Editor
The forced closure of the Sungei Road flea market in 2017 leaves evicted hawkers like Fook Seng, in his 70s and with a variety of ailments, with little recourse. in his 70s and with a variety of ailments, with little recourse. For him and his partner, negotiating is imperative to their survival—beyond their informal trade, it is also the way they wend their way through the thicket of bureaucracy to access financial aid.
Cinematography
The forced closure of the Sungei Road flea market in 2017 leaves evicted hawkers like Fook Seng, in his 70s and with a variety of ailments, with little recourse. in his 70s and with a variety of ailments, with little recourse. For him and his partner, negotiating is imperative to their survival—beyond their informal trade, it is also the way they wend their way through the thicket of bureaucracy to access financial aid.
Camera Operator
Deep in the tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia, a series of incantations invoke the spirits of yore, including those of the nimble, tricksy Kancil (mouse-deer) and the ferocious Buaya (crocodile). The ancient animals enact their folkloric vendetta in a furious dance of dominance, yet long-overdue vengeance is shrouded in smoke. Meanwhile, an effigy of a tree is burning, summoning a whole other host of spectres and ancestors. Conceived during the month of the Hungry Ghost Festival in 2019, while large-scale fires were consuming the forests of Indonesia, Yeo Siew Hua’s An Invocation to the Earth confronts climate collapse through the lens of pre-colonial folktales and animistic rituals. Through spoken spells and bodily entanglements, the video conjures up the fallen environmental defenders of a region ridden with ecological threats in the hope that their spirits will be reborn once again.
