Fridae

Gay American director Graham Streeter fell in love with Singapore after his first visit here, and decided to make his first feature-length film in our country. He was particularly fascinated by the singing bird contests regularly held around the island, and that became the climactic setting for his film Cages.

Produced by Singaporeans Tania Sng and Joshua Wong, Cages stars the ever-reliable Tan Kheng Hua as a single mother of young blind boy (Dickson Tan). After a string of bad relationships, she seeks refuge in the house of her estranged father (the late Makoto Iwamatsu), who had abandoned Kheng Hua and her mother when she was still little. Eventually, both father and daughter learn to forgive each other for the past and become family again.

Cages features two powerful central performances, one by Kheng Hua (a well-respected stage veteran) and the other by Makoto Iwamatsu. Although Makoto is not a Singaporean but a Japanese-American, that did not stop him from giving a thoroughly convincing performance in the role of the father. The actor had spent months learning Chinese and the Singlish accent so that he may appear more Singaporean � and the result speaks for itself.

Though the film is too sentimental in parts, it is still a polished piece of work that boasts extraordinary cinematography by Mark Lapwood and excellent art direction by Samantha Sng. The golden hues and striking angles certainly make the Singapore settings look better than how they are usually depicted in films.