S’pore film about censorship barred; IMDA says it’s ‘likely to be prejudicial to national interests’

A film that references a past local court case about a communist leader’s tombstone has been barred here after the authorities deemed it potentially illegal and “likely to be prejudicial to national interests”.

Singaporean director Daniel Hui’s Small Hours Of The Night was pulled from screening at the 35th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) – the nation’s largest annual film festival – where it had been slated for its local premiere. The festival will run from Nov 28 to Dec 8.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has refused classification of the docu-drama, which means it cannot be screened in public or distributed. 

In the film’s entry on the IMDA Films Classification Database, the media authority said the film revolves around discourses about the impact of Singapore’s judiciary on personal lives. It features a person being interrogated on issues with references to past judicial cases.

IMDA said: “In consultation with the Ministry of Law and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, IMDA has assessed the film to have content that is potentially contrary to the law, (in essence) illegal. It would be likely to be prejudicial to national interests to approve it for screening.”

Under the Film Classification Guidelines, “any material that undermines or is likely to undermine public order, or is likely to be prejudicial to national interest” will be refused classification, it added.

The festival website has marked the film as “not available for screening”.

Hui said: “As the director of this film, the irony does not escape me that a film about censorship is itself being censored. I am of course very disappointed that people all around the world can see this film, but not in Singapore.

“However, I remain hopeful that one day, we will have a discursive space in Singapore that is gracious and generous enough to include diverse voices and points of view.”

The film has been screened in the Netherlands, the United States, Taiwan, Britain, South Korea, Mexico and Portugal, among others, he added.

SGIFF programme director Thong Kay Wee said the film “presents a gripping psychodrama that deserves to be seen and appreciated by audiences”. He selected the film for its “unique exploration of time, identity and memory”.

He added: “The festival would like to reiterate our commitment to Small Hours Of The Night and the film-makers by crediting it on record as SGIFF’s Official Selection under our Undercurrent strand.”

Hui will still participate in Singapore’s longest-running film festival as a panellist speaker, including at the popular forum Mildly Offensive, Sometimes Accurate on the highs and lows of local film-making.

Mr Thong said: “While the film cannot be screened, we will continue to provide its creators with a platform for their voices to be heard.”

Undercurrent is the festival’s curation of experimental releases.

The film draws from the real 1980s prosecution of Tan Chu Boon over revolutionary inscriptions on the grave of his brother Tan Chay Wa, including a Chinese poem the communist wrote just before his execution.

Tan Chay Wa – a senior official of the Malayan National Liberation Front, an arm of the Communist Party of Malaya – fled to Malaysia in 1976 as Singapore cracked down on communists.

There, he was arrested in 1979 and sentenced to death for possession of a pistol with seven rounds of ammunition. He was hanged in 1983 and his body brought back to Singapore for burial.

His brother Tan Chu Boon, who had arranged for his tombstone to be engraved, was jailed over the subversive headstone, found to have glorified the communist as a martyr.

His one-year jail sentence was later reduced to a month on appeal.

An IMDA classification is needed for public screenings and distribution of films in Singapore. The six classification ratings are: General, Parental Guidance, Parental Guidance 13, No Children Under 16, Mature 18 and Restricted 21.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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