Some of the movies that were part of previous SGIFF editions.

12 Jul - Following its recent success back in December last year, the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) is set to return for its 28th edition at the end of this year.

The call for entry for SGIFF 2017's Films, Southeast Asian Film Lab and Youth Jury & Critics Programme has been opened for some time now and for those looking to submit their films to the festival, now is the best time as submission fees are waived for early-bird submissions.

Up until early August, feature film and short films submissions can be done for free. From 7 August onwards, Regular Submission will begin and each applicant will be charged a non-refundable USD25.

According to the SGIFF 2017's official website, "All feature films from any country may be submitted for Festival consideration. Only Asian feature films and Southeast Asian Short films are considered for competition." Cambodia and Malaysia are among the Southeast Asian countries that can submit films to enter the competition.

Feature film submission should be 60 mins and above while short film submission should be 30 mins and below.

The films must not have been broadcasted on TV, made available on the Internet or screened publicly in Singapore in any way prior to the festival. They must at least be a Singapore premiere and must have been completed no earlier than 1 January 2016.

As for the Southeast Asian Film Lab and Youth Jury & Critics Programme, entries to these are free of charge up until the closing date of submissions.

Southeast Asian Film Lab is a six-day lab open to first-time feature filmmakers from Southeast Asia, it explores Southeast Asian stories for development into feature length screenplays. Youth Jury & Critics Programme, however, is only open to post-secondary students in Singapore. It aims to nurture a new generation of critical writers on Asian cinema.

All submissions and applications for the 28th SGIFF will close on 21 August 2017.

Notification of selection will be made by end of September.

The deadline for entry to SGIFF 2017 is on 21 August.

Founded in 1987, SGIFF has asserted itself as a prominent professional film event in Singapore. Known for its dynamic programming and strong focus on groundbreaking Asian cinema for Singapore and the region, SGIFF 2017 is the biggest and the longest-running film festival in Singapore.

It aims to showcase international films and celebrate the stories of Asia and the world as told through the art of cinema.

In fact, the 27th edition of the CIFF, which was held back in 2016, sees the screening of the acclaimed "Diamond Island" by Davy Chou as well the Asian premiere in Singapore for Malaysian film, "Interchange".

The biggest SGIFF winners of previous years include "The Fourth Direction" by Gurvinder Singh for Best Asian Feature Film (2015), "The Fox Exploits the Tiger's Might" by Lucky Kuswandi for Best Southeast Asian Short Film (2015), "In The Year of Monkey (Prenjak)" by Wregas Bhanuteja for Best Southeast Asian Short Film (2016) and "White Sun / Seto Surya" by Deepak Rauniyar for Best Asian Feature Film (2016).

The 28th Singapore International Film Festival is taking place from November until December 2017.