Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2018 Toolkit Toolkit 2018 Final | Page 33

Choosing between Arthouse Films and Commercial Films
Although arthouse films do get
international recognition at international
film festivals, the reach of commercial
films amongst local audience and their
profitability are greater than arthouse
films.
■
■
Judging
from the
critical
acclaim
received by
films such
as Anthony
Chen’s Ilo
Ilo and K
Rajagopal’s
The
Yellow
Bird,
arthouse
films seem
to
more
accurately
reflect the
uniquely Singaporean experience and
it would be a pity if the Tamil film
industry were to be saturated with
commercial run of the mill films
Even though there is opportunity to
be commercial and still gain critical
acclaim, only very few films are able
to achieve both. One instance of
such a film will be, Ninaivugal which
was a commercially run film and yet
gained recognition at Asian
television awards as well as New
York Festival awards for best
direction and best acting respectively.
30
Arthouse films are at risk because
financing these films comes from
money earned from commercially
successful films and are hence
dependent on the commercial viability
of existing Tamil films.
■
Therefore, for more
people to be incentivised to
make contemporary arthouse
films, the local Tamil Film
industry has to mature and gain
a foothold in Singapore.
● Commercial success remains
lukewarm among local
audiences,
even
for
internationally
acclaimed
films such as Ilo, Ilo which
has avoided being labelled as
‘arthouse’ in order to attract
general audiences
● However, these films often
have a ‘slice of life’ factor
which lends relatability to
audiences and we need such
films to exist in the local
Tamil film repository
■
Steady support for commercial
films itself is therefore required
for filmmaking to be a viable
source of revenue and income
for local Tamil individuals and
incentivise them to venture into
contemporary arthouse films
that would present a more
accurate picture of Tamil culture
here.