On a Solid March: South Asia in Singapore Film Festival

Since its inception, Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) has discovered fresh talent from South Asia. This edition is no exception. The programmers announced that India submits the maximum allowed number of films every year to this esteemed festival. Because of the exceptional curatorial practice, audience get to watch a few outstanding feature films from India and South Asia. Let us analyze three films from the region more closely to understand the reason of their popularity.

Take, for example, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda), a lyrical film by debutant director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, which has already won the hearts of international audience. It started its journey from the famous Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, which in itself is quite an achievement for a regional-language film (Marathi) from India where the independent filmmakers’ always have to compete with the grand ‘Bollywood’. Moreover, the director dared to cast new faces: Bhushaan Manoj as Anand and Suraaj Suman as Balya. They were childhood friends, only to realize later that their relationship is far deeper. As a result, Anand and Balya were both ostracized by their society. Steadfastly irritated by the relatives, Anand never tried to communicate with his ancestral house and its inhabitants. In that process, he also lost touch with Balya. For a compulsory ritual of mourning following his father’s death, he had to visit his village, and the unfinished relationship between him and Balya takes a new turn. The film reminds us a lot about Brokeback Mountain by Ang Lee, though the background of both films is totally different. Thus Kanawade very poignantly and lyrically harps of a universal theme that any sensitive person can relate to.

In her much-acclaimed film Shape of Momo, Tribeny Rai – also a first-time filmmaker from Sikkim, a mountain state with no film industry, talks about a young woman’s obvious conflictual relationship with her immediate, innately patriarchal surroundings. Immensely powerful, albeit sometimes clichéd, it is a fairly good first attempt. Eulogized and awarded at Kolkata IFF, San Sebastian, Busan, the film found its solid presence in the competition section of the SGIFF 2025. Very few female filmmakers have been able to consistently prove their worth from the southern part of Asia, and hopefully Rai will fill that vacuum.

The film from Sri Lanka, Riverstone, which won the award for Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography at Shanghai, also won awards for best direction for Lalith Rathnayake and for best performer for Mahendra Perrera at SGIFF 2025. Before screening in Singapore, the film also won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Film at Kolkata IFF 2025. Extremely political in nature, the film is told in a subtle. humanistic manner. Three policemen embark on a journey with a suspected criminal while dealing with their own complications in life. The thin line of difference between the criminal and the so-called men from the administration with questionable nature gets blurred on this journey through cinematic landscapes and sometimes funny incidents. What the state decides is a crime may not be the same in a different context, and even the police officers realize that. Torn between justice and duty, the assassinated prisoner acts as a mirror to his executioners. The Buddhist philosophy of forgiveness, lessons on morality, human connections, and nature of suffering are all embedded in this humane saga.

By Rwita Dutta
Edited by Birgit Beumers
Copyright FIPRESCI