The film festival starts on Wednesday, and it won't wait for latecomers

Ten minutes late, and your seat is someone else’s.

The Singapore International Film Festival opens on Wednesday 21 October and runs to 1 November, and the most useful thing to know about it isn't on the poster. Tickets are sold online only, through a festival account on sgiff.com, and the doors are strict: 10 minutes after a screening starts, an unclaimed seat goes to the rush queue, and at 20 minutes the doors lock. If your plan involves the 6pm crawl out of the CBD, leave earlier.

The programme is the reason to put up with it. The festival says this edition spotlights more than 25 Singapore productions and co-productions, its announced guests include Hirokazu Kore-eda, who is being honoured, and Aamir Khan, in town for a 25th-anniversary screening of Lagaan, and the closing film, Vintage Violence, screens on 1 November.

Our call: pick a film or two you would never catch at a multiplex and book them now. A sold-out screening is not resold at the door except through the rush queue, which sells one ticket per person, starts letting people in at the start time and guarantees nothing. Check the rating before booking for children: ratings are enforced at the door, anyone aged 2 and up needs a ticket, and tickets are not refundable unless the festival cancels or reschedules.

Can't decide? The rush queue is the honest gamble for a film you have only half heard of: turn up before the start, and if someone has overslept, the seat is yours.

Good to know Singapore International Film Festival, 21 October to 1 November 2026, at venues across the city. Tickets online only at sgiff.com (account needed); tickets from resellers may not be valid. Prices: general film S$15; Special Presentation S$20; Festival Opening or Closing S$25; In Conversation With S$10; Undercurrent performances S$20; Undercurrent Pass S$50; Junior Explorers Combo (one adult and one child under 16, relaxed screenings only) S$20. Latecomers: 10-minute grace period, then the seat is released; doors lock 20 minutes after the start. Children aged 2 and over need a ticket; film ratings are enforced. Non-refundable unless a screening is cancelled or rescheduled.

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Singapore International Film Festival 2026