Tickets for the 37th Singapore International Film Festival cost S$15 for a regular screening and S$25 for the opening and closing films, and every one of them is sold online only. The festival runs from 21 October to 1 November, earlier than its usual late-November to early-December run.
Every ticket and pass now sits in one sgiff.com account, which handles bookings, e-tickets and the Rush Queue. There is no box office at any venue.
What each ticket costs
Prices by ticket type:
- Festival Opening and Festival Closing: S$25
- Special Presentations: S$20
- Undercurrent live performances: S$20 each
- Junior Explorers Combo (one adult and one child under 16, relaxed screenings only): S$20
- General film ticket: S$15
- In Conversation With dialogue sessions: S$10
Other forum talks and panels are free, but need online registration to secure a seat.
The Undercurrent Pass, new this year, costs S$50 and covers one ticket to each programme in the section, live performances included. Undercurrent has 11 moving-image works and screen-based performances. Stocks of the pass are limited.
Children aged two and above need their own ticket at the regular price. Film ratings are enforced at the door, and tickets bought for a child below the rating are not refunded.
Discounts, and where they do not apply
Students, National Servicemen and seniors aged 55 and above get S$2 off. ID is checked at the door.
SGIFFriends, who donate S$10 or more, get 15 per cent off. Kinokuniya members, Catch members and Industry Passholders get 10 per cent off.
All of these discounts apply only to general film tickets and In Conversation With sessions. The opening, the closing and the Special Presentations are always full price, and only one discount can be used per transaction.
Culture Pass credits work for eligible films. Each ticket bought with credits comes with a unique code to enter at the sgiff.com checkout.
The Cinephile Pass, a S$50-minimum donation pass for critics and content creators, was by application only and closed on 30 September. A SGIFFriends donation of S$400 or more still buys unlimited access to screenings, including the opening, closing and Special Presentations.
Late arrivals and the Rush Queue
Regular screenings are free seating, first come, first served. Only the opening, the closing and the Special Presentations have reserved seats. Doors open 10 minutes before each screening.
Ticket holders have a 10-minute grace period after the start time. After that, an unclaimed seat is forfeited and released to the Rush Queue, and 20 minutes after the start the doors lock with no entry at all.
The Rush Queue is the only door sale. It forms up to 30 minutes before a screening, admits people from the start time and releases no-show seats from the 10-minute mark, one ticket a person. Entry is not guaranteed. Online sales close five minutes before each screening.
All tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable, except for films that are cancelled or rescheduled.
The opening and closing films, and where screenings run
The festival opens with The Assassin(s), Hur Jin-ho’s thriller about a detective, a reporter and an editor investigating a shooting on South Korea’s Liberation Day in 1974. It is rated PG13 and runs 131 minutes. The 8.30pm screening at Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands on Wednesday 21 October is selling fast, and the repeat at 2pm on 22 October at the National Museum’s Gallery Theatre is sold out.
Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Vintage Violence closes the festival at Capitol Theatre at 5pm on Sunday 1 November, with a Q&A. The M18 comedy follows an American livestreamer who takes a pair of 19th-century Levi’s to Tokyo to sell and runs into the yakuza.
This year’s Cinema Honorary Award goes to Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Aamir Khan receives the Screen Icon Award, with Lagaan screening as a Special Presentation.
Regular screenings run at Golden Village Bugis+, Cineleisure, Suntec City and VivoCity, at Marina Bay Sands’ Sands Theatre and Jasmine Ballroom, National Gallery Singapore and Oldham Theatre. The Festival Lounge is at LASALLE College of the Arts, Block D Level 1, on McNally Street.
