screening venues including The Substation, The Art House and Sinema.
2008
Director
12 Lotus
Royston Tan
18 Grams of Love
Han Yew Kwang
Ah Long Pte Ltd
Jack Neo
Boomtown Beijing
Tan Siok Siok
Dance of the Dragon
John Radel, Max Mannix
Diminishing Memories II
Eng Yee Peng
Dirt Out
Yousry Mansour
Dreams from the Third World
Kan Lume
Feet Unbound
Ng Khee Jin
Hashi
Sherman Ong
Homeless FC
Lynn Lee, James Leong
Kallang Roar
Cheng Ding An
Keronchong For Pak Bakar
Abdul Nizam
Lucky 7
Sun Koh, Rajagopal, Boo Junfeng, Brian Gothong Tan, Chew Tze Chuan, Ho Tzu Nyen and Tania Sng
Mad About English
Pek Lian
Money No Enough 2
Jack Neo
Month of Hungry Ghosts
Tony Kern
My Magic
Eric Khoo
Painted Skin
Gorden Chan
Pulau Hantu
Esan Sivalingam
Road to Mecca
Harman Hussin
Rule Number One
Kelvin Tong
Salawati
Marc X Grigoroff
Sing to the Dawn
Philip Mark Mitchell
Slam
Johnathan Lim
The Carrot Cake Conversations
Michael Wang
The Days
Boi Kwong
The Leap Years
Jean Yeo
The Spirit Compendium
Foo Fung Koon
To Speak
Craig Ower
Women Who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore
Lim Mayling
Veil of Dreams
Zaihirat Banu Codelli
—————————————————————————–
This is how I came up with the list:
1. Films made by Singapore filmmakers and/or;
2. Films made/produced in Singapore and/or;
3. Films made about Singapore and/or;
4. Films categorised/branded/imagined as a Singapore production.
(1): Rule No. 1 directed by Singapore filmmaker, Kelvin Tong and produced by Scorpio East, was shot in Hong Kong. Three films were made in China – Mad About English directed by Pek Lian, Boomtown Beijing directed by Tan Siok Siok and Slam directed by Johnathan Lim. Ah Long Pte Ltd directed by Jack Neo, was shot in Malaysia and was a co-production between Singapore-based Mediacorp Raintree Pictures and Scorpio East, and Malaysian-based Double Vision. Road to Mecca, directed by Harman Hussin, was a road movie that spanned Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and India.
(2): Dance of the Dragon was made and produced in Singapore but directed by John Radel and Max Mannix, both Australians, their debut film; Sing to the Dawn directed by Philip Mark Mitchell (Canadian) his debut film, was produced by Infinite Frameworks; A Month of Hungry Ghosts directed by Tony Kern (American), was produced in Singapore and also about Singapore.
(4): Hashi directed by Sherman Ong (Malaysian) was shot in Japan. However, in the programme notes of the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, it was categorised as a Malaysia/Japan/Singapore film. Sherman holds a Malaysian passport but lives and works in Singapore. The film is about a young film maker from Singapore, invited to make a film in Japan. Ekachai Uekrongtham (Thai), who directed The Wedding Game in 2009, also attended the National University of Singapore and went on to be based in Singapore for his work in theatre. Painted Skin directed by Gordon Chan (Hong Kong) was shot in China and funded by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures. In its 2007 list of Singapore Movies, the Singapore Film Commission included Raintree-funded films such as Protégé (directed by Hongkonger Derek Yee, shot in Hong Kong), Home Song Stories (directed by Australian Tony Ayres, shot in Australia) and The Tattooist (directed by New Zealander Peter Burger, shot in New Zealand).
I find (4) most interesting. According to Singapore Statistics, out of a population of 4.8 million people residing in Singapore in 2008, 3.1 million people are Singapore citizens. Singapore, at the crossroad of the East and West, takes on a multi-cultural and cosmopolitan character. It is not difficult to see such cross-border and cross-cultural influence in films from Singapore. Cinema can be viewed as not just merely of a particular culture or nation. Film productions in Singapore has tapped on regional resources and networks. In the golden age of Singapore Cinema (1950s-60s), the Shaw Brothers, Cathay and Kong Ngee recruited ‘foreign talents’ from Malaysia (P. Ramlee), India (B.S Rajhans, Phani Majumdar), the Philippines (Ramon Estella, Lamberto V. Avellana) and Hong Kong (Chun Kim) to make films here. Films made in Singapore were distributed and exhibited in Malaysia and Indonesia. All three major studios also went on to venture into Hong Kong, making heavy investments in building the film industry there, exporting films made for the Chinese community worldwide and especially targetting the Southeast Asian markets.
Whereas filmmakers like P. Ramlee and Ramon Estella were employed to make films in Singapore in the 50s, Raintree-funded films such as Painted Skin (2008), Protégé (2007), Home Song Stories (2007) and The Tattooist (2007) were shot overseas, with a primarily non-Singaporean crew and cast. In numerous interviews, Daniel Yun, Managing Director of Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, insisted its involvment was an active investor and producer of these “borderless” and “international” works. Famously, he was quoted in an interview: “If we are local, we are not necessarily international. But if we are international, we are definitely local.” (Ong Sor Fern, “Raintree Branches Out”, LIFE! Straits Times, 14 March 2007)
More than half of directors are first-time filmmakers who have been making short films or working in various other capacities in the film and/or TV industry. I also find it heartwarming that filmmakers like K Rajagopal and Abdul Nizam have returned to filmmaking after a long hiatus.
