True Colors Film Festival 2020 | December 3-12, 2020

The True Colors Film Festival (TCFF) debuts online from 3 to 12 December 2020. A 10-day feast comprising about 30 award-winning full-length and short films, documentaries and dialogues from 15 countries, TCFF is the second in a series of digital events by True Colors Festival (TCF) presented by The Nippon Foundation (TNF). All the films can be streamed online for free. 

Curated around the theme “One World, One Family”, the films turn the spotlight on the universal experiences of connection, hope, dreams, struggle and transformation; and on the vision of a diverse and inclusive world.

The curatorial team is led by Singaporean film director Tan Bee Thiam, whose film Tiong Bahru Social Club premiered at the 25^th Busan International Film Festival in October this year. His team comprised student curators Noor Mohamed Hakimi Bin Razmi and Ryan Choo Zong Xian from Singapore Polytechnic’s Media, Arts & Design School, where he teaches. 

Said Tan: “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.”

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) Features

TCFF’s launch date – 3 December – is also IDPD. In acknowledgement of the more than 1 billion people around the world with disabilities, the festival presents a selection of themed films, among them the following: 

37 Seconds (2019; Japan) is the unique tale of a comic book artist in her 20s who has cerebral palsy, and how she navigates her physical disability with wanting to achieve her independence as a manga artist as well as an individual; A Long Journey for the First Steps (2017; Slovenia) features real life experiences of Palestinian child victims of war in Gaza and their rehabilitation in Slovenia; 

Elsewhere (2015; Italy) gives viewers a window into the thoughts of a person with Down syndrome; Over the Horizon (2017; Russia) features a blind photographer who has traveled extensively to shoot images to show the world to sighted people; 

the Stand by Me Music Video (2020; Singapore) features 46 artistes from 15 countries/regions who “got together” to perform a stirring rendition of the classic Ben E. King hit “Stand By Me” at the height of the global pandemic earlier this year; and The Soul of Sophanna’s Song (2017; Cambodia) tells the inspiring story of one man’s will to live and serve others despite having been orphaned at six, paralyzed at 10 and given a year to live.

Rediscovered and restored films 

TCFF is honored to be able to offer films that have only recently been rediscovered and remastered for digital screening. These include The Chess Game of the Wind (1976; Iran), screened only twice in 1976 to a hostile audience and presumed to have been lost in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian revolution. In 2014 the children of filmmaker Mohammed Reza Aslani discovered the film in a pile of film cans in a junk shop. Still banned in Iran, the print was smuggled out of the country by private courier to Paris, where restoration work on the film began, overseen by Martin Scorsese’s non-profit organization, The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, in association with the Cineteca di Bologna. The Iranian film is a gothic family tale, following the (mis)fortunes of a paraplegic heiress who is surrounded by predatory men and forms an unexpected alliance with her maid. 

Another recently restored film is Moral (1982; Philippines) by Marilou Díaz-Abaya, known for her ability to spotlight the socio-political and economic issues of the Philippines through a uniquely feminist perspective. Moral was restored by ABS-CBN Corporation in 2017, in partnership with Central Digital Lab in the Philippines, as part of a digital film restoration project to digitally restore and remaster select Filipino films. Moral tells the story of four female characters, each with their own trials and all living in a patriarchal society. The issues it spotlights, including rape, abortion and sexual freedom, remain as relevant today as they were in 1982 when the film was released. 

Award-winning films not to be missed

Listen (2020; Portugal/United Kingdom), Portugal’s Oscar Entry for Best International Film and winner of seven awards at the Venice Film Festival 2020, including Best Film and Best Film in a Foreign Language. Directed by Ana Rocha De Sousa, this is a story about migrant struggles, judgments and best intentions gone wrong. 

Mental (2008; Japan/United States), winner of Best Documentary at both the Busan International Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival, and Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival, is a documentary that observes the complex world of an outpatient mental health clinic in Japan, interwoven with patients, Dr Yamamoto, staff, volunteers, and home-helpers. The film breaks a major taboo against discussing mental illness and captures the candid lives of people coping with suicidal tendencies, poverty, a sense of shame, apprehension, and fear of society. 

Poop on Poverty (2013; India), multi-award-winning, including Best Film, Golden Horseshoe Grand Prix 2014. Directed by Vijay S. Jodha, it highlights a challenge faced by some two billion people every day and takes a stylish dig at the oblivion of wealthy tourists. 

Darkness and Light (1999; Taiwan), multiple awards including Tokyo Grand Prix, Tokyo Film Festival 1999, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing, Golden Horse Film Festival 1999, Best Film, Taipei Film Festival 1999. A tale of love, blindness and reality. 

Please visit the TCFF website or see the attached Annex for the full selection of films.

Said Audrey Perera, Executive Producer of TCF: “The idea of creating the True Colors Film Festival bubbled up while we were exploring ways to give audiences a memorable, enjoyable, touching and thought-provoking year-end gift. This ‘Year of COVID-19’ has changed life for everyone in obvious and less obvious ways. Along with strife and struggle, it’s brought a new awareness that – no matter where we are – our lives are more intertwined than we thought. Since technology allows us to experience events with others across geographies and borders, what better gift than a feast of powerful films, free for watching across most of Asia and the Pacific, at leisure over a glorious 10-day window?”

How to watch the festival 

Viewers can stream the festival online for free from 3 to 12 December. 

Feature films can be streamed via The Projector Plus, a digital streaming platform that operates from Singapore. Sign up for an account for free at plus.theprojector.sg/signup. Features are available to viewers in most countries in the Asia-Pacific region, while additional exclusions apply. 

Short films will be available on True Colors Film Festival on Vimeo (page goes live 3 December). Shorts can be streamed by viewers all over the world, except for viewers in China, Cuba, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Sudan, and Syrian Arab. 

Please visit the festival Country Exclusions page for details. 

True Colors Festival 2020/21

 

True Colors Festival (TCF) presented by The Nippon Foundation, which has been working toward a more inclusive and diverse society in Japan and around the world for more than 50 years: TCF is a series of performing arts events presented across geographies, in celebration of diversity and inclusion as “One World One Family.”

Through festivals since 2006 in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, and Japan, TCF has presented more than 1,100 performing artists from more than 30 countries and attracted more than 40,000 people.

In June 2020, TCF released its first music video, featuring the Ben E. King classic hit, Stand By Me, performed remotely by 46 artists from 15 countries/regions, sending a message of hope and positivity to people everywhere – especially people with disabilities – during the COVID-19 lockdown. To date, it has garnered about 640,000 views across YouTube and Facebook.

In September 2020, TCF organized This is Hip-Hop! an online panel discussion to address the misconceptions about the genre of hip-hop. It garnered a live audience of about 500, who were streaming from all over the world. Watch the full replay on-demand.

The re-start of TCF 2020/2021 marks its commitment to tap the power of the arts to connect artists and audiences in experiences such as music videos, film screenings, children’s programs, musicals, concerts, and workshops.

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