Women who Love Women Documentary Now Online!

If you missed the screenings at Pelangi Pride Centre, Singapore International Film Festival and Sinema, here's your chance to watch it!

Video at womenwholovewomensingapore.blogspot.com

Women who Love Women Documentary: Screenings in September

Sinema is bringing the documentary, Women who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore back for the month of September as part of their new series of featuring women directors every Friday.

Catch this documentary on lesbians in Singapore on:
- Friday, 5 September, 9.30 pm (no talkback)
- Friday, 12 September, 9.30 pm (talkback with Lim Mayling - director, & Gea Swee Jean - featured in docu)

Venue: Sinema @ Old School (11B Mt. Sophia Road)
Tickets: $8 each
Ticketing Hotline (Sinema): 63369707
[Tickets to be reserved over the ticketing hotline; payment and collection of tickets only at Sinema itself]
For more information: www.sinema.sg

For more information on the Documentary, visit our blogsite: womenwholovewomensingapore.blogspot.com

cheers, take care and please help spread the word around!

Sinema bringing back Women who love Women: Conversations in Singapore in September

Sinema is bringing the documentary, Women who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore back for the month of September as part of their new series of featuring women directors every Friday.

Catch this documentary on lesbians in Singapore on:
- Friday, 5 September, 9.30 pm (no talkback)
- Friday, 12 September, 9.30 pm (talkback with Lim Mayling - director, & Gea Swee Jean - featured in docu)

Venue: Sinema @ Old School (11B Mt. Sophia Road)
Tickets: $8 each
Ticketing Hotline (Sinema): 63369707
[Tickets to be reserved over the ticketing hotline; payment and collection of tickets only at Sinema itself]
For more information: www.sinema.sg

For more information on the Documentary, visit our blogsite: womenwholovewomensingapore.blogspot.com

Women who love Women goes to Q Film Festival and More Screenings at Sinema!

Just to announce that the documentary, Women who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore is being screened at the Q! Film Festival in Jakarta this coming week on 11 August (7 pm) and 14 August (8 pm) at different venues. For more information, please visit www.qfilmfestival.org. Please help spread the news to family/friends in Jakarta. The Q! Film Festival will also tour to Jogjakarta and Bali.

as well, Sinema is extending the docu screening to August and possibly September. The dates for August are:

- Thursday, 14 August, 6.45 pm
- Thursday, 21 August, 9.30 pm


Venue: Sinema @ Old School (11B Mt. Sophia Road)
Tickets: $8 each
Ticketing Hotline (Sinema): 63369707
[Tickets to be reserved over the ticketing hotline; payment and collection of tickets only at Sinema itself]
For more information: www.sinema.sg

For more information on the documentary, please visit our blogsite: womenwholovewomensingapore.blogspot.com

Additional Screenings for Women who Love Women

Screenings in July @ Sinema

Sinema is extending our run again in this month of July, but are programming only 2 weeks in advance. Our confirmed screening so far is on:

Saturday, 12 July, 2.30 pm

The 2 pending screenings, depending on how ticket sales go are on:

Thursday, 17 July, 6 pm
Sunday, 27 July, 7 pm

An update will be given if the latter two screenings get confirmed. However, in the meantime if you can only make these latter screenings, call Sinema and let them know anyway and if there's enough interest, I'm sure they'll open up the screening.

Venue: Sinema @ Old School (11B Mt. Sophia Road)
Tickets: $8 each
Ticketing Hotline (Sinema): 63369707
[Tickets to be reserved over the ticketing hotline; payment and collection of tickets only at Sinema itself]

For more information: www.sinema.sg

Extended Screenings for Women who Love Women‏

Just to let you know that there will be 3 additional screenings of the documentary, Women who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore at Sinema in June, as part of the Singapore Encore series from the Singapore International Film Festival 2008.

