In a world where movies make up a big percentage of media entertainment, novels being adapted into movies are a dime a dozen. Movies from Jane Austen’s romantic novels, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series have achieved international successes. The same, however, cannot be said of novel adaptations from movies. 

 

On 20 June, in a collaborative effort with the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS), the National Library launched the first-of-its-kind Screen-to-Print books where three local films – 12 Storeys, Eating Air and 4.30 – were adapted and penned into novels. Transposed into texts, these films have become refreshing complements to the cinematic experience.

The selected films represent a cross-section of local films across ten years of local film-making history, and were chosen for their ability to simultaneously engage local interests and appeal to international audiences.

 

What is unique about these print versions is the fact that they go beyond being merely screenplays of the films. The novels are extensions of the films and the main objective of the project is to offer readers different perspectives of the storylines made possible by the in-depth explorations of characters and plots that the written medium allows.

 

Dr N Varaprasad, Chief Executive (CE), National Library Board (NLB), shared in his opening speech, “ What we have done is to re-produce for the reader, the experience they would have had watching the movies, and more. The intention is to complement the aural and visual experience of the films by immersing readers in the written world of fiction and along with it, the nuances and deeper layers of the storyline.”

Gracing the launch event was Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA). Guests were treated to an engaging panel discussion in which writers and producers of the three films shared their own print-to-screen experiences in a spirited exchange. Mr Dilip Mukerjee, Managing Director for Buzan Centre, facilitated the discussion and among the panellists were the producers of Eating Air, Mr Kelvin Tong and Ms Jasmine Ng, as well as writers Mr Ng Yi-Sheng and Dr Yeo Wei Wei. Also present was Mr Kenny Chan, Merchandising Director for Kinokuniya.

 

 

Through the Screen-to-Print project, the National Library has fulfilled another of its objectives – the building up of national literary heritage through the creation and production of local print content.

 

Mr Kenny Chan commented on NLB’s and NBDCS’s laudable efforts, “By creating these Screen-to-Print books, you have not only widened the reach of these ‘Made-in-Singapore’ films, you have also contributed to our national literary heritage.”

 

The launch ended on a high note with the unveiling of the books by Mr Kenny Chan, Dr Varaprasad, CE, NLB, and Mr R Ramachandran, Executive Director, NBDCS.

 

All three Screen-to-Print publications are available at major bookstores at a retail price of S$17.12 (inclusive of GST). Copies of the publications will also be made available for loan at the Public Libraries.