LOCAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION ASKS PARTICIPANTS TO REFLECT ON WHAT IS "HOME TRULY"

What does home mean to you?

That is the question posed by the organisers to budding filmmakers in the call for entries for next year's ciNE65. Now in its fourth season, the short film competition organised by Nexus invites Singaporeans to reflect on their hopes and dreams for Singapore, and how to make Singapore a home that future generations will want to have and cherish.

Next year's theme, "Home Truly", was inspired by "Home", the popular local song sung by Kit Chan.

Director Nexus Colonel (COL) Joseph Tan said: "The lyrics of the song "Home" reflect Singapore's treasured memories and the shared dreams of our home.

"Filming and storytelling are very powerful mediums and through looking at Singapore with their lenses, we hope that this will inspire participants to reflect on their stories of how they see Singapore, and have a deeper sense and understanding of the Singaporean identity."

Budding filmmakers can also draw inspiration from two commissioned films produced by well-known filmmakers Sanif Olek and Wee Li Lin.

Mr Sanif's film, "The Usual", is about a young boy's experience at a barber shop which inspired him to become a Commando. Ms Wee's film, "The Perm", is about a girl who has an unsatisfactory perm at a hair salon and ends up being comforted by her grandmother, and hairdressers who, over the years, have become family. Both filmmakers drew inspiration from their childhood experiences at hair salons.

Admitting that the theme was tough, Mr Sanif eventually chose to combine his childhood trips to the barber and his National Service experience as a Commando in the film.

His advice for participants? To ask themselves what home is all about.

The 46-year-old explained: "You may be travelling anywhere, but when you look back, what are the first things that you remember about Singapore? It is usually the things that you tend to remember fondly and in a sentimental way... that will resonate with Singaporeans."

Previous ciNE65 participants and winners Lawrence Loh and Ray Pang also took turns to share their experiences. The former clinched the Overall Best Film (Open category) in last year's competition while the latter was Overall Best Film and Best Editing (Open Category) winner in season one.

Revealing that he was a second-time participant who did not make the cut on his first try, Mr Loh urged participants not to give up hope.

"ciNE65 is not just a competition, it also gives a lot of opportunities for new filmmakers to find out more about filmmaking, and provides you with the tools and techniques to go about doing it," said the 34-year-old.

For Mr Pang, filmmaking is all about passion and perseverance and he encouraged participants to enjoy the process and "just have fun".

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself," said the 31-year-old.

"Making film is a craft that you have to keep doing to become better, so just have fun while doing it. Challenging yourself is more important than winning."

All participants will get to hone their filmmaking skills through a series of workshops and seminars held from January to February 2017. These will be conducted by industry experts such as Jack Neo, Gladys Ng and Gek Li San.

The competition is open from January to 17 Apr 2017. The top prize includes a cash prize of $3,000, a Panasonic 4K Professional Camcorder and a learning trip to an international film festival.

As one of the judges for the competition, COL Tan has this advice for participants: be as authentic as possible.

He said: "If the filmmakers or participants are able to dig deep and get stories which resonate personally, I'm sure the stories will be authentic and that will work."

For more details on the competition, visit www.cINE65.sg.