For those of us who haven't heard about the docu, or don't know what it's about, please visit the docu blogsite: womenwholovewomensingapore.blogspot.com

Details of the screenings are:
Sunday, 15 June 3 pm
Saturday, 21 June 9 pm
Sunday, 29 June 7 pm

Venue: Sinema @ Old School (11B Mt. Sophia Road)
Tickets: $8 each
Ticketing Hotline (Sinema): 63369707
[You need to reserve tickets over the ticketing hotline; payment and collection of tickets only at Sinema itself]
For more information: www.sinema.org/oldschool/
Documentary blogsite: womenwholovewomensingapore.blogspot.com

More additional screenings of Women who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore @ Sinema

Here are the (new) additional dates:

a. 15 june sunday 3 pm
b. 21 june saturday 9 pm
c. 29 june sunday 7 pm

For more information, please contact Sinema :)

Additional Screenings of Women who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore @ Sinema

Here are the additional screenings:

a. sunday 8 june, 3 pm
b. saturday, 21 june, 9 pm
c. sunday, 29 june 7 pm

For more information, contact the fine folk at Sinema

Women who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore screened at Sinema (20 May)

Just a reminder the documentary, Women who Love Women:
Conversations in Singapore R(21) is currently being
screened at Sinema.

Tickets are still available, and an additional
screening has been added.

Here are the details again:
- Saturday, 24 May, 9 pm
- Sunday, 25 May, 9 pm
- Sunday, 1 June, 7 pm

Venue: Sinema @ Old School (11B Mt. Sophia Road)
Tickets: $8 each
Ticketing Hotline (Sinema): 63369707
[You need to reserve tickets over the ticketing
hotline; payment and collection of tickets only at
Sinema itself]

For more information: www.sinema.org/ oldschool/
There will be a Q&A session with the team after each
screening.

Do visit the docu blogsite too for latest reviews,
etc.: womenwholovewomensi ngapore.blogspot .com

ST Life!: Love ladies (April 6)

April 6, 2008
Love ladies

A documentary about three lesbians has become a quiet hit at the
Singapore International Film Festival
By Deepika Shetty

When Su-Lin Ngiam posted an online call in 2006 asking lesbians to
share their experiences for a documentary she wanted to make, no one
came forward.

'It shows there is a lot of fear when it comes to talking about same
sex relationships in public,' says the theological studies student.

Given the lack of response from the community, Ngiam, 34, turned to
her friends and three agreed to talk on camera.

MsSabrina Renee Chong, 40, a freelance events consultant and
photographer, MsAmanda Lee, 24, a student, and MsGea Swee Jean, 24, a
business & IT marketing professional are featured in the 65-minute
documentary, Women Who Love Women: Conversations In Singapore.

The documentary, which has an R21 rating, has proven to be a small hit
at the Singapore International Film Festival. Four screenings have
already sold out and tickets to the fifth screening today are selling
fast.

The documentary is being screened at Sinema, Old School, in Mount
Sophia, which has a seating capacity of 130.

Mr Philip Cheah, 50, the festival director, says the documentary has
made an impact because 'you see people as themselves. The fact that
these women have come such a long way in realising their dreams is
moving people and encouraging them to watch it.'

Director Lim Mayling, 28, an events coordinator who studied
film-making, says she is surprised at the warm response. The
documentary was screened privately last year at the Pelangi Pride
Centre in Tanjong Pagar.

She says she shot the three women talking about their lives and the
'talking heads'' technique goes against what she was taught in her
media studies course at the University of Buffalo in the United States.

'But in this case, it works, it is the story of their lives and my
idea was to get it across as honestly as I could.'

Ms Chong says she agreed to appear in the documentary because she
wants to share her experience with other people who are in the same
situation.

'When I was growing up, the Internet was non-existent, there were
hardly any support groups, you couldn't come clean.'

She says that she never came out to her family 'officially'. Her
parents split up when she was two years old and she was brought up by
her grandmother and other relatives. Her father later died and her
mother is in Canada.

