Southeast Asia Film Night

September 12, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Mānoa Campus, Center for Korean Studies Add to Calendar

Sandcastle

Singapore (2010, 90 mins)
Mandarin, English w/English subtitles

Director: Boo Junfeng
Cast: Joshua Tan, Elena Chia, Bobbi Chen, NG Jing Jing, Samuel Chong

The blending of guilty family secrets and the ghosts of Singapore's recent past create an involving narrative that is related with tenderhearted understatement.

Based in part on autobiographical elements, the film's focus is on Xiang En (Joshua Tan), a diffident 18 year-old who lives with his widowed mother. When the family home is being renovated, he chooses to spend two weeks with his grandparents.

The grandfather's memories of En's father's role in the student protest movement of the 1950s and '60s is the spark that prompts En to tentatively start unraveling the complexities of his late father's life and the sacrifices made by his mother (Elena Chia).

Sandcastle marks a quietly assured debut feature from writer/director Boo Junfeng and the reward is a film of considerable charm and delicacy.

-Alan Hunter, Screen Daily


Ticket Information
Free

Event Sponsor
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
cseas, 956-2688, cseas@hawaii.edu, http://cseashawaii.org

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