Critics have called it “expertly crafted”, “a moving, heartbreaking work” and “the most important Singaporean film”, but it’ll probably never be screened here. Like its central characters, To Singapore, with Love has similarly been banished from the country.
Local filmmaker Tan Pin Pin’s recent magnum opus was classified as “not allowed for all ratings” by the Media Development Authority (MDA) last month, due to their assessment that the film undermines national security. The film documents stories and accounts from various Singaporean political exiles, some of which have not stepped on home soil for 50 years.
Tan hopes that the situation will change for her film — she has re-submitted To Singapore, with Love to MDA’s Film Appeals Committee to review the classification, according to her post on Facebook.
“As we approach our 50th birthday, I feel that we as a people should be able to view and weigh for ourselves, through legitimate public screenings in Singapore, differing views about our past, even views that the government disagrees with,” she writes.
The controversial film was originally slated to screen with her other films Invisible City and Singapore GaGa at the National University of Singapore Museum in September, but the ban prevented the event from carrying on. Nevertheless, the ban only served to irk the curiosity of Singaporeans, evidenced from the massive number of locals travelling to Johore just to catch the movie screening in the Freedom Film Festival last month.
Photo: To Singapore, With Love Facebook page
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