'My grandmother knew about my sexual orientation but we never talked
about it. But she and my relatives accepted it.'

Her girlfriend, a 30-year-old producer, joins her family at family events.

Ms Lee, an undergraduate at the Australian National University,
Canberra, had a harder time with her family when she told her mother
that she is gay.

There were 'a lot of tears, angry words' and her mother, an office
administrator, refused to accept her sexual orientation.

'Our relationship deteriorated because I could not share an important
part of my life with her.''

But her mother has since come around and comforted her when one of her
relationships failed, she says.

The third woman in the documentary, Ms Gea, declined to be interviewed.

Ms Chong thinks that the climate has become more tolerant of gay
people in recent years. Government leaders have spoken of treating
homosexuals like everybody else and employing them in the civil
service. She says: 'People don't fall backwards when they see gay
women holding hands.'

But the biggest comfort for her has been the acceptance of her family.

'When my grandmother passed away when I was in my late 20s, my
girlfriend and I were by her side. I think what was important for me
was the fact that my grandmother loved me unconditionally through all
of it.'

deepikas@sph.com.sg

Women Who Love Women: Conversations In Singapore is showing at the
Singapore International Film Festival. For details, visit
www.filmfest.org.sg

'When my grandmother passed away, my girlfriend and I were by her
side. I think what was important for me was the fact that my
grandmother loved me unconditionally through all of it.'
MS SABRINA RENEE CHONG

ST: Censors pass controversial film (Mar 18)

March 18, 2008
Censors pass controversial film

A DOCUMENTARY about lesbians has been cleared by the Board of Film Censors to screen in next month's 21st Singapore International Film Festival.

Directed by Lim Mayling, Women Who Love Women: Conversations In Singapore has been given an R21 rating with no cuts.

It will be screened twice at Sinema@Old School on April 5, at 7pm and 9.15pm.
The 65-minute documentary revolves around three Singaporean women - Amanda Lee, 24, an undergraduate at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia; Sabrina Renee Chong, 40, a photographer; and Gea Swee Jean, 24, who works in business and IT marketing - talking candidly about their lives and loves.

The film was submitted to the censors on Jan 10 and was given the seal of approval last Wednesday.

Producer Ngiam Suling tells Life!: 'It is heartening and encouraging that alternative voices in Singapore are beginning to get heard, and we hope that audiences for the documentary will be diverse and not just primarily the lesbian and gay communities.

'We would be very happy if the documentary manages to create dialogue about the issues raised as well as a deeper understanding of some experiences of growing up lesbian in Singapore.'

The Singapore International Film Festival runs from April 4 to 14. Douglas Tseng
For ticketing details and programme schedule, visit www.filmfest.org.sg

ST Life!: Censors pass controversial film (March 18)

March 18, 2008
Censors pass controversial film
A DOCUMENTARY about lesbians has been cleared by the Board of Film
Censors to screen in next month's 21st Singapore International Film
Festival.

Directed by Lim Mayling, Women Who Love Women: Conversations In
Singapore has been given an R21 rating with no cuts.

It will be screened twice at Sinema@Old School on April 5, at 7pm and
9.15pm.

The 65-minute documentary revolves around three Singaporean women -
Amanda Lee, 24, an undergraduate at the Australian National University
in Canberra, Australia; Sabrina Renee Chong, 40, a photographer; and
Gea Swee Jean, 24, who works in business and IT marketing - talking
candidly about their lives and loves.

The film was submitted to the censors on Jan 10 and was given the seal
of approval last Wednesday.

Producer Ngiam Suling tells Life!: 'It is heartening and encouraging
that alternative voices in Singapore are beginning to get heard, and
we hope that audiences for the documentary will be diverse and not
just primarily the lesbian and gay communities.

'We would be very happy if the documentary manages to create dialogue
about the issues raised as well as a deeper understanding of some
experiences of growing up lesbian in Singapore.'

