6 Nov – Malaysian film "No Love for the Young" will be making its world premiere at the 31st Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF 2020). The feature directorial debut by Ridhwan Saidi is scheduled to screen at Filmgarde Bugis Hall 7 this 30 November at 6.30pm. It will also be made available for online viewing on the same day, at the same time. Aside from making its premiere, the 85-minute movie will also be representing Malaysia in the film festival's Asian Feature Competition. The competition highlights a new generation of exciting talent in Asia, as it includes films of directors making their first or second features. A total of six films will be competing this year. "No Love for the Young" will be going up against "The Wasteland" (Iran), "Milestone" (India), "The Cloud In Her Room" (China, Hong Kong), "Beginning" (Georgia, France), and "Tiong Bahru Social Club" (Singapore), the Tan Bee Thiam debut feature that will be making its Southeast Asian premiere at the film festival and double as its opening film.
If "No Love for the Young" sounds familiar to Malaysian film enthusiasts, the movie, which also goes by the Malay title "Tiada Cinta Selama Muda", previously participated and received Special Mention in Kuman Pictures' 2020 Feature Film Challenge competition. Rated NC16 for some mature content, the movie produced by Moka Mocha Ink (independent publishing house co-founded by Ridhwan) in collaboration with BinFilem explores questions revolving love and youth. It began shooting at the end of June 2020, during the time when Malaysia was under its first round of Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO). Malaysia will also be represented in the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition, this time by a 25-minute Malaysia-Taiwan film called "Pulang". The titles it will be competing against include "The Cup" (Singapore), "Rocketship" (Singapore), "BÌnh" (Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand), "Here Is Not There" (Singapore), and "Sunrise in My Mind" (Cambodia). SGIFF 2020 is taking place in a hybrid form, in cinemas and online, from 26 November to 6 December.