SINGAPORE — The hunt for the perfect 2015 Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) film is officially on. The largest and longest-running film event in Singapore will be back for its 26th edition in November and it is currently accepting film submissions until Aug 21.

The festival will run from Nov 26 to Dec 6 under the banner of the Singapore Media Festival by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA). After a two year absence, SGIFF had made a successful comeback last year, featuring 147 movies from 50 countries.

Submissions include any feature films and Asian short films that have not had a Singapore premiere, have not been broadcasted on television or have not been made available on the Internet. The films should also have been completed no earlier than Jan 1, 2014.

In addition, the festival is also inviting applications for its South-east Asian (SEA) Film Lab and Youth Jury & Critics Programme. This year’s SEA Film Lab will be led by award-winning film producer Terence Chang, with Singaporean film-maker Yong Mun Chee and Filipino director Sherad Anthony Sanchez as mentors.

“I am excited about meeting new filmmaking talents in Southeast Asia through SGIFF’s Film Lab and look forward to being in Singapore this December,” said Chang, whose producing credits include Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Red Cliff.

The six-day lab will focus on story development. Successful applicants, who will be working on their first feature films, will also have access to the festivalʼs visiting film-makers.

Around 10 participants are expected to be selected this year, and they will be competing for the Most Promising Project Award and a cash prize of S$5,000, which will be presented by homegrown Anthony Chen’s film company, Giraffe Pictures, during the festival’s Silver Screen Awards.

“SGIFFʼs SEA Film Lab champions the voice of young film-makers, and aims to develop cross-cultural dialogue and meaningful collaboration that foster a sense of community. A strong South-east Asian network is needed for successful partnerships and co-productions, and SGIFFʼs Lab plays that role as a connector,” said Yuni Hadi, the festival’s executive director.

Meanwhile, the Youth Jury & Critics Programme is open to post-secondary students based in Singapore and is aimed at nurturing a new generation of critical movie writers.

This year’s programme will be led by UK-based Thai film academic and curator May Adadol Ingawani. It is looking to take in between 12 to 15 participants, who will be educated on the historical and cultural significance of past and present South-east Asian works, how film theory and close readings of films greatly benefit writing for a wider audience, and on different interviewing approaches. It will culminate in the live film journal on the festival’s website, which will extensively cover the South-east Asian Short Film Competition works. The Youth Jury will also vote on its own prize-winning film.

“Critical thinking and writing about cinema had always played an important role in its development. South-east Asian cinema experienced rapid growth in the recent years and it is crucial to document, examine and chart its progress. We started the Youth Jury & Critics Programme last year to nurture and encourage young writers from Singapore to discuss, think and write about the cinema of our region, and it has been absolutely inspiring to hear their voices,” said festival director Zhang Wenjie.

For more information on submissions, visit http://www.sgiff.com/submissions