04/09/2026
Last night we caught the premiere screening of The Violinist, a hand-drawn animated film written and directed by Ervin Han and Raul Garcia, with ITI Executive Director Justin Deimen serving as Executive Producer.
It’s not often an audience remains seated to watch the credits roll. But last night, despite the full aircon blast of the Capitol Theatre, we stayed to watch the names of hundreds of artists, producers, editors, assistants, directors and cultural partners from numerous countries - every hand involved in shaping an extraordinary 10-year journey - flow across the screen, from floor to ceiling.
The film itself is a captivating story about love, friendship, and the unyielding necessity of art: the thing that allows our shared humanity to endure, even through the darkest periods of history.
For those of us at ITI, there was another resonance too.
The story behind the making of The Violinist is a testament to what can emerge from meaningful, sustained relationships across cultures, disciplines and borders. That is very much the work we believe in: bringing artists with different traditions, histories and ways of seeing into genuine encounter, and giving those encounters enough time to become something none could have created alone.
In a culture that increasingly pushes us towards incessant production, immediacy without substance, and consumption without fulfilment, a 10-year creative journey is also a useful reminder: deep artistic work requires patience. Relationships require patience. Artists require patience.
Good things really do take time.
Congratulations to Justin, Robot Playground Media Pte Ltd, award-winning composer Ricky Ho 何國杰, and everyone who played a hand in bringing The Violinist to the screen.
In Singapore cinemas from 17 September — don’t miss it.
More than a decade in the making, award-winning animated film The Violinist brought together various artists and creatives from around the world to animate old Singapore by hand, while telling a story its directors believe transcends culture and history.
