AN INSIDE GAZE
It was a show that captured the imaginations of many. For those who watched this year’s National Day Parade (NDP)—postponed to nearly two weeks after Singapore’s 56th birthday on August 9 due to Covid-19 restrictions—chances are, you would have seen the animated film by local studio Robot Playground Media, featuring the stories of Singaporeans across generations.
Home-grown animation was a big part of this year’s celebration of the Singapore spirit—and this was the bold vision of creative director Boo Junfeng come to life. “There are many talents in Singapore that we sometimes overlook,” he says. “The animators know how to tell a good story and, with the right guidance and direction, are more than capable of creating world-class work.”
And Singaporeans were in collective awe. “Many said they’ve never seen Singapore being represented like that before, and that they’ve never seen this kind of animation with this kind of artistry being done here,” shares the filmmaker, who last helmed the NDP in 2018.
Boo has always been intrigued by stories—and telling them. He knew how to introduce compelling narratives to those who have not been exposed to them, so as to open up their hearts and minds. “A lot of my earlier short films tend to be sentiments or thoughts I had, which I felt would come across better through a story. Then these issues would no longer remain just topics to the audience, but become experiences,” he explains.
His debut feature the first Singapore film to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival’s International Critics’ Week in 2010, is the coming-of-age story a selection in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, unpacks the complexities of capital punishment in Singapore through an executioner’s point of view.
