Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2025
Time: 7.30pm – 9pm
Venue: Objectifs’ Workshop Space
Taking place in conjunction with Coastal Proximities
Free admission, please RSVP here.
As this event will be taking place in conjunction with Coastal Proximities, we highly recommend arriving before 7pm to view the exhibition before attending the Film Club.
Take part in our pre-event response site to share your personal memories of experiences along Singapore’s coastline/coastal regions, and/or thoughts about the relationship that we have with our coast and water bodies. Text and images are welcomed. Responses have a chance to be included in the post-screening discussion.
Often touted as the perfect beach getaway in Singapore, the island of Sentosa is the typical embodiment of fun and relaxation for families and individuals alike amidst ‘sea, sun, sand’. Unsurprisingly, however, like many other places in Singapore, further considerations of the island’s history and formation alongside its modern-day impression ultimately bring the relationship that we have with land, environment, and coastal regions to the fore.
Taking place in conjunction with Marvin Tang and ila’s exhibition, Coastal Proximities, this iteration of the Objectifs Film Club will kickstart with a screening of Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen’s ‘A Man Trembles’, followed by a conversation between the artists, filmmakers, and audience members that will delve into topics such as the ways in which the coast can be simultaneously demarcated as a site of leisure/relaxation and invasion/terror.
Take part in our pre-event response site to share your personal memories involving spaces along Singapore’s coastline/coastal regions, and/or thoughts about the relationship that we have with our coast and water bodies. Text and images are welcomed. Responses have a chance to be included in the post-screening discussion.
About ‘A Man Trembles’ by Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen
In 1998 Singapore, at the peak of the Asian Financial Crisis, a man and his family spend their final day on Earth at Sentosa island. There, he comes to confront the peculiar closeness between salvation and terror.
About the speakers
Marvin Tang
Marvin Tang (b.1989) uses images as a tool of investigation. His research questions the linearity of historical narratives and the notion of collective identities. His works stem from the effects of policy-making to shifting social structures. He is particularly interested in applying this research to Singapore, attempting to investigate its historical account and relationship to its expanded narratives across the globe.
Marvin’s works have been presented at the Alliance Française de Singapour (Singapore), DECK (Singapore), Mizuma Gallery (Singapore), Thessaloniki PhotoBiennale (Greece), Noorderlicht International Photofestival (Netherlands), Odesa Photo Days (Ukraine), and Dali International Photography Exhibition (China).
ila
With a practice that encompasses performance, photography, moving image and sound, ila (b. 1985, Singapore) create alternative entry points for experiencing the peripheries of lived experience and unspoken narratives. She often reconfigures and merges speculative fiction with factual histories to conceive sites for empathy and connectivity in her work. She has participated in group shows in Singapore such as Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha, Proposals for Novel Ways of Being, National Gallery Singapore (2020) and in festivals such as ASEAN-EU Cultural Festival (2022).
Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen
Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen are a filmmaker and artist duo from Singapore. They met through forming an art rock group and started out making lo-fi underground films as self-taught filmmakers. Over the years of their partnership, they have carved out a cinema of speculative fiction and body horror, exploring existential anxiety, histories and alienation. Their films have screened at international film festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films and BFI London Film Festival. In 2021, with their short film A Man Trembles, they were awarded Best Southeast Asian Director at the Singapore International Film Festival. They are currently developing their feature project, Strange Root, which was presented at Rotterdam CineMart 2025 and Berlinale Talents Script Station 2024. Chua and Lam have also presented 16mm expanded cinema performances in Zurich, Singapore and Taipei, and released multiple albums as the art rock duo ARE.
About the Objectifs Film Library
The Objectifs Film Library is an initiative by Objectifs that aims to be a resource for film lovers in Singapore and the region. Currently, the collection is focused on short films from Southeast Asia and users will be able to rent some of these films to watch in the comfort of their homes.
Access the Objectifs Film Library here.
When: 23 Sep 2025, 7.30pm - 9pm
