Description:
Celluloid Singapore is a ground-breaking study of the three major periods in Singapore's fragmented cinema history, namely the golden age of the 1950s and 60s, the post-studio 1970s, and the revival from the 1990s onwards. Set against the context of Singapore's own trajectory of development, the book poses two central questions: how can the films of each period be considered 'Singapore' films, and how is this cinema specifically national? The book argues that the films of these three periods collectively constitute a national cinema through different performances of Singapore, offering a critical framework for understanding this cinema and its history in relation to the development of the country and the national.
Brief description: Edna Lim is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore where she primarily teaches film in the Theatre Studies Programme. Her research interests and publications span a range of issues in contemporary Hollywood cinema, adaptation studies, Asian and Singapore cinemas.