Sementara (2020)

In Shao Min Chew Chia and Joant Úbeda’s inquisitive debut documentary, Singapore’s 50th jubilee celebrations becomes the backdrop for thoughts on modern Singapore. Through a series of intimate conversations paired with vignettes of religious ceremonies and recreation, Sementara reveals the undercurrents of a society wrestling with their own vision of identity and belonging, whilst the country seeks to balance rapid change with traditional laws and values.

In the Malay language, Sementara refers to both ‘temporary’ and ‘in the meantime’. In some ways, the title brings to the foreground the temporal sentiment of multicultural events promoting harmony, as a counter to the oft-overlooked methods of civil governance in the name of national security.