The Singapore International Film Festival runs from April 4 to 14.
Douglas Tseng

# For ticketing details and programme schedule, visit www.filmfest.org.sg

ST:14 home-grown works in S'pore film fest (Feb 22)

Feb 22, 2008
14 home-grown works in S'pore film fest
Two films with gay content, Women Who Love Women and Lucky7, could
prove controversial
By Douglas Tseng
THIS year's Singapore International Festival showcases 14 movies made
by home-grown talents including two works with gay content which could
prove to be controversial.

Women Who Love Women: Conversations In Singapore is touted as one of
the few documentaries ever made about lesbians here. In it, three
Singapore lesbians talk candidly about their lives and loves.

Lucky7 is an experimental film with seven directors at the helm. One
director does a 10- to 12-minute segment of the film and this is
continued by the next director who knows only what has happened in the
last minute of the previous segment.

The movie's central character is played by by Sunny Pang. It has
homosexual content and has been rated R21 for 'sexual content and
disturbing images'.

Festival director Philip Cheah said Women Who Love Women was submitted
to the censors on Jan 10 and is pending a rating.

He said: 'All the films are like our children, we want to see them all
through the process.''

The festival has a policy of showing films uncut. Last year, Kan
Lume's experimental film about a gay couple, Solos, was withdrawn from
the festival after the censors ordered three cuts.

Other films that were withdrawn after the censors wanted cuts included
Sam Loh's serial killer thriller Outsiders (2005) and Zai Kuning's
short film Even Dogs Have Choices (2005), a short film featuring local
singer X' Ho.

Women Who Love Women, directed by Lim Mayling, 28, an events manager,
was screened at the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival last
November. It has also been screened privately in Singapore.

The three lesbians are Amanda Lee, 24, an undergraduate at the
Australian National University in Canberra, Australia; Sabrina Renee
Chong, 40, a photographer; and Gea Swee Jean, 24, who works in
business and IT marketing.

When asked how the audience would react to the documentary, Lim said:
'We will leave it to the audience to have their own thoughts. It is
still a little surreal to have been selected for the festival. It
remains to be seen if the film will be screened or how it will be rated.''

Other Singapore works to look out for include Royston Tan's After The
Rain, a short film about a young lad's move from the countryside to
the city, and Tan Siok Siok's Boomtown Beijing, a documentary on the
impact of the upcoming Olympics Games on a group of Beijing residents.

Royston is one of Singapore's most well-known directors, whose last
film, 881, about getai singers, made about $3.5 million at the box
office. Siok Siok is a long-time television producer who has worked
with Discovery Channel and MediaCorp TV. Boomtown Beijing is her debut
film, which she made while lecturing at Beijing Film Academy.

Festival manager Yuni Hadi said of the Singapore film segment:
'Whatever pre-conception we have of what a 'Singapore film' is, should
be left at the door and be challenged, twisted, questioned and discussed.'

The festival's opening film on April 4 is Wayne Wang's The Princess Of
Nebraska, a story about a pregnant Chinese girl's life in the United
States. Wang, who made his name with The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Eat
A Bowl Of Tea (1989), will be here for the festival.

Other films to watch out for include Wang Quanan's Tuya's Marriage,
which won the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival last
year. It tells the heartbreaking story of a Mongolian woman who tries
to find a suitor to take care of her and her disabled husband.

douglast@sph.com.sg

# Ticket sales at Sistic outlets start from March 5. For ticketing
details and programme information, visit www.filmfest.org.sg

# The Siff venues are Lido cineplex at Orchard Road, National Museum
of Singapore, The Substation, Goethe Institute, Republic Polytechnic
and Sinema@Old School.

Women Who Love Women: Conversations in Singapore to be shown at TocaMe

Women who love Women: Conversations in Singapore will be shown at TocaMe on Saturday 26 January at 9pm. For more information, please visit womenwholovewomensingapore.blogspot.com