''The Songs We Sang'' is a 2015 Singaporean documentary directed by Eva Tang. It is about '' xinyao'', Singaporean

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

that was popular in the 1980s.

Synopsis

The documentary covered the last years of Nanyang University and how it affected the Chinese educated students who graduated from there. It also documented how the poetry club in Nanyang University, before the closure of the institution, branched out to song writing, influenced by Taiwan ''minyao'' (民谣), a Taiwanese folk songs movement in the 1970s and their school campus songs (校园民歌). The history of was then chronicled from its birth in educational institutes to local success and then to commercial success. Interviews were conducted on three different groups of people: local ''xinyao'' singers such as Eric Moo, Billy Koh, Koh Nam Seng, Liang Wern Fook,

Wong Hong Mok Wong Hong Mok (better known as Huang Hongmo 黄宏墨) is a xinyao (新谣 Singapore Chinese folk-pop) singer-songwriter, music producer and professional photographer from Singapore. He, along with Liang Wern Fook and others are seen as pioneers ...

; singers inspired by ''xinyao'' such as Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin; and local DJs who helped popularised ''xinyao.'' The film ended with clips of footage of the free ''xinyao'' concert, with performances by various ''xinyao'' singers, held by the producers.

Production

The documentary film was budgeted at $35,000. It was also supported and partly funded with a grant of 30 per cent of the original budget by the National Heritage Board of Singapore. As part of the documentary, a free concert was staged on 6 July 2014 at Bras Basah Complex. Various ''xinyao'' singers such as Eric Moo,

Roy Li Roy Li Fey Huei, more commonly or affectionally known as Li Fei Hui (Traditional Chinese: 黎沸揮), is a singer from Singapore. He was dubbed as one of Singapore's brightest exports in Taiwan's music industry, back in the early 1990s. For th ...

Dawn Gan Yan Liming (; 15 April 1963 – 22 September 2018), better known as Dawn Gan, was a Singaporean '' xinyao'' singer. She was one of the pioneer ''xinyao'' singers in Singapore. Early life and education Gan was born on 15 April 1963 and studied ...

and Pan Ying performed at the concert for two hours. Footage of the concert was shown in the documentary.

Release

''The Songs We Sang'' premiered at the

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore. Founded in 1987, the festival has a focus on showcasing international films and providing a global platform for ...

on 29 November 2015. The performance was sold-out.

Golden Village Golden Village is a cinema operator based in Singapore, fully owned by Orange Sky Golden Harvest of Hong Kong. It was initially set up as a 50:50 joint venture between Golden Harvest (predecessor of Orange Sky Golden Harvest) and Village Ro ...

released it to five Singaporean theaters on 24 March 2016. It grossed $23,508 on the opening weekend and a total of $84,661. On 8 August 2020, the film was released via Netflix.

Reception

After its festival premiere, the film received positive reviews. In praising Tang's research, Boon Chan of '' My Paper'' rated it 4.5/5 stars and wrote, "''The Songs We Sang'' is a labour of love that puts our stories front and centre." Tan Kee Yun of ''

The New Paper ''The New Paper'' is a Singaporean newspaper in tabloid form. It was originally published as a "noon paper", but since 2016 has been published daily as a freesheet in the morning from 7 a.m. onwards. History First launched on 26 July 1988, ...

'' rated it 4/5 stars and called it "truly a gem of local cinema", as it avoids the melodrama associated with ''

That Girl in Pinafore ''That Girl in Pinafore'' () is a 2013 Singaporean comedy-musical film directed by Chai Yee Wei and starring Daren Tan, Julie Tan, Hayley Woo, Jayley Woo, Kenny Khoo, Seah Jiaqing and Kelvin Mun. Plot The story was set in the 1990s. Secondary sc ...

''. '' Her World'' rated it as one of the best Singaporean films of 2015.

References

External links

* 2015 films 2015 documentary films Singaporean documentary films Documentary films about music and musicians Singaporean music 2010s Mandarin-language films {{music-documentary-film-stub