STORIES OF SINGAPORE CINE AND HEARD

From having scant film-making experience and skills to holding two film awards in their hands. That was what the five-member team behind the short film titled Homebound, led by 22-year-old student Noel Ng, accomplished at the inaugural ciNE65 Short Film Competition, after bagging top honours in the student category as well as the prize for Best Editing.

In their maiden foray into film-making, the team of five spent about two months putting together a story about a young Singaporean boy who returns to the country after many years abroad for National Service (NS). Feeling listless and detached, he uses photography to create a photo montage of the people in his neighbourhood and shares it by displaying it at the void deck of his HDB block. In the process, he becomes friends with many of his neighbours and is given a special surprise when he returns home one weekend from NS.

"The basic message was that we should all take initiative to build a home for ourselves. There's no where like Singapore, and we hope that this short film will inspire other Singaporeans to take charge." said Mr Ng, Director of Homebound, which drew inspiration from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech.

In the Open Category, the Best Overall Film Award went to the short film The Team which depicts the importance of racial harmony in Singapore through children playing football together regardless of race.

"The award means a lot to the production team as well as the cast members. It is a story close to our hearts, depicting how Singaporeans can come together, regardless of race and religion, to attain great achievements for ourselves and the country," said Mr Ray Pang, 26, who directed The Team.He cited an incident when he was overseas as the inspiration behind the film.

Speaking at the ciNE65 Awards Ceremony held at GV Grand in Great World City on 16 Nov, Minister of State for Defence and Education Lawrence Wong said: "Through ciNE65, we hope to identify and promote our budding talents and do our part to help grow the local film industry."

He added after the ceremony: "When you have videos like this, they help to convey a sense of who we are as a people. Collectively, they give us a better sense of what the Singapore story is about because these are stories from individuals. These stories are what we need to evolve a stronger sense of our identity."

One of the judges for the competition, Mr Juan Foo, said: "I think that the entries have connected very well with Singaporeans. For one, they never failed to bring a smile to my face when I watched them." The Assistant Director of the Talent Development Division at the Media Development Authority was part of the 12-member judging panel compromising film industry professionals and ciNE65 partners.

Organised by Nexus, the coordinating agency for National Education, the competition encourages aspiring film-makers to share what Singapore means to them. Through ciNE65, Nexus hopes to harness the potential of short films to touch the hearts and minds of Singaporeans.

"We were very encouraged by the quality of the entries. The stories were multi-layered and captured very different aspects of Singaporean life," said Colonel Kelvin Koh, Director Nexus and head of the judging panel

The creators of TheTeam and Homeboundwalked away with cash prizes of $3,000 each and Sony cameras. In addition, the Homebound team will get to go on a learning trip. Nexus will also submit the winning films to regional film festivals and competitions when the opportunity arises.

In all, 17 awards were presented. There were also three audience-choice awards for favourite film, actor and actress. They were selected from the 72 entries received for the inaugural cINE65 competition.

To catch the videos and find out more about the ciNE65 Short Film Competition, log on to the official website at www.cine65.sg.