astral projection

from its founding in 2014, The Projector at Golden Mile Tower has been a home away from home. i recall the crowdfunding perk of writing a message on one of its cinema chairs—and my vulgar one, calling out a certain critic, being turned down (rightfully) by Karen & Sharon Tan of Pocket Projects. in those early days, there was still a conservative church in what's now the Blue Room, plus an alcohol van with ridiculously cheap drinks in the carpark, and i loved seeing Christian faces mixed with Very Drunk ones on Sundays.

over the years, i've screened my films and conducted Q&As there, including for The Obs: A Singapore Story (2014), A Land Imagined《幻土》(2018) and I Dream of Singapore (2019). The Projector has always been supportive, and their audience the most receptive (even if they hate the film!) compared to other screening venues, past and present. i've seen mindblowing stuff from Funeral Parade of Roses (1969; rescreening soon!) to No Home Movie (2015) there, and cried/laughed buckets, but it's more than a space for cinema: some of my best memories there are of events/happenings like the Singapore International Festival of Arts, Asian Meeting Festival, and RIOT hosted by Becca D'Bus, with the crowd spilling over into the bar area/sometimes dancefloor for informal afterparties. it's there (and at the carpark) that i've made connections with the staff, projectionists, Kak Yati, and a ton of attendees (but never the photobooth folkz), which is more than can be said for all other venues on this island, period.

when The Projector expanded to Riverside Point in 2021, then The Cathay and Cineleisure Orchard, i was glad to have more options and even gladder that they held on to their GMT home thru all the (failed) en-bloc attempts. but if i'm being honest, those pop-ups may have had vastly superior screening facilities and more convenient locations, but never really evoked the special feelz of their Beach Road space. i was quite sad when they stopped screening films at GMT, transforming it into a special-events venue, like for the recent Independent Media Fair. but now that The Projector's been booted out of Cineleisure and is returning to Golden Mile from 6 Aug (just in time for NDPee), i can't wait to go home. in an unreal city like $G, i'll choose the vibez of the Beach over the Orchard any day or nite.

cum back to The Projector!

2015 audience of The Obs: A Singapore Story (2014)

postscript: The Projector shut down suddenly on 19 August.