March 10 2009, Singapore Warren Sin, the one behind the screenings at the National Museum’s Cinematheque answers our questions about the on-going World Cinema Series.

Can you tell us how the World Cinema Series came about?

The World Cinema Series was conceived as a regular monthly programme on the occasion of the initiation of the Cinematheque. This series aims to chart both the significant and less discovered territories of cinema – silent era epics, lost Hollywood classics, gems from the Czech New Wave, French New Wave, German New Wave, Japanese New Wave, Indian New Wave, Polish New Wave, Hong Kong New Wave, Taiwanese New Wave, Brazilian Tropicalism, Italian Giallo, Chinese Giallo, Spaghetti Westerns, Curry Westerns, Kitchen Sink films, sword fighting spectaculars, kung fu epics, mockumentaries, essay films, Yakuza sagas, etc. you catch the drift.

Having a century of cinema means that present day audiences are privileged to a vast history of the medium. This is where the Cinematheque comes in with the World Cinema Series. In that, a wide spectrum of films are curated and presented to the people with hope that it will inspire, educate and quench any thirst for discovery.

Why did you pick the following two unique directors: Joaquim Pedro de Andrade and Agnes Varda?

Macunaima and Le Bonheur are not programmed with the filmmakers in mind. They are picked on the basis of the films themselves; or rather they are selected for eclecticism. What count most in programming the series aren’t a film’s flaws. It is the qualities that should stick with you after the screening.

Macunaima is the fruit of a personal journey through the Brazilian Tropicalism movement undertaken late last year. It is not necessarily the best film out of that period of filmmaking in Brazil but it will serve as an eye-opener to a radically different kind of cinema. Besides, the film’s outrageously riotous vibe was optioned to kick start another year of screenings.

Le Bonheur was originally slated for a February screening. Valentine’s Day date movie perhaps; or rather, Anti-Valentine’s Day movie. Unfortunately the Gallery Theatre was unavailable for almost the entirety of the month, so it was bumped up to March. But all is not lost. Le Bonheur’s pastoral quality does conjures up feelings of spring-time, as such screening the film in March will do nicely. In case you think that there is too much frivolity in our programming criteria, Le Bonheur was also chosen on account of it being left out of a series of Varda films screened in the SIFF a few years back. The Cinematheque programming looks to complement other film programmes taking place in Singapore. No point screening the same films twice when we should be offering diversity and variety.

What can you tell us about the theme ‘Persistence of Memory’ that runs along with the four Terrence Davies films that were screened recently?

Births, funerals, weddings, christenings, birthdays, Mass, Christmas — these familial realities are reiterated throughout the four films in variation. Memories are the tools by which Davies crafts stories and situations which are foreign and yet oddly familiar. In film after film, Davies offered his remembrances (or imagination) of things past for our substantiation, and sometimes, entertainment. Taken together, the four films formed a portrait of a dedicated artist committed in the art of cinema.

Are there more films to follow through the rest of the year? Give us a sneak peak of what’s in store for cinephiles in the region.

Indeed. I hope the names Visconti and Leone (within the same programme) are a cause of celebration in some quarters.

Will NMS’s Cinematheque be an active part of the upcoming Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF)?

NMS’s Cinematheque is an active supporter of the SIFF. This year we are collaborating on a programme called “25 Years of the National Film Archive of Thailand”, in which gems from the esteemed archive in Thailand are specially curated for the festival.

Watch this space for announcements on upcoming features at the National Museum’s Cinematheque.