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Who's behind the news?
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The Asian Film Archive (AFA) was founded in January 2005 as a non-profit organisation in Singapore, dedicated to preserving the film heritage of Singapore and Asian cinema more broadly. The idea originated with Tan Bee Thiam, who conceived the archive after a trip to India following his graduation from the National University of Singapore in 2004. He identified a critical gap: unlike major film-producing nations in the region, Singapore had no dedicated film archive. A working committee was formed in early 2005, and within the first half of the year more than 200 film titles had been collected. A foundational partnership with the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) provided essential archival storage infrastructure. In January 2005 the AFA formally incorporated as an independent non-profit company limited by guarantee.
In 2014 the AFA joined the National Library Board (NLB) as a subsidiary, strengthening its institutional base. The archive is based at the National Library Building along Victoria Street in central Singapore.
The AFA has collected more than 2,000 titles, with an emphasis on classic Asian films and contemporary independent works from Southeast Asia. Its collection reflects the cinematic history, society, and art of Asian nations and communities. Notable holdings include works by award-winning Filipino directors Lino Brocka, Mike de Leon, and Lav Diaz; Malaysian filmmakers Amir Muhammad, U-Wei Haji Saari, and Tan Chui Mui; and Singaporean directors Eric Khoo, Anthony Chen, and Kirsten Tan.
The AFA is home to the Cathay-Keris Malay Classics Collection, the first Singapore film collection inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Register, which recognises endangered and unique library and archive holdings. This collection includes critically significant Malay-language films from the 1950s and 1960s. A reference collection is accessible to the public at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library at the National Library Building.
The AFA undertakes restoration of deteriorating films. Notable restorations include Batch '81 (1983, Philippines), presented in the Venice Classics section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival in 2017; Bambaru Avith (1978); Patah Hati (1952); and Taming of the Princess (1958). Screenings take place at the Oldham Theatre, a 132-seat cinema at the National Archives of Singapore building that can exhibit from 4K digital projection to 35mm film.
The AFA organises regular public programmes including State of Motion (an annual multi-disciplinary event exploring Singapore's cinematic history), Singapore Shorts (an annual showcase of new Singapore short films launched in 2018), and Reframe (a salon series examining topics in cinema and moving image culture). It is an affiliate of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) and a member of the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association (SEAPAVAA) and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA).