Stream films celebrating diversity for free from True Colors Film Festival
SINGAPORE — The Festival of Artistes with Disabilities has returned this year as the True Colors Film Festival. The festival is moving beyond the issue of disability to celebrate diversity in various forms.
From 3 Dec to 12 Dec, the 10-day digital event will offer a feast of about 30 award-winning features and short films curated around the theme "One World, One Family", each turning the spotlight on the universal experiences of connection, hope, dreams, struggle, and transformation.
The best part? You can stream all the films for free, either on The Projector Plus (for feature films), or Vimeo (for short films).
Feature films will be streamed via The Projector Plus, the streaming platform of local indie cinema The Projector – you can sign up for a streaming account for free. Features are available to viewers in most Asia-Pacific countries.
Short films will be streamed on Vimeo (the page goes live on 3 December.)
To protect filmmakers’ copyrights, the films’ streaming availability is different for different countries.
The True Colors line-up of films was curated by a team led by Singaporean film director Tan Bee Thiam, whose film Tiong Bahru Social Club premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in October, and also opened the Singapore International Film Festival last week.
Tan worked with a team of student-curators from Singapore Polytechnic, where he also teaches film, to discover restored and remastered classics for the festival.
“We hope that the carefully curated film selection will deepen our understanding of what an inclusive world can be and equip us with the vocabulary and sensitivity to discuss social issues such as disability, so that these dialogues are captured and represented well,” said Tan.
The festival opens tomorrow (3 December) with 37 Seconds (2019; Japan), a unique tale about a young comic book artist with cerebral palsy, and how she navigates disability while building a career in the adult manga industry.
37 Seconds is available exclusively to viewers in Japan and Singapore only on 3 December, 6:00pm JST / 5:00pm SGT, and will be followed by a livestream dialogue session featuring director Hikari (Best New Director, Asian Film Awards 2020), available to audiences worldwide.
See the full listing of films in the True Colors Festival on their website.
Here are some award-winning films in the line-up:
Listen (2020; Portugal/United Kingdom), about migrant struggles, judgments and best intentions gone wrong. It was nominated just this week as Portugal’s Oscar Entry for Best International Film and was the winner of seven awards at the Venice Film Festival 2020.
Mental (2008; Japan/United States), about the complex world of a mental health clinic in Japan and the lives of its patients and staff. It won Best Documentary at the Busan International Film Festival, and Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival.
Darkness and Light (1999; Taiwan), a tale of love and blindness. It won multiple awards including the Tokyo Grand Prix at the Tokyo Film Festival 1999, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing at the Golden Horse Film Festival 1999, and Best Film at the Taipei Film Festival 1999.
