LOCAL FLAVOURS WIN BIG AT CINE65

Strong local flavours dominated this year's ciNE65 short film competition. The two best films in the competition focused on subjects close to home in their takes on this year's theme Believing Home.

In the short film titled, Homemade, which won the Overall Best Film award in the Student Category, an aspiring chef whips up local dishes based on family recipes to clinch top prize at an international culinary competition.

"Nothing beats home cooking, the best food is family food. I hope this film makes people take a step back and appreciate the things closer to home," said Aloysius Lee. The 20-year-old recently graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Team member and cinematographer Jake Low provides the voice for the simple story, narrating the journey of young Singaporean chef Joey. In the film, Joey draws inspiration from his grandmother's cooking and seeks to achieve the taste of his grandmother's cooking.

"I think what the film wants to say is that, sometimes, the best things in life are home-made," said Mr Low.

Said veteran actor and one of the judges of this year's ciNE65, Edmund Chen: "The film tells a sincere story, and I applaud the film for its honesty."

Commenting on this year's competition, Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman said: "I think the films nominated this evening have gotten it right. Their films do not showcase the pretty and glitzy aspects of Singapore but they capture the spirit of resilience, of true grit and determination for this place called home."

Speaking at the award ceremony held at the Joyden Hall in Bugis +, Dr Maliki said to the film-makers: "Keep experimenting, keep exploring and most importantly, have fun while you are doing it. Your works have the potential to touch the hearts and minds of Singaporeans."

The other film to win Best Overall Film in the Open Category was Lawrence Loh's work titled Unwavering, about an old cleaning lady who reminisces about her time as a young air stewardess. The film shows her unwavering commitment to taking care of her ailing husband.

"The back-story is that everyone has a family to come back to and take care of, no matter what the present-day circumstances might be," said the film's director, Mr Loh, 33.

"It's also a call to connect with other Singaporeans in our day-to-day lives," said Mr Loh, who is a branding executive by day. The inspiration for his film came from a pantry-lady who works in the same building.

"Every day at 3pm, I would see her staring out the window, so I began wondering what her story was," said Mr Loh. The script was only completed two weeks before the deadline. The team eventually showed the film to the pantry-lady.

"I might be imagining things, but I think she teared after watching the film!"

Both teams won an overseas learning trip to an international film festival, cash prizes and Panasonic cameras.

This year's competition saw a bumper crop of entries, with more than 230 entries from the public and 20 participating schools. This is triple the number of entries in the competition's inaugural run in 2011.

The competition is organised by Nexus, the central National Education agency, and aims to encourage Singaporeans to express and embrace their identity through film and nurture young film-makers.

To watch the entries, please visit www.cine65.sg