Film: The House of Janus (24 July)
About the Film
The House of Janus, marks director Ong Keng Sen's return to cinema since 1996's blockbuster Army Daze. This deeply personal and visually striking "love letter" offers an intimate glimpse into Ong's life in Europe with his nonagenarian partner, Adriaan van de Staay. The film meditates on enduring love, ageing and impermanence through a compelling hybrid of cinema verité, documentary, and operatic fantasy set within their Italian hillside home in Bettona. Shifting perspectives between the house itself and its creator, the film subtly explores Adriaan’s coming to terms with the inevitable abandonment of all he has built and cherished. The opera Dido and Aeneas, the first opera the partners listened to together in this house 16 years ago and a recurring summer tradition, serves as a poignant leitmotif. Its themes of loss and farewell echoing Adriaan's own quiet reckonings that he will become like Aeneas who has to leave his life behind when destiny beckons. Evoking the two-faced Roman god Janus, the film reflects on the transience of life, the residue of personal actions, and the elusive nature of permanence as Adriaan enters his golden years, facing the inevitable departure from his beloved House of Janus with grace.
T:>Works launches The AGEncy Fund with a fundraiser screening of The House of Janus on 10 July 2025 at Oldham Theatre. Funds raised from this initiative will be ring-fenced to build a dedicated support structure for artists aged 60 and above, encompassing artistic development, capacity building, and financial aid where needed, culminating in a future AGEncy festival. It celebrates the endurance and agency of mature artists, ensuring their invaluable contributions are neither forgotten nor abandoned. Details to come.
Credits
Director: Keng Sen Ong
Writers:
Adriaan van der Staay
Keng Sen Ong
Cast:
Thomas Michael Allen
Michael(a) Daoud
Keng Sen Ong
Adriaan van der Staay
Director of Photography and Editing: Camille Lacadee
Composer, Sound Editor and Sound Recordist: Gabor Csongradi
Set Designer: Shahrzad Rahmani
Lighting Designer: Joseph Wegmann
Costume, Hair and Make-up Designer: Michael(a) Daoud
Associate Set Designer: Alice Faucher
Production Manager: Alicia Agustin
Film Colourist: Desiree Pfenninger
Producer: Traslin Ong
Executive Producer: T:>Works Singapore
Select Biographies
Ong Keng Sen
Ong Keng Sen, Artistic Director of T:>Works, has created many works that negotiate diverse traditional arts, queer expressions, documentary and archives of Asia with a wide range of contemporary artforms. His productions have toured the world, such as Trojan Women, created for the National Theatre Korea, which played at Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2022 and Edinburgh International Festival in 2023. He has also initiated and conceptualised various projects for curation and public engagement including the renewal of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (2013-2017), and Per°Form Open Academy (2023-2025) activating social urgences and knowledge production with global south artists. (Photo by Jeannie Ho)
Adriaan van der Staay
Poet, writer, cultural politician, and public intellectual, Adriaan van der Staay was emeritus professor at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He is best known as director of the Rotterdam Art Foundation initiating the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Arts Lab de Lantaren, Poetry International in the 1970s, and as director of the National Social and Cultural Planning Office of Netherlands in the 1980s and 1990s. He served as President Intergovernmental Committee of the World Decade for Cultural Development (UN/UNESCO), Paris, and was chairman and member of the board of Prince Claus Funds, Rijksacademie, Kunstinstituut Melly, and Clusius Foundation, amongst others. (Image courtesy of Adriaan van der Staay)
Thomas Michael Allen
Lyric tenor, Thomas Michael Allen, has enjoyed an international singing career spanning the last two decades across Europe, America and Asia. His vast repertoire extends from the earliest operas of Monteverdi and Cavalli, through Mozart and Rossini, up to the works of contemporary composers like Phillip Glass and Hans Werner Henze. He has performed nearly every oratorio in the standard repertoire, and has dedicated himself to the art song repertoire, with two critically acclaimed solo CDs. Alongside his performing career, he is Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. (Image courtesy of USC Thorton School of Music)
Frequently Asked Questions
Rating
- PG13 (Some Mature Content)
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- 72-13 is wheelchair-accessible and includes limited wheelchair seating. Please contact us at 6737 7213 to book wheelchair seats.
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