Born of the Yam
Director
Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen
Singapur / 2026
60 min.
/ Without dialogue
An expanded cinema performance presented as a techno-mythological ritual of light and sound. Performed with multiple modified 16 mm projectors and DIY machinery, 16 mm film loops combining hand-processed and inkjet-printed sequences weave together fragmented visions from a mythical 11th century island, isolated in time. The images are drawn from an imagined mythology – recurring across the artists’ Unending Island project – centred around the birth of a demigod from a yam. A cursed birth that made the demigod the sole source of sustenance, wielding an absolute hold through the islanders’ dependency. Between elation and fear, the demigod figure is gradually manifested through visions formed from yam eco-developer and vegetal interventions, fusing with 3D-rendered virtual island-scapes.
Born of the Yam evokes the performativity of ritualism and idolisation, to reflect on their surfacing in our modern political landscape. The event becomes a kind of collective “bonfire” fanned by the flames of obsession and fantasy. Drawing upon our deeper primordial instincts, the live happening unpacks the process where mythic idols become a direct reflection of us and our making.
Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen are a filmmaker-artist duo from Singapore whose practice spans film, installation and expanded cinema performance. Their work explores histories, materialities and existential anxieties through speculative fiction and multimedia stagings. They have screened their films at IFFR, New Directors/New Films and BFI London, and presented 16 mm live film performances in Zurich, Taipei and Singapore. They are currently developing their mythological body-horror feature Strange Root (IFFR CineMart 2025; Berlinale Talents Script Station 2024).
Director Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen. Cinematography Mark Chua, Lam Li Shuen, Lincoln Yeo. Music Mark Chua, Lam Li Shuen. Make-Up June Goh, Yvonne Yeo, Leonard Cai, Kelvin Wong. Producers Mark Chua, Lam Li Shuen. Production company Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen (Singapur, Singapore). With Yazid Jalil.
Films: 2020: The Cup. 2021: A Man Trembles. 2023: Chomp It!. 2024: 根欲 / The Inescapable Desire of Roots. 2025: Before and After the Unknown. 2026: Born of the Yam.