Filmmaker Martyn See made a film entitled Speakers’ Cornered, about the protest at Hong Lim Park during the World Bank-IMF meeting in 2006.
The Board of Film Censors has given the film an NC16 rating. The documentary has been posted on YouTube for the past several months.
Mr See had documented the protest, which was held by a group of seven activists which included SDP’s leaders, and the action of the police who were out in full force on 16 Sep 08 to stop the activity.
This is not the first time that the filmmaker had made a political video. In 2004, Mr See released Singapore Rebel and Zahari’s 17 Years, an interview of long-term ISA detainee Said Zahari.
Mr See was investigated and subsequently warned by the police for making Singapore Rebel, a documentary about Dr Chee Soon Juan. The film remains banned as is Zahari’s 17 Years.
Mr See has challenged and defied the Films Act by making these short films which have been screened internationally. His acts of civil disobedience has inspired other artists to make yet more documentaries in this genre.
Artists and bloggers, including Mr See, have called on the Government to repeal the Films Act that forbids the production of videos with political content.
This Act was introduced in 1998 when the Singapore Democrats produced a 20-minute video of the party and its alternative policies. This video has remain banned ever since.
For more information, please see: http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/