Singapore - For
the first time in its 23 year history, the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors'
Showcase (NDS) is coming to Asia, with a screening in Singapore on Tuesday, 10
December at the Cathay Cineplex.
The
NDS is historically one of the most well attended events at the Cannes Lions
International Festival of Creativity, and has a reputation for unearthing the
most exciting new directing talent from around the globe, which is presented in
a showreel introduced each year by a themed live theatrical production. This
year the NDS embarked on an unprecedented world tour and, following the unveil
at Cannes Lions, there were sell out screenings of the reel in London (at Tate
Modern) and Moscow (at the 35mm cinema), with the Singapore screening topping
off the 2013 programme.
The inaugural Singapore NDS is being hosted by
Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, and will be an opportunity for Singapore’s
creative community to watch a showreel of outstanding directors selected by the
Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Creative Board, with the added bonus of a panel
discussion featuring leaders from the local film and creative industry. The theme of the
2013 NDS is ‘Just for Hits’, and the screening will commence with a film of the
live show featuring world-renowned evolutionary biologist Professor Richard
Dawkins on stage in Cannes, followed by a reel featuring 19 carefully chosen
directors, who hail from as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark,
Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and USA.
“The New Directors’ Showcase has surprised,
delighted and provocated the creative community for over two decades, and we’re
looking forward to bringing this iconic Saatchi & Saatchi experience to
Singapore,” says Chris Foster, Chairman and CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi
Asia-Pacific.
“With the New Directors’ Showcase we hope
to stimulate conversation about what it means to be creative, and the
importance of recognising and supporting new talent,” says Paul Roebuck, CEO of
Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore and Malaysia. Previous editions of the NDS have
featured directors who went on to have stellar careers including; Tarsem,
Michel Gondry, Mark Romanek, Spike Jonze, Ivan Zacharias, Kinka Usher, Danny
Kleinman and Jonathan Glazer.
There are two Asian directors featured in
this year’s NDS: Japanese director Daito Manabe, with his ethereal music video
for Nosaj Thing’s ‘Eclipse/Blue’, and Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Ping, whose
surreal animated short ‘No One Remains Virgin’ has made waves at film festivals.
Their differing styles are a reflection of the wide range of directorial styles
found on this year’s reel.
The screening of the New Directors’
Showcase is proudly presented with the support of the Cannes Lions
International Festival of Creativity.
Sponsors of the Singapore event are the Singapore Film Society, Big Blue Production, Gaia
Films/Alice VFX, Chamni's Eye, 88Storey Films and Procolor.
5 double passes to this exclusive
invite-only event will be made available to the public. For terms and conditions and to enter the
draw, please visit www.saatchiasiapacific.com/NDS-Singapore.
Creative team Jonathan
Santana and Xander Smith came up with this year’s NDS theme ‘Just for Hits’,
who worked closely on the conception of the live show in Cannes with
Marshmallow Laser Feast and PrettyBird. The live show in Cannes was produced by
Juliette Larthe of PrettyBird, directed by Marshmallow Laser Feast, and starred
Professor Richard Dawkins, whose theory of memes took on a new meaning in the age of the Internet. A film
of the live show will be shown at the NDS Singapore screening, and will
introduce the reel which features several directors whose work came to
prominence through the internet, and shows its influence on contemporary
filmmaking.
The 19 directors selected
for the New Directors' Showcase reel 2013 are listed below, with the title of
the submitted work;
- Ben
Liam Jones: ‘It Follows Me Around'
- Casper
Balslev: ‘Han Kjobenhavn
- Daito
Manabe: Nosaj Thing - ‘Eclipse/Blue'
- Gevorg
Karensky: ‘GTA Rise’
- Ian
Cheng-Liars: ‘Brats'
- Ilya
Naishuller: Biting Elbows - ‘Bad Motherfucker'
- Jake
Fried: ‘Raw Data'
- Joe
Pease: ‘Peter Brings the Shadow to Life'
- Justin
Anderson: ‘Fleurs du Mal'
- Lucio Arese:
Yu Miyashita - ‘Mimic'
- Max
Joseph: ‘Follow the Frog'
- Miles
Jay: ‘White Doves'
- Nabil:
Antony & the Johnsons - ‘Cut the World'
- Ohji
Inoue: Keys N Krates - ‘Treat Me Right'
- One
Pixel Wide: Masters in France - ‘Flexin''
- Peter
Atencio: ‘Pulled Over'
- Ryan
Hope: Alpines - 'Lights'
- Vellas:
Leica - ‘Soul’
- Wong
Ping: ‘No-One Remains Virgin'