Taipei Golden Horse film awards and Singapore cinema: Prestige, privilege and disarticulation

Ng, H. 2020. Taipei Golden Horse film awards and Singapore cinema: Prestige, privilege and disarticulation. Asian Cinema. 31 (1), pp. 99-122. https://doi.org/10.1386/ac_00015_1

TitleTaipei Golden Horse film awards and Singapore cinema: Prestige, privilege and disarticulation
TypeJournal article
AuthorsNg, H.
Abstract

Drawing from the idea of national revival, which is closely associated with the term ‘new wave’, this article examines the implications of how winning international film awards, with a focus on how the Taipei Golden Horse Awards (GHA) is variously understood by Singapore filmmakers. If film festivals and awards are crucial to constituting the ‘Singapore new wave’, how does GHA perceivably shape filmmaking and the way filmmakers understand issues of identity, language, prestige and cultural sensibilities? Based on interviews with ten Singapore directors and a producer-film festival director, media reports, film reviews and social media posts, I demonstrate that the supposed prestige of GHA is fraught with conflicting understandings of ‘Chineseness’, impartiality, inclusivity and credibility. For a sovereign country with a high ethnic Chinese population like Singapore which claims a national identity that is multilingual and multi-ethnic, at stake are the problematics of Chinese geopolitics and the linguistic-cultural practices of exclusion when it comes to GHA nominations and wins.

KeywordsGolden Horse Awards
Singapore cinema
Chinese cinemas
film festivals
Chineseness
the Sinophone
JournalAsian Cinema
Journal citation31 (1), pp. 99-122
ISSN1059-440X
Year2020
PublisherIntellect
Accepted author manuscript
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1386/ac_00015_1
Web address (URL)https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/ac/2020/00000031/00000001/art00006
Publication dates
Published01 Apr 2020

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