Tan Bee Thiam, director of Tiong Bahru Social Club recounts his ethos of world-building through the design and diversity of the film.
Hollywood — tends to be risk-averse and sticks to winning formulas. This is why there are so many movie sequels today. Films made in Singapore can be broadly divided into two eras — the predominately Malay language films made in the 1950s and 1960s, and the predominately Chinese language films made since the 1990s that target the Chinese audience in Singapore and overseas.
The racial and ethnic demographics in Singapore have not changed much but why have we not seen a more inclusive and accurate representation of the society on screen?
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Diversity in movie-making can come from who we bring in as collaborators (including the cast), the stories we choose to tell and the way we tell them. For diversity to work, we need to empower the different voices we bring together, invest time and take creative risks so collaborations can be fruitful. Hopefully, this will result in works that give us a glimpse of the world we wish to live in — a more diverse and inclusive one that promotes conversation.
We find more diverse storytellers and storytelling in independent films, which are important social and cultural documents. I believe commercial and independent filmmakers can work together to reinvent Singapore cinema so that more inclusive and culturally significant films can be seen by a wider audience.
Each generation of filmmakers brings new ideas about cinema. With Tiong Bahru Social Club (a whimsical film about a man’s pursuit for his purpose in life, reflecting on the absurdities of our modern society that is always measuring success), we assembled an eclectic and diverse team to push the creative needle — producing an imaginative, charming and visually striking film that is both uniquely Singaporean yet internationally appealing. Instead of a social realist approach, we gave these realities a fantastical spin to reflect the absurdities of modern Singaporean society.
PS: Click here for our previous interview with Tan Bee Thiam where he took us through the behind the scenes of Tiong Bahru Social Club itself.
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Through our casting and dialogue (English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and Singlish), I wanted to reflect and celebrate the multiracial, multicultural and multilingual nature of our society. The name Tiong Bahru is a reflection of this — “Tiong” in Hokkien means cemetery and “Bahru” means new in Malay.
When I met my co-writer Antti, he was looking for a new place to rent. He had moved from Finland to work in Singapore. I was curious why he would leave the happiest country in the world to settle down in Singapore. This film’s realisation came through our conversations about home, happiness, cinema and life in general in Singapore.
I have no desire to make an autobiographical film. I love to find collaborators who would work with me to play with the creative possibilities and expand the stories and connections so it becomes something more. As soon as we had a decent draft, I would invite other potential collaborators to join the world- building process. More than just contributing to their own departments, they would add to a scene in the script or even inspire a new character.
Through research and interviews with actual residents in Tiong Bahru and Pearl Bank, we were able to excavate interesting stories and characters. During rehearsals, I would workshop with our actors and devise the characters further. I would encourage them to own the characters and play.
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During the shoot, each time we went for a new take, they would usually give me a slightly different interpretation. They were not trying to fit in with what I had in mind. They tried to expand the creative possibilities of what I had in mind. On set, I also shared my directing monitor with my key cast and crew to keep them involved, and anyone could ask for a new take if they thought that they could do better.
Even during our post-production, the editor and I worked for almost two years with various collaborators including our music composers, sound designer, visual effects artists, animation artists and colourist to give layers and textures to the final film.
Nothing is too precious and I always encourage all our collaborators to have fun, play with what we have and to feel free to go off tangent — that is how we will find the centre of gravity, what gels the film together.
I like to empower the people I work with and give them time to create so everyone can take a collective stake in the film. Our diversity is a great strength. I hope we can celebrate our differences by empowering more diverse filmmakers to tell their own stories. I hope that we can encourage worthy failures and meaningful collaborations so that more distinct voices can be heard.
This story about Tan Bee Thiam and his vision of world building first appeared in our April 2021 issue.
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