Tak Giu

Tak Giu, an indie short film about Singaporean football, gained a cult-following and gathered 100,000 viewers in 6 months after it was hosted on the internet. Shot with just a camcorder, Tak Giu spread like wild-fire and made waves in the Singaporean football and online community. The 15min film in Singlish, English and Mandarin was produced, written and directed by Jacen Tan, who also starred in the film.

The film talks about the lack of soccer fields in soccer crazy Singapore and difficulties of finding suitable fields in land scarce Singapore. It also laments Singaporeans' lack of support for their national soccer and the futility of Singapore's 2010 World Cup goal.

Aside from being mentioned in prominent blogs and internet portals, Tak Giu was featured on local newspapers like The Straits Times, The New Paper, and Today. Jacen Tan was also invited to appear on TV programs like ESPN “Football Crazy”, “LiveWire” on Arts Central, Radio UFM 100.3 on the late Show with DJ Yuling, and News 93.8fm. It was shown in the CINEKATIPUNAN film fest in Philippines.

Two years after Tak Giu was released, 284 State fields were upgraded and opened for public recreation.^[1]

Popular culture & Trivia

'Tak Giu' means 'kick ball' in Hokkien. It is also a popular slang for Milo, a popular chocolate drink in Singapore and the region. This came about because Milo often uses an image of a soccer player in its packaging.
Tak Giu was Singapore's first viral short film. Released in 2005 before YouTube, the film went viral and spread through e-mail, with various fans volunteering to host the 42mb video file on their servers.
The film was shot with a camcorder borrowed from the director's brother's school. The actors doubled up as crew. During filming, the camera was manned by whichever actor who was not in the frame.

More football films by Jacen Tan

Kwa Giu (Tribute to Kallang National Stadium)

Kwa Giu (Watch Football) is a documentary tribute to the Kallang National Stadium. It was filmed during the last full house match on 31 Jan 2007, when 55 000 fans packed the National Stadium for the Asean Football Championship final.

The National Stadium, home ground of the Singapore soccer team, was one of Singapore’s most famous icons. In 2010, the stadium was demolished to make way for a new Sports Hub. Here’s the legendary atmosphere and spirit of the Kallang Roar, immortalized on film.

Homeground

In 2015, Jacen released Homeground,^[2] a documentary about playing spaces in Singapore. The film pays tribute to weekend warriors and their 'homegrounds' where they play soccer and forge friendships. The film was the winner of POSB's Storytellers Grant. The full film can be watched online on YouTube and Facebook.

Sources

References

^ "S'pore Land Authority makes 284 state fields available for public use". Channel News Asia. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
^ "A 'love letter' to playing spaces". straitstimes.com. 25 October 2015.

[1] "S'pore Land Authority makes 284 state fields available for public use". Channel News Asia. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2009.

[2] "A 'love letter' to playing spaces". straitstimes.com. 25 October 2015.

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