Singapore Panorama

Absent Smile

Lavender CHANG, John CLANG Singapore 80 mins PG World Premiere

FILM SYNOPSIS

A loving document of John Clang’s parents and other transnational families reunited briefly but remembered forever through family portraiture.

John Clang has been based in New York since his early twenties. He returns intermittently to visit his elderly parents, brings them on holidays and calls them frequently, but the pain of separation is still a lot to bear for the closely knit family. On a parallel tangent, candid portrait photography sessions of various families, where kin overseas partake live over webcam, record the precious, heartfelt moments of reconnecting with loved ones.

Absent Smile is a loving document of Clang’s parents and their mixed feelings of longing yet support for their son. Using the age-old format of family portraiture augmented with digital means, the spectral quality of absent family members projects a tentative reunion across time and space.

FILM INFO

FILM CREDITS

John CLANG

John CLANG is a New York-based visual artist whose work often explores expressions of time and space and how we negotiate our existences within the two dimensions. His first and second features, Their Remaining Journey (2017) and A Love Unknown (2020), both premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Absent Smile is his third feature.

Lavender CHANG

Lavender CHANG is a visual artist and cinematographer who lensed all of Clang’s feature films including Absent Smile, which also marks her directorial debut. Chang is known for contemplative imagery that leaves behind traces of mortality over time.

CONTACT

Potocol

jeremy@potocol.co

Screening Details

  • Date/Time

  • Venue

    Golden Village Plaza Singapura, Hall 9

  • Runtime

    80 mins

  • Q&A with filmmaker(s)

UNAVAILABLE
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS
  • MORE FILMS