Turang: November 4, 2026
To Singapore, With Love: December 2, 2026
Both screenings begin at 7:00 PM. Simon Fraser University
The 2026 Banned Film Series at Simon Fraser University presents two in-person screenings examining political history, decolonization, exile, memory, and national identity.
Each film will be followed by a conversation with invited filmmakers, artists, and scholars. The series is organized by Darren Byler, Chris Chong Chan Fui, and Joanne Leow. Simon Fraser University
Turang
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | 7:00 PM
Bachtiar Siagian’s Turang (1958, 87 min) is a post-independence Indonesian film depicting resistance to Dutch colonial rule.
The neorealist film follows freedom fighter Rusli after he is seriously injured while resisting Dutch forces. Tipi and her father, the chief of a Dutch-occupied village, become responsible for his safety and recovery. The film focuses particularly on the role of ordinary people in the liberation struggle and is set within an Indigenous Karo community. Simon Fraser University
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Bunga Siagian, artist, film curator, cultural producer, and daughter of director Bachtiar Siagian, and John Roosa (UBC). Simon Fraser University
To Singapore, With Love
Wednesday, December 2, 2026 | 7:00 PM
Tan Pin Pin’s To Singapore, With Love (2013, 70 min) follows Singaporean political exiles living outside the country, some of whom had not returned home for decades.
The documentary explores memory, displacement, political exile, and differing ideas of Singapore through conversations with people who left during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The film was banned from public screening in Singapore in 2014. Simon Fraser University
The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Tan Pin Pin and Joanne Leow (SFU).
