51猎奇入口

Presented by Tan Pin Pin 陈彬彬 (in-person)
Wednesday, December 2, 2026 | 7:00 PM
Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema (Room 3200)
51猎奇入口School for the Contemporary Arts
149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver

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Please join us for a screening of To Singapore, With Love (2013, 70 min) by Tan Pin Pin (陈彬彬), with a post-screening discussion with Pin Pin and Joanne Leow (SFU).

Synopsis

Singapore political exiles, some of whom have not been home for 50 years, talk about the City of their dreams.

Director Tan Pin Pin attends a funeral in the hills of southern Thailand, a family reunion in Malaysia and goes for a drive through the English countryside, searching the world for the displaced souls of Singapore: different generations of Singaporean political exiles who have not been able to come home. Some have not returned for 50 years. They are now in their 60′s to 80′s. Some were activists, student leaders, others were card carrying communists. Though they are from different political persuasions, they all fled Singapore in the 1960’s, 1970s and 1980′s to escape the prospect of detention without trial carried out by the British Colonial Government and later, by the Singapore Government.

It is clear that while up to 50 years may have passed, the idea of Singapore is still very much on their minds. “Singapore oh Singapore, you are still on my mind, today and everyday,” intones a poem written by one of them. As they recount their lives, we see a City that could have been. A love letter to Singapore, from the outside.

– Tan Pin Pin 陈彬彬

(Director, Producer, Photographer)

Why was the film banned?

On 10 September 2014, To Singapore, With Love was from public screenings in Singapore. One of the reasons cited was that it “undermined national security”. Immediately, on the same day, 40 artists, filmmakers and civil society activists responded with a asking MDA to reconsider the ban. A week after the ban, a few hundred Singaporeans took chartered buses across the border to Johor Baru, Malaysia, . Pin Pin subsequently appealed against this decision, but the appeal was rejected as the Film Appeals Committee felt the film was . The film is currently screening privately in Singapore, as is permitted, and publicly abroad. The film is allowed for screening in Singapore tertiary institutions if certain conditions are met.

Supported by SFU’s David Lam Centre, School for the Contemporary Arts (Community Engagement Fund), Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies, Department of English, School for International Studies, and the Canada Research Chairs program. 

Biographies

Tan Pin Pin (陈彬彬) is a leading Singapore filmmaker and artist whose practice spans film, photography, and installation. Her award-winning work investigates the construction of memory, history and national identity. Her works challenge conventional narratives and forms as well as modes of distribution. 

Tan is widely recognised for her groundbreaking documentary features about Singapore, including (2005), (2007), (2013) and (2017). Her parallel body of installations, such as (2004), (2006), (2023) and (2025) extends these inquiries into spatial and archival dimensions.

Her films have been presented at major international festivals, including the Berlinale, Busan IFF, Hot Docs, SXSW, Viennale, and Vision du Réel. Her work has also exhibited in significant art contexts, including the Singapore Biennale, Thailand Biennale, Jakarta Biennale, and at institutions such as M+ (Hong Kong), MOMA (New York), TFAM (Taipei), Para-Site (Hong Kong) and House of World Cultures (Berlin). Mid-career retrospectives of her work have been held at Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM), DOK Leipzig, Flaherty Seminar and Liberation DocFest (Bangladesh).

Tan has served on the boards of the National Archives of Singapore, the Singapore International Film Festival, and The Substation, Centre for the Arts. She is a founding member of filmcommunitysg, an advocacy group for Singapore independent filmmakers. Her works are collected by the Singapore Art Museum and are in university libraries around the world.

Joanne Leow grew up in Singapore and lives on the unceded traditional territories of the x?m?θk??y??m (Musqueam), S?wx?wú7mesh (Squamish), and s?lilw?ta? (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She is Associate Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair of Transnational and Decolonial Digital Humanities in the Department of English at 51猎奇入口. She is the author of , , . Joanne spent most of her twenties as a broadcast journalist, television news presenter and producer with Channel NewsAsia in Singapore.

2026 BANNED FILM SERIES

The 2026 Banned Film Series is organized by Darren Byler (Associate Professor, International Studies, 51猎奇入口School for International Studies), Chris Chong Chan Fui (Assistant Professor, Film, 51猎奇入口School for the Contemporary Arts), and Joanne Leow (Associate Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair, 51猎奇入口Department of English).