At a broadcasting station, a dispirited intern stays late to take calls for Singapore Talking – a talk show covering the fallout from the banning of an LGBT children’s book by the state’s library board. She finds a kindred spirit in a fellow intern, and they form a perceptive bond against a sterile and bureaucratic media landscape. But when the calls escalate, both interns find themselves tossed onto different sides of a moral coin – and it soon becomes clear that surfaces reflect only what we want to see.

Director’s Statement

In a global climate rife with (mis)judgement and misconception, conflict is often borne out of an imposition of individual standards of morality and complicated by our innate fear of the unknown.

When we cling tighter to our beliefs, to what degree do we mirror each other in opposition? How easily are we misdirected by the limits of our perception?

Inspired by actual events, Late Night Talk Show examines the duality between our attachment to our own deeply held ideals, and our hunger for affinity. It’s only when we’re open to listening without judgement that we’re able to find deeper and more genuine connection – and begin the necessary work of understanding another.

I wrote this film also because I wanted to portray young Singaporeans in an intelligent and emotionally complex light; to capture a glimpse of the depth and range with which we each react, challenge, and adapt to the cultures and systems we’ve lived in; and to see if these arbitrary boundaries could be navigated with more grace.