Eleven-Day Singapore Media Festival Concludes

Singapore Media Festival 2021, including the Asia TV Forum and Market (ATF), Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) and VidCon Asia Summit, wrapped on December 5 after a strong showing.

ATF saw more than 2,500 attendees from 61 countries and regions, and the first three days saw more than 11,738 meetings arranged. Over 600 hours of stories from Singapore and Asia were presented by IMDA at the Singapore Virtual Pavilion. ATF+ Online will remain available until January 2022 for those who could not attend.

“The Singapore Media Festival, and ATF, has once again proven to be Asia’s most important deal-making platform, and also one that contributes greatly to the Singapore media industry’s vibrancy and growth,” said Justin Ang, IMDA’s assistant chief executive for media, innovation, communications and marketing. “The creative journey to bring to life the fruitful conversations and connections made at this year’s SMF has just begun. I look forward to the exciting outcomes out of these connections at a future SMF!”

The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) showcased a selection of over 100 titles from more than 40 countries. Over 8,000 tickets were issued across 77 film screenings during the festival’s 11 days.

Ang commented, “The outstanding lineup of films screened at this year’s SGIFF is testament to Singapore and Asia’s incredible creative talent. These include award-winning works by local talents such as A Man Trembles, which led Singaporean co-directors Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen to win the Best Director award for the Best Southeast Asian Short Film competition; docufilm Like Shadows Through Leaves by Lucy Davis, which was awarded Best Singapore Short Film; and Some Women by Quen Wong, which won the much-anticipated Audience Choice Award. I am glad that the Singapore Media Festival, together with SGIFF, continues to provide a platform to showcase these amazing stories and facilitate conversations and opportunities for our talents.”

SGCC returned this year after a hiatus due to the pandemic. Its inaugural virtual event welcomed close to 3,700 registered participants to date. Beyond Singapore, participants came from Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Brunei and more. SGCC’s programs will be accessible until January 2, 2022.

VidCon Asia Summit brought together over 1,500 live and online participants, as well as 25 industry leaders and rising online creators such as Ming Bridges, Annette Lee, JianHao Tan and Ming Wei Ng.