Ahead of its scheduled reopening in the second half of this year, Raffles Hotel Singapore has premiered a short film by homegrown Sundance-winning director Kirsten Tan that captures the heritage and soul of the establishment.
Titled We Were Built, the four-minute video comprises montages of relationships through the generations that the hotel’s grand halls and lobbies are imagined to have witnessed, set to the narration of a poem of the same name by Singapore Literature Prize–winner Amanda Lee Koe.
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Tan was inspired by her interactions with and memories of the establishment. “For me what was important was to carry through the essence of the hotel as a place, and stay focused on that feeling when I stayed there,” she explained during the short film’s premiere, held at the National Museum of Singapore. “I still remember the feeling I had while walking through the lobby, and even at night when I was sleeping I could smell the scent of the pillow — light and fresh, like clean laundry.”
“And I think what was really moving for me was that over its 130-year history, there was so much care and attention put into crafting this very experience — to me, it felt like stepping into an oasis in the middle of this crazy city, and I wanted to insert that feeling of magic into this film.”
Watch Kirsten Tan’s short film to experience the magic yourself.
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