A Poet

Oscar is an aging, rueful poet whose artistic ambitions have long faded into obscurity and heavy drinking. When Oscar takes up teaching to meet ends meet, he encounters Yurlady, a working-class girl with an extraordinary gift for poetry, he becomes consumed with launching her talent into the local literary scene. Driven by a desperate longing for career redemption and a second chance at fatherhood, Oscar inadvertently pushes her into an ambitious world she never asked to join. Directed by Simón Mesa Soto, this tragicomedy earned the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and represented Colombia as its official submission for Best International Feature Film. Anchored by a brilliant, cringe-inducing performance from Ubeimar Rios, the film offers a darkly funny and deeply humane satire on artist egos and the messy search for purpose. A Poet, A Creative, A Panel Join us for a post-show fireside chat on Tue 6 Oct, 7.30pm! Do you dream of writing your story one day? Of writing novels, poetry, or making films? Do you want to support those dreamers around us to do so? It isn’t easy being an artist anywhere, especially not outside major commercial systems like America, the UK, and Hollywood. And though A POET comes from halfway across the world, our creative industries are really not so different. So why make the admirably Herculean task of creating any harder by keeping career wisdom behind closed doors (or gates), or by having to struggle alone? And if you care about local voices, then how can we best support our artists? Join us for a fireside chat with a local poet, Theophilus Kwek, and filmmaker, Pek Jia Hao, as they share with us their uncensored stories, tips and tricks, and dreams for the creative life in Singapore. In Spanish with English subtitles. Rated M18 for Nudity.