Singapore Film Festival Awards Southeast Asian Documentaries and Shorts

The Singapore International Film Festival has unveiled the recipients of its 2025 Film Fund, distributing S$125,000 ($97,966) across seven projects spanning feature documentaries and short films from across Southeast Asia.

Selected from nearly 400 submissions, the funded projects represent filmmakers from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, covering subjects ranging from true crime to spiritual inquiry and counter-histories.

“This year, they encompass a wide range of expressions, blending unexpected forms of storytelling such as true crime, surrealism and counter-histories—including a striking mixed-media animated film,” said program director Thong Kay Wee. “At the same time, there is always space for films rooted in the observational mode, thoughtfully capturing the layered realities of communities over time.”

The fund comprises two main grants: the Tan Ean Kiam Foundation-SGIFF Southeast Asian Documentary Grant (SEA-DOC) and the SGIFF Southeast Asian Short Film Grant (SEA-SHORTS).

Four documentary projects secured SEA-DOC funding, with three productions receiving S$30,000 ($23,512) each and one post-production project awarded S$20,000 ($15,675). Among the recipients is “South Sea” by Indonesian filmmaker Riar Rizaldi, which explores a 2022 tragedy where 11 people were swept away by tidal waves during a mystical ritual at an East Java beach. The project blends true crime with cosmic horror elements.

“Black River” by Tran Phuong Thao and Swann Dubus follows itinerant merchants who have traveled Vietnam’s Black River for three decades to set up floating markets, reflecting on the country’s economic and moral evolution. “The People Outside” by Jewel Maranan examines a longstanding conflict in the rural mountains of the Philippines through the filmmaker’s journey into the Pacific mountain ranges.

Singapore’s Tan Pin Pin received post-production funding for “Arts Centre,” examining the lives of four independent artists – including herself – working at Aliwal Arts Centre, capturing practices from classical Indian dance to art tours on forgotten histories.

The SEA-SHORTS program, supported by Thailand’s White Light Post, awarded S$5,000 ($3,919) each to three projects, plus post-production services. “Anastomose” by Thailand’s Thaweechok Phasom follows a Buddhist monk’s unconventional path to enlightenment through an encounter with a blind mermaid in a cave. Director Phasom’s previous film “Spirits of the Black Leaves” won Best Southeast Asian Short Film at SGIFF’s 35th edition.

“Golden Island” by Indonesia’s Arief Budiman is a docufiction set in Papua that weaves archival images with personal memory, exploring counter-histories and collective memory. The third short film grant went to Singapore artist-filmmaker EXYL for an untitled mixed-media work crafted using charcoal, ink and live action elements, described as “a narrative experiment shaped by instinct rather than design.”

Previous SGIFF Film Fund recipients have gone on to premiere at major festivals including Critics’ Week at Cannes and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The fund launched in 2017 as part of SGIFF’s commitment to nurturing independent filmmaking across Southeast Asia.

The 36th edition of SGIFF will run Nov. 27-Dec. 7.