Online entertainment platform Viddsee today premiered its second season of Viddsee Voices social documentary series with ‘In Between’, a five-episode series that explores the spaces we live in through the lens of culture, history and personal experiences. It is part of Viddsee’s slate of 23 original content productions in 2019 that includes the short film anthology Scene City, which premiered on June 27 with ‘Something I Wanted To Ask’, followed by ‘Home is Where The Heart Is’ (July 4), and ‘A Golden Mile’ (July 11).
“These films and series showcase the bold, thought-provoking, and universally appealing stories that filmmakers are capable of telling. From insights based on last year’s original content, we saw that audiences wanted shows that had themes of acceptance and sacrifice, challenged stereotypes, and more women-led narratives -- concepts that guided us in developing this year’s slate of content,” said Derek Tan, Viddsee’s co-founder and chief commercial officer.
Scene City
Making its return for the second year is Scene City, an anthology of short films about the rich and layered narratives of city life in Singapore. This year’s 10-film anthology began with ‘Something I Wanted To Ask’, a family drama by Ng Yiqin that revolves around an abusive husband and father, and how it affects their teenage son.
“The film explores identity and masculinity through a boy’s eyes, as he struggles to understand the relationship between his parents and straddles between two perspectives, one of uncertainty, and the other of horror. It’s a great starting point for us to look at the very polarizing issues of what it means to be a man in this day and age,” said Yiqin, a Singaporean filmmaker who also created the Viddsee documentary series ‘Memories on a Plate’, which debuted last year.
Chang Kai Xiang's elderly drama 'Home is Where the Heart Is' explores elderly abandonment, an issue that will become more prevalent in the future as our society ages.
The remaining Scene City films are due to be released from now until October 17. Conceptualised by Viddsee, the series was made in collaboration with other Singaporean filmmakers such as the award-winning animators The Zhuang Brothers.
Making Voices heard
Also making its return for the second year is the Viddsee Voices documentary series, which begins with ‘In Between’, a series directed by Kenneth Chan that explores the cultural significance of living spaces -- from void decks and public parks to office cubicles and minimalist bedrooms -- and how different people relate to them.
“In Between is about understanding people’s personal relationship with physical spaces, and understanding the unseen ideologies, philosophy and history that guide the way these spaces are designed, interpreted and used,” said its director Kenneth Chan.
‘In Between’ will be followed by a release of four other Voices documentaries: ‘Keep The Music Going’ (directed by Saravanan Sam, debuting August 15), ‘Letters To God’ (Eileen Chong, September 12); ‘Memories on a Plate’ (Ng Yiqin, October 12); and ‘Our Girls’ (Joy Lee, October 31).
More Original series debuting in August
Aside from Scene City and Voices, the third quarter will also see the debuts of six episodic series that span multiple genres of thriller, romance, comedy and drama.
It begins with the August 29 debut of ‘Way Back When’, a coming-of-age romance directed by Sabrina Poon, whose works include family dramas like ‘Pa’, ‘Teng’, ‘Sylvia’ and ‘First Love’.
Other series that will be launched soon include the thriller ‘Ornitophobia’, directed by Martin Hong, and comedy-drama ‘J’Liu’ by JD Chua, who also directed ‘Circle Line’, Singapore’s first feature-length monster flick.
Also premiering in Indonesia is ‘Oldies Buddies’, a short film directed by Rein Maychaelson and co-produced by Viddsee, through a production grant earned from winning the Gold award at Viddsee Juree Awards Indonesia 2018.