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Winner of the Netpac award at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, among a number of other awards, both Asian and international, and backed up by production companies from all over the world, “Apprentice” is one of the most renowned Singaporean films of all time and an, overall, great movie.

“Apprentice” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

The story revolves around Sergeant Aiman, a 28-year-old former soldier and current correctional officer, who has just been transferred from “Commonwealth” (referring to the former Queenstown Remand Prison) to the fictional Larangan Prison, the state’s maximum-security correctional institute. Aiman’s social life is practically non-existent, since he still lives with his sister and has no girlfriend, and seemingly, no ambition for his life whatsoever. As soon as he meets the prison’s chief executioner, Rahim, however, and is considered to be his assistant, and when he retires,...

Two of the most dominant themes in Eric Khoo’s filmography are food (and particularly the hawker stalls) and the eternal antagonism between the international and the local, the modern and the traditional if you prefer. In his episode of HBO Asia’s “Foodlore”, he gets to explore both in the most eloquent way.

Food Lore is available from HBO Asia and HBO

Julie, a French young woman, works as an assistant chef in a high-class French restaurant in Singapore. Her life, however, is not easy, since she has to face a rather obnoxious higher-up, Pierre. Julie wants to show her value to the chef, but Pierre continuously pins her down, while her social life in the country is practically non-existent. This however, changes when on a night out with her colleagues, she has a rather episodic meeting with Irfan, the owner of a hawker stall. Irfan has his own issues to face,...

Winner of the Netpac award at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, among a number of other awards, both Asian and international, and backed up by production companies from all over the world, “Apprentice” is one of the most renowned Singaporean films of all time and an, overall, great movie.

The story revolves around Sergeant Aiman, a 28-year-old former soldier and current correctional officer, who has just been transferred from “Commonwealth” (referring to the former Queenstown Remand Prison) to the fictional Larangan Prison, the state’s maximum-security correctional institute. Aiman’s social life is practically non-existent, since he still lives with his sister and has no girlfriend, and seemingly, no ambition for his life whatsoever. As soon as he meets the prison’s chief executioner, Rahim, however, and is considered to be his assistant, and when he retires, his substitute, his true goals are revealed along...

Jose here. Boo Junfeng’s harrowing drama Apprentice focuses on the fascination a young prison officer (Firdaus Rahman) develops with the Chief Executioner (Wan Hanafi Su) who becomes his mentor. Besides the unique professional bond they share, there’s also a secret about their past that lingers over their relationship. This is only Junfeng’s second feature film, and he displays the storytelling confidence of veterans. Despite the film dealing with capital punishment it’s not a film about this, but rather a complex character study which invites us to wonder why so many people make choices we wouldn’t do in a million years. The film which Nathaniel reviewed at Tiff, is Singapore’s official Oscar submission, so I spoke to Junfeng about creating the characters, casting the actors and why it’s important we watch films about dislikable characters.

Read the interview after the jump.

Apprentice screens at 2:45 Pm on Friday, November 4 and at 8:45 Pm on Sunday, November 6, both at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas as par of the St. Louis International Film Festival. Ticket information can be found Here for the November 4th show and Here for the November 6th show.

With elections less the a week away, we’re still be bombarded by ads from candidates campaigning on a tough “law and order” platform. So, a film addressing these issues couldn’t be more timely. Apprentice looks at the subject from an international perspective, as it primarily concerns the prison system in Singapore. But, it’s also a family drama, and a tale of a most unexpected friendship. The main focus of the story is twenty-something Aiman ( Firdaus Rahman), who we first meet as he applies for a new job. After an awkward interview, it appears that he will soon be...