SGIFF Opens With 'The Assassin(s)' Despite Opposition Pressure — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Hur Jin-ho thanked SGIFF for defending freedom of expression at the opening of the festival's 37th edition on Wednesday, where his political thriller "The Assassin(s)" screened
- Korea's conservative opposition had asked SGIFF to pull the film roughly two weeks before it opened
- SGIFF Chair Boo Junfeng publicly stated the festival's policy as: "We Refuse to Show Anything That Has Been Censored"
- The festival went ahead with the screening despite the political pressure from South Korea's opposition
Why it matters: The film's screening, paired with the chair's explicit refusal-of-censorship pledge, positions SGIFF as an unwilling participant in cross-border political disputes over artistic content — meaning future Korean or other politically sensitive submissions to Singapore's flagship festival face a stated policy of non-censorship rather than quiet cuts.
Ask SkimNews
