O for Opium

Also known as o for ocean, opium

As part of the filmmaker's metaproject The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia, the film takes the letter 'O' to poetically conflