Perspectives Film Festival returns with global cinema for local audiences

Writer: Ann Tan

"Farewell My Concubine" shall be the festival's closing film

17 Oct - Perspectives Film Festival: Breakthroughs in Cinema (PFF) proudly returns for its 18th edition at Oldham Theatre, in conjunction with Asian Film Archive's 20th anniversary.

PFF, Singapore's first and longest running student-curated film festival, presents a powerful lineup of seven international films that explore this year's theme of "Tradition & Modernity", delving deeper into the tensions and harmonies between the old and the new.

Eternality Tan, PFF co-course coordinator and vice-chair of Singapore Film Society, adds, "The recent closure of independent cinema The Projector has sparked an important conversation about the future of independent film screenings in Singapore. It is a privilege to work with students to run a festival that champions diverse programming, hopefully reminding audiences about the importance and thrill of watching films on the big screen."

Throughout the festival weekend from 24 to 26 October 2025, audiences can expect critically acclaimed award-winning films from all over the world and daring contemporary works that redefine storytelling.

Included in the highlights are two new 4K restorations - classic films "Farewell My Concubine" and "Pulse". The former is the first and only Chinese film to have won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993. The 4K restoration showcases the sumptuous colours and visual grandeur of traditional Chinese opera.

"Pulse", one of the most influential Japanese horror titles of the 2000s, explores themes of human isolation and technological anxiety, topics that are still of prominent discussion to date. The opening film, "The Wiz", inspired by "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", features an all-black cast led by music icons Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, with Quincy Jones' electric soundtrack celebrating 1970s Black culture and music.

A glimpse of the featured films - (from left) "Farewell My Concubine", "Pulse", "The Wiz"

Tickets for Perspectives Film Festival 2025 are priced at $14 (Standard) and $12 (Concession) per ticket, except for opening and closing films. Get full access to all the screenings with the Festival Pass at $65 and receive a 15% discount for all merchandise.

For more details and purchases, visit perspectivesfilmfestival.com/lineup.

Please refer to Annex A below for full film festival line-up.
Please refer to Annex B below for more ticketing information.

Annex A:

24 October 2025

• 7:30pm: "The Wiz" (1978, Dir. Sidney Lumet, USA, PG) - Opening the festival is the local premiere of its 2K restoration. A dazzling reimagining of the 1974 Tony award-winning musical, where Dorothy Gale, a shy teacher from Harlem, New York, embarks on a bizarre journey home from the magical urban land of Oz. As a multi-layered adaptation, "The Wiz" demonstrates the elasticity of Baum's Oz stories across generations, with its bold cultural reinterpretation paving way for later works like "Wicked".

25 October 2025

• 1:30pm: "Cocote" (2017, Dir. Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic, NC16) - Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival, this is an experimental Dominican Republic feature blending fiction and documentary, follows a devout gardener as he is caught between his Christian faith and the local posthumous rituals of vengeance after his father's murder.
• 4pm: "The Beasts" (2022, Dir. Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spain, France, NC16) - Winner of nine Goya Awards, this taut slow-burn thriller, inspired by real events in rural Galicia, probes land rights, belonging, and vengeance as a French couple's dream of a peaceful rural life curdles into hostility and conflict with their neighbours.
• 7:30pm: "Pulse" (2001, Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, PG13, 4K restoration) - Newly revived in a striking 4K restoration, this iconic and defining title in the J-horror wave showcases the Japanese director's renowned dark, visceral style in examining alienation and technology at the turn of the millennium. The film was awarded the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, cementing its place as a landmark of contemporary horror.

26 October 2025

• 1:30pm: "Dahomey" (2024, Dir. Mati Diop, Senegal, Benin, France, PG) - One of the most talked-about films of 2024 for winning the Berlinale Golden Bear, this documentary reflects on colonial looting and the complex journey of repatriating Benin's royal treasures, blending realism with a haunting spiritual voice.
• 3:30pm: "Walker" (1987, Dir. Alex Cox, United States, Nicaragua, M18) - Set in Nicaragua, "Walker" fuses 19th-century history with 20th-century political critique, boldly exposing the absurdities of power and imperialism. It follows William Walker, a 19th-century American filibuster who invades Nicaragua, stages a bloody coup d'état, and rules as its tyrannical dictator, all in the name of manifest destiny.
• 6:30pm: "Farewell My Concubine" (1993, Dir. Chen Kaige, China, Hong Kong, NC16, 4K restoration) - As the closing film, Chen Kaige's piece returns in a stunning 4K restoration, immersing audiences in the grandeur of traditional Chinese opera while charting fifty years of China's turbulent history. Starring Leslie Cheung and Gong Li, it follows two Peking opera performers, whose lives and art are deeply intertwined, as they are tragically swept up in the tumultuous politics of 20th-century China.

Annex B:

* Concession applies to students, NSFs, senior citizens aged 55 and above, Friends of Asian Film Archive (AFA), and Singapore Film Society (SFS) members.