a film about queer love
a compilation and hopeful interpretation of memories, dreams, and fantasies of queer love recounted by different individuals in Singapore.
synopsis
holding your hand in public is an experimental animated short that can be thought of as a documentative visual poem. Through a collection of dreamy sequences derived from intimate interviews with several queer people, an impression of queer experiences across Singapore takes shape.
The film focuses on the interviewees feelings of hope in an attempt to embody their experiences and evoke an authentic emotional response. This happens through an exploration of whimsical visuals and materials in a way that prioritizes feeling and texture over technical precision.
directors' note
This film is what we wish we had as kids. Growing up in Singapore, we both found it difficult to visualize the paths we could take as queer people. Queer representation in media is growing globally and locally, but it is still considered taboo and systematically censored in Singapore.
Queer people have been historically portrayed as stereotypes or victims of tragedy in mainstream media. Though awareness and effort to fix this has been increasing with more media celebrating our culture and identity, we believe a lot more can be done starting with ourselves.
This film shows the hope, possibilities, and nuances of queer love in this place where we are often excluded and sidelined by authority. We also wished to approach this project with the fluidity and openness of queerness- and so we experimented as much as we want with mediums and means of expression to create an experience-driven film.
the process and art
of holding your hand in public
On September 13th 2022, we launched an open call on Instagram to collect stories about queer love in Singapore. Thanks to the support of our community, by the end of the month, we received 60 responses through our online form.
We carefully selected 10 people to interview based on the short introductions provided in their responses, trying our best to ensure that our project represented a diverse range of voices from the local queer community. With this approach, we hoped to create a more nuanced and representative portrayal of queer love in Singapore.
After interviews, we would listen to the recordings and make visual notes about the images, colours, materials and motion that come to mind when the subject said something that stood out. This process had a subjectivity that we grew very aware of and embraced. We compiled our development into a book- you can view sample pages below.
