Breaking down the walls with virtual reality

By Tiong Linshan

Nanyang Chronicle’s journalist Tiong Linshan (front) experiences virtual reality for herself. Gabriel Goh (back), Head of Virtual Reality at Perspectives Film Festival, helps with putting on the headset. PHOTO: BELICIA TEO

With Singapore’s only student-run film festival turning 10 this year, NTU students helming the Perspectives Film Festival are pulling out all the stops to ensure the upcoming edition leaves its mark on the Singapore film festival circuit next month.

Perspectives 2017 will kick off its 10th anniversary with free virtual reality (VR) screenings at *SCAPE on 15 Oct, marking the first time a local film festival is organising a showcase dedicated to VR in film.

The annual festival will also present a record line-up of 11 international films showcasing breakthroughs in cinema, in line with this year’s theme of “Rebels”. Films will be screened at three locations — the National Museum of Singapore, Shaw Theatres Lido and the Alliance Française — across two weekends, from 20 to 22 Oct, and 26 to 29 Oct.

Tickets are on sale now on the film festival’s official website.  General admission tickets are priced at $13, with concession tickets being priced at $11.

This year’s festival is organized by Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) final-year students Matthew Chew, 24, and Tiffany Soh, 22. Launched in 2008, the Perspectives Film Festival is an annual film festival organised by undergraduates from NTU, as part of a practicum course run by WKWSCI.

Both festival directors Chew and Soh hope to make waves in Singapore’s film festival scene, by weaving the use of VR in filmmaking into the festival’s narrative.

They drew inspiration from global film festival heavyweights like the Cannes Film Festival and New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, both of which screened VR films in their 2017 programmes.

Soh said: “We cannot talk about rebels without talking about people pushing the new frontiers of technology. VR can really expand the horizons of the potential of filmmaking.”

Chew added: “Technologists and filmmakers are probing and advancing the reality of the diegetic (on-screen) world, by bringing the audience directly into it.”

Third-year Wee Kim Wee student Ng Yong Quan watches I, Phillip, a 360° short film that brings the viewer into the head of famous science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. PHOTO: BELICIA TEO

The one-day Perspectives VR event is free for members of the public and will showcase six VR short films across two afternoon screenings. There will also be a panel discussion with local VR experts in between, including Singaporean film-maker Mr Lionel Chok, who founded VR technology start-up iMMERSiVELY.  

Samsung Gear VR wireless headsets, which can be easily set up with smartphones, will be provided at the event.

According to Head VR programmer Gabriel Goh, a final-year WKWSCI student, the audience can expect an “entirely different film-going experience”, as they will be able to experience a deeper level of interaction with the films.

The 24-year-old added: “With VR, the depth of the narratives remains the same as their traditional flat screen counterparts.

“But what VR does is bring the audience right into the story world. And whether they like it or not, the audience is immersed in the proceedings and does not see the story world from a cinematographer’s perspective, but from their own.”

Celebrating a decade of Perspectives

Over the last decade, the Perspectives Film Festival has become a mainstay in Singapore’s annual film festival calendar, with screenings selling out in most years.  

It also remains one of WKWSCI’s most popular practicums to this day, and is mentored by film educator Eternality Tan and WKWSCI senior lecturer Nikki Draper.

Mr Tan, who joined the festival’s third edition as a second-year WKWSCI student in 2010, described the practicum as “one of the most invigorating and enlightening” courses he had ever taken during his time in university.

The practicum got him familiar with a different aspect of the film industry, as it allowed him to experience the planning and marketing process behind a film festival, he recalled.

“That opened the doors for me to do what I’m doing right now, so it was an important course,” said Mr Tan, who is the co-founder of film education institute The Filmic Eye. He also curates programmes for film festivals in Singapore, such as the annual LGBT Love and Pride Film Festival.

Since the inaugural Perspectives Film Festival in 2008, more film festivals have emerged locally, resulting in a “very crowded” calendar, noted Mr Tan.

At least five film festivals debuted in Singapore this year alone, including national film festivals such as the Finnish Film Festival, the Malaysian Film Festival and the Colombian Film Festival.

Mr Tan added: “As far as Singapore is concerned, we are in a promising period right now for film festivals.”

Going against the grain

In line with this year’s theme of “Rebels”, Perspectives 2017 presents works from filmmakers  who have inspired the world with their daring and unconventional ideas, whether it is defying social norms or going against institutional systems.

Opening the festival is Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning director Matthew Heineman’s City of Ghosts, a 2017 documentary that follows the courageous journey of Syrian activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a group of citizen journalists who have risked their lives to expose the atrocities of ISIS in their homeland.

With an eclectic international selection of films ranging from restored 1960s classics to Singapore premieres, festival co-director Soh hopes Perspectives 2017 will leave audiences with a more nuanced understanding of what it means to be a rebel — one that goes beyond physical appearance.

She said: “Generally people think a rebel is someone who is heavily tattooed, maybe an ah beng, somewhat like a gangster. But we want people to rethink and relook at their concept of what a rebel is, and realise that there are many ways you can define the term.

“In honour of our 10th anniversary, we want to celebrate Perspectives’ breakthrough legacy by going back to its very essence — being fresh, unconventional, and rebellious.”

Tickets are available online at https://perspectivesfilmfestival.com. Individual tickets are priced at $13 each, while concession tickets (applicable for students, senior citizens, Passion Card members, members of Singapore Film Society and full-time National Servicemen) are priced at $11.