[FILM CLUB] stories from the hull and the rig

How do our connections to the sea reveal the hidden depths of maritime history?

stories from the hull and the rig draw tangents from prep-room: the hull and the rig currently on display at the NUS Museum – bringing to the surface the entangled maritime legacies of diverse communities in Singapore. This Film Club features contemporary voices through which embodied histories of migration and identity-making take shape and how complex relationships to the sea depart from state-driven ideas of Singapore’s maritime history.

Screened in the 360imx at the Central Library, this Film Club takes audiences on an immersive journey through labyrinthine drainage canals, spiritual spider webs and the enigmatic historical enclaves of Sentosa. Secure your spot now through the registration link at the side!

all the lines flow out (2011)
Directed by: Charles Lim Yi Yong
Runtime: 23 min
Country: Singapore
Language: English
Rating: G

Longkang is from the Malay word for “drain”; it is used to describe any form of man-made water passage, from small drains to big canals. Set in the longkangs of hyper-modern Singapore, a seemingly innocent activity triggers a mysterious event, which leads to a search and eventual surrender.

a spider, fever and other disappearing islands (2021)
Directed by: Natalie Khoo
Runtime: 21 min
Country: Singapore, Indonesia, USA, Philippines
Language: English, Teochew
Rating: PG

a spider, fever and other disappearing islands is an experimental documentary which connects the filmmaker’s grandmother’s migration from the Indonesian Riau Islands to Singapore with a spider spirit’s migratory route, where memories of colonial ghosts, sisterhood, and disappearance are woven together. Emerging through this melange of media forms is a re-imagined archipelagic and family history that reclaims the act of story-telling as simultaneously generative and fluid.

A Man Trembles (2021)
Directed by: Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen
Runtime: 23 min
Country: Singapore
Language: English, Cantonese
Rating: PG13 (Some frightening scenes)

Saddled by the Asian Financial Crisis, a family decides to spend their final day on Earth at Sentosa Island, historically named Pulau Blakang Mati (the island behind which lies death). Set against the island’s layered and gothic history, the family surrender themselves to a mysterious force that promises both salvation and terror.