The Once and Future

In search of body and soul in the midst of apocalypse

Experience the coming together of film, laser display and live music performance in The Once and Future, a work of speculative fiction by the acclaimed Singaporean filmmaker (Locarno and Golden Horse winner) Yeo Siew Hua. Shot entirely in Argentina during the pandemic, Yeo’s film is a thoughtful probe of our humanity, the future of our earth and the voyages we have yet to make, in images that extend and expand our vision of ourselves.

© Singapore International Festival of Arts 2022

Breathing life into the film is an arresting, original musical score by composer Eugene Birman —  praised for his “high drama” and “intense emotion” (BBC) — performed live by the ZeMu! Ensemble Berlin (the latest group stemming from the Berliner Philharmoniker). Personifying as artificial intelligence, Indian librettist and vocal soloist Anandi Bhattacharya guides the audience on this journey.

Whether we see ourselves exploring the wilderness or confined in a small room, fragments of memory constitute a mosaic that teaches us what it truly means to be human.