Box Office
The report also highlighted that these Singapore films grossed over SGD$10 million for the first time since 1990. From the figures published by Box Office Mojo, I’ve compiled the Singapore films that made it into the list of 272 films released by commercial cinema theatres in Singapore in 2008.
Titles
Box Office (Singapore) in USD
Box Office (Singapore) in SGD
Box Office Ranking in Singapore
1
Money No Enough 2
$3,389,709
$5,084,563.50
4
2
Ah Long Pte Ltd
$2,115,640
$3,173,460.00
11
3
Painted Skin
$1,025,372
$1,538,058.00
37
4
Rule No. 1
$704,511
$1,056,766.50
51
5
12 Lotus
$684,753
$1,027,129.50
54
6
The Leap Years
$667,575
$1,001,362.50
56
7
Sing to the Dawn
$180,173
$270,259.50
111
8
Dance of the Dragon
$148,132
$222,198.00
127
9
The Days *
$181,574.36
N.A
10
Mad About English
$120,724
$181,086.00
136
11
Kallang Roar
$62,106
$93,159.00
173
12
A Month of Hungry Ghosts
$43,353
$65,029.50
193
13
Slam
$31,735
$47,602.50
203
14
My Magic
$19,941
$29,911.50
217
15
Feet Unbound
$16,772
$25,158.00
234
Total
$9,210,496
$14,005,744
* Statistic for The Days is not found on Box Office Mojo and provided by the producer of the film.
To see this in perspective of the box office rankings of other films released in 2008: Wall-E (13), Cape No. 7 (91), Atonement (132), There Will Be Blood (183) and Persepolis (189).
a. 1-7 on the list were produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures.
b. I think it’s great that Singapore exhibitors are getting adventurous. Mad About English became the first Singapore documentary that was commercial released. From 2006-2008, Singapore GaGa and Invisible City by Tan Pin Pin and Dimishing Memories by Eng Yee Peng ran multiple sold-out screenings at the 80-seater Art House theatre. No box office records of these 3 films were recorded. By extrapolation, I do not think they would have topped Mad About English‘s smashing $181,000 takings at the box office too. I might be wrong.
c. It is disappointing to see My Magic directed by Eric Khoo, Singapore’s first film that competed in Cannes flopped so badly at the box office. One would expect to be able to count on some support from patriotic Singaporeans. Ironically, Eric Khoo commented in the report that Singapore cinema-goers were swayed by the directors and not stars. He quoted the examples of Dance of the Dragon that starred Fann Wong and Sharp Pencil that starred Mark Richmond. Both did ‘badly’ in the box office. Jack Neo’s films, however, always did well in the box office in Singapore. One wonders where Eric Khoo’s fans have gone. From the record, Be With Me (2005): SGD$175,000, 12 Storeys (1997): SGD$650,000 and Mee Pok Man (1995): SGD$450,000 (from the Singapore Film Commission List of 1991-2006 Singapore Movies).
d. It is noteworthy that with Ah Long Pte Ltd and Money No Enough 2, Jack Neo contributed 60% or $8.2 million of the $13.8 million of the total box office takings (Singapore) in 2008.
e. The most expensive Singapore production last year (and possibly since 1990) – Sing to the Dawn directed by first-time Canadian filmmaker, Philip Mark Mitchell, was made at the cost of SGD$7.5 million.
Overseas Markets
It is not clear if Lee and Lim included overseas box office takings of Singapore films. If they did, Singapore films in 2008 would have grossed over SGD$20 million. From the figures below, Malaysia is also the largest export market for Singapore films, contributing 25% to the total combined box office earnings.
In Malaysia
Titles
Box Office (Malaysia) in USD
Box Office (Malaysia) in SGD
Box Office Ranking in Malaysia
1
Money No Enough 2
$1,378,946
$2,068,419
24
2
Ah Long Pte Ltd
$1,342,065
$2,013,098
26
3
Painted Skin
$626,440
$939,660
57
4
Rule No. 1
$183,191
$274,787
127
Total
$3,530,642
$5,295,963
In Hong Kong
Titles
Box Office (Hong Kong) in USD
Box Office (Hong Kong) in USD
Box Office Ranking in Hong Kong
1
Painted Skin
$1,339,198
$2,008,797
32
2
Rule No. 1
$36,793
$55,189.50
187
Total
$1,375,991
$2,063,987
This would bring the combined box office earnings of Singapore films in 2008 to SGD$21.2 million. Even if one were to not consider what might be a contentious inclusion – Painted Skin, the amount was still a respectable SGD$16.7 million.
Titles
Box Office (combined) in USD
Box Office (Combined) in SGD
1
Money No Enough 2
$4,768,655
$7,152,982.50
2
Ah Long Pte Ltd
$3,457,705
$5,186,557.50
3
Painted Skin
$2,991,010
$4,486,515.00
4
Rule No. 1
$924,495
$1,386,742.50
5
12 Lotus
$684,753
$1,027,129.50
6
The Leap Years
$667,575
$1,001,362.50
7
Sing to the Dawn
$180,173
$270,259.50
8
Dance of the Dragon
$148,132
$222,198.00
9
The Days *
$181,574.36
10
Mad About English
$120,724
$181,086.00
11
Kallang Roar
$62,106
$93,159.00
12
A Month of Hungry Ghosts
$43,353
$65,029.50
13
Slam
$31,735
$47,602.50
14
My Magic
$19,941
$29,911.50
15
Feet Unbound
$16,772
$25,158.00
Total
$14,117,129
$21,365,694
With new films already scheduled for release and production in 2009, and more first-time filmmakers working in earnest to bow, one can be hopeful that this momentum is likely to sustain.
