Amid the noisy spectacle of Singapore’s golden jubilee celebrations in 2015, filmmakers Chew Chia Shao Min and Joant Úbeda conduct casual interviews with people from different walks of life, each with their own set of values and beliefs.

The subjects share deeply personal stories and their perspectives on issues such as religion, race, identity and mortality. Unhurried interviews are interspersed with highly recognisable local scenes, and at times punctuated with serendipitous poetic moments.

Inspired by Chris Marker’s brilliant Le Joli Mai, the directors of Sementara, which is Malay for “temporary”, deftly weaves together scenes of profound subjectivities and societal structures to present a compelling yet sensitive portrayal of Singapore.

Director Statement

Our goal in making this documentary was to practice seeing, not scrutinizing or interrogating, but observing and understanding. Perhaps most people want to be accepted as whole people, scars and stories and all. This film attempts to put all these stories, goals, fears, and difficulties in one, hopefully, introspective journey––that happens all at once.