Viddsee debuted its third season of Scene City, an anthology of short films that captures the drama of city life. The series comprises 10 fictional short films that are produced by Viddsee Studios in collaboration with 10 Singaporean filmmakers, who conceptualised and directed the short films.

Available to watch for free on Viddsee, the dramatic short films explore a diverse range of themes, including stories that examine romantic and familial relationships, mental health, migrant culture, and more. The 10 films were released on the 28th of August starting with the film Bak Kwa, with the final film, Pantang Boy, launching on the 29th of January 2021.

Kenny Tan, the Head of Viddsee Studios said, “Scene City is an anthology that works with local filmmakers in bringing their stories to life in entertaining and surprising ways while providing viewers around the world a peek into the city’s people, culture, and places.

“Since it began in 2018, Scene City has gone on to become the largest short film anthology in the Southeast Asian region, with 16 short films made, and 25 more to be launched from now until 2021. In the process, we’re proud to have worked with hundreds of collaborators who range from experienced industry hands to up-and-coming talents who’ve taken this chance to show what they can do. We hope in the coming years to expand the anthology’s concept beyond Singapore, and into other cities across the region.”

The third season kicks off with Bak Kwa, a film conceived and directed by M Raihan Halim, who is known for his television dramas Yazid Wears Diapers, and Big Time In Little Street, as well as the 2014 feature film Banting. This light-hearted short film centres around Ah Lim (played by Johnny Ng), a bak kwa (barbecued pork) seller who gets a surprise when his son, Jason (Andrew Marko) introduces him to his Nurin, his Muslim girlfriend (Izyan Mellyna).

Raihan said of his film, “Singapore is a multicultural country, and with a myriad of races in a small area, we are bound to find a lot of interracial relationships between each other. But for me, ‘Bak Kwa’ is less about an interracial relationship and more about a father and son. It is wholly local and tackles serious issues about race and religion with a very universal theme of facing change, which fits into Scene City’s concept of local and memorable stories.”

Next to follow is the launch of Bulan by director Syamsul Bahari on the 4th of September. The coming-of-age story is centred around Izwan, a quiet 12-year-old boy who is secretly keeping Bulan, a Hercules beetle which he inherited from his late grandfather, away from his mother.

The working titles of the remaining eight films are I Survived An Accident by Grace Tay; Eggshell by Sabrina Poon; Colours by Don Aravind; Guang Ming by Amanda Tan; Black Silence by Dharfianto; Signature by Benjamin Low; Old Man and The Scene by Victor Gan; and Pantang by Michael Tay.

Previous short films within the Scene City anthology have been screened in various international film festivals. They include Final Exam, which is an official selection for Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2020; Run Chicken Run, an official selection for CineKasimanwa: Western Visayas Film Festival 2019; Light by Bedside, an official selection for 14th International ASTO Short Film Festival; and Cash Only’ an official selection for FILMETS Badalona Film Festival 2019.

Aside from its availability on Viddsee, films from the first two seasons of the anthology are available on Mediacorp’s meWATCH and Channel 5 as part of the latter’s Lights.Camera.Singapore initiative.

Following the launch of Scene City, Viddsee will debut its first of six VOICES documentary series on 30 September, followed by the first of seven series on 26 October.