An outdoor film programme highlighting the artistic, playful, and expressive form of short and medium length films.

Platform, Objectifs
14 Feb 2025, 7.30pm to 9.30pm 
Curated by Renee Ng
Screening Rating: TBC
Entry by donation at the door, minimum donation: $10 – $15. Please RSVP here.

When it comes to love, nothing can be too much. Screening on Valentine’s Day 2025, Sweet, Sour, Spicy presents 5 short films from Singapore, Cambodia, Philippines, Canada and USA that explore and celebrate all the sappy, dark, idiosyncratic things we do for our crushes and partners. Whether it’s washing their hair, buying them snacks, or sucking their blood, never let anyone tell you how to be romantic.

The art of courting has taken numerous forms across history, but one that has lasted the test of time is the writing and sending of handmade love letters and Valentines. Besides watching films together, join us for a Valentine’s card-making workshop!

This screening is part of Objectifs’ new quarterly film programme, Now Showing, which highlights the artistic, playful, and expressive form of short and medium length films. Beyond film screenings, the programme is also a space for discussions and activities.

Sunrise in My Mind by Danech San / 14 min / 2020
A young woman working late at night at a beauty salon gives into her restrained interest in a young man who spends his evenings driving Phnom Penh’s streets by motorbike as a delivery man.
Kopi Julia by Tan Bee Thiam / 7 min / 2013
Adapted from a short story by Faizal Sulaiman, Ikram flies into a rage of jealousy when his vampiric stepmother begins eyeing a classmate he secretly admires.
Stone Heart by Martika Ramirez Escobar / 20 min / 2014
Pusong Bato (Stone Heart) is a film-within-a film about Cinta Dela Cruz, a faded actress who tries to relive and remember her glory days as a movie star in the 1970s. Her tired routine takes a turn when she discovers a heart-shaped stone.
Sweet Memories by Jessica Wu / 4 min / 2021
Sweet Memories is a swan song to the innocent liveliness a little kid possesses before the teenage years eclipse––an embrace of all the silliness and messiness of preteen love. How painful and overwhelming yet ridiculous and light-hearted it all is in hindsight.
Say Something by Jiin Oh / 13 min / 2023
Fresh from Seoul, a teen girl struggles to find connection in her new home until she sees the church band’s floppy-haired drummer and strikes up a daring idea to get his attention./tw-toggle]

 

About the filmmakers

Danech San has worked in a variety of roles on productions with Anti-Archive since 2015. Her second film Sunrise In My Mind (2020) premiered at Busan and won the prize for Best Short Film at PÖFF Shorts in Tallinn, Estonia. She is also the founder of the Kampung Film Festival which promotes cinema culture in a non-urban context of Cambodia. She is currently developing her first feature film To Leave, To Stay.

Tan Bee Thiam is a Singaporean filmmaker and educator known for Tiong Bahru Social Club (2020), which opened the 31st Singapore International Film Festival, earned a spot in Jonathan Rosenbaum’s top 10 films of 2021 (Sight and Sound), and won the Roger & Julie Corman Award for Intrepid Filmmaking. A Berlinale Talents and Rotterdam Lab alumnus, he produced Small Hours of the Night (2024), Demons (2019), and Revenge of the Pontianak (2019).

Martika Ramirez Escobar‘s films are often self-reflexive and about her relationship with cinema. Her thesis film Stone Heart (2014), competed at the 19th Busan International Film Festival and had screenings across Asia and Europe. Her debut feature, Leonor Will Never Die (2022) won the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Jessica JM Wu is a Canadian director and producer based in London, United Kingdom. Her short films include White Dragon (2019) and Sweet Memories (2021) (featured on Nowness, Nowness Asia and BooooooomTV). She has directed shorts, branded content, music videos and commercials, and was formerly a producer at VICE.

Jiin Oh is a Korean filmmaker based in New York, USA who found her passion in comedy. Her short film Say Something (2023) was selected for the Hawai’i International Film Festival and CAAMFest and won three awards at the Great Short Film Festival in Seoul, including Best Film and Best Director. She is currently working on a new short film, Speedy!, with production support from Indian Paintbrush Productions.

Curator’s Bio

Renee Ng is a film programmer and video editor. She is interested in the socio-cultural relationships that films and cinephilia share with the world. She has curated film programmes for the Singapore International Film Festival, Asian Film Archive and Objectifs, and participated in the Film Programmer’s Lab in 2024. Renee is also a freelance editor, with credits that include the NYFA award-winning film Dirty Laundry (2022).