Tan Pin Pin, 9 August (2006), Singapore

Commission from the National Museum of Singapore for its History of Singapore permanent exhibition, 9 August spliced together 41 years of National Day Parade TV broadcasts. The film revealed how, over four decades, the style of this public display of nationalism remained constant. Shot sizes, framing, and camera positions for television recordings remained unchanged. Shot for shot matching and its chronological presentation demonstrated a ritual-like aspect of the Parade, as well as our viewing. The active framing and reframing of the narrative, from an observational stance, the sense of agency is returned to the viewers, who may have been passive recipients of the programming projected into their private living rooms otherwise. Tan decided to break the parades into 5 movements: press and fly past, presidents and salutes, cascades of MPs and Prime ministers waving, mass displays, and the audience. Each movement has its own theme music which was composed by Philip Tan. The montage film also brings into the attention of its embodiment of the country’s journey through time, with the same leaders incrementally aging, and the performances becoming flashier, more colorful, and better funded. The structure of the film seek to provide a sense of flow of the proceedings regardless of whichever point the viewer engages with it.

About Tan Pin Pin

Tan Pin Pin is a Singapore-based film director and producer who has spent over two decades chronicling the history, memory, and representation of her country. Her works interrogate the idea of Singapore, whether it be through traversing Singapore to find out how long it takes to cross the island, to traversing the globe to speak with her political exiles. The gaps in history, memory, and documentation are questioned in her films. Her works have screened in Singapore and abroad, as well as been invited to film festivals such as Berlinale, Busan, Hot Docs, SXSW, Visions du Reel, and at the Flaherty Seminar. Her career in the arts began as a photojournalist, but when video cameras became affordable, Tan made a leap into film. Her first film was Moving House (1996), and her latest work walk walk (2023) is available for viewing daily until 2025 at the Singapore Art Museum.

The screening of Tan Pin Pin, August 9 (2006) at the Cinema For All Pavilion is through the courtesy of Tan Pin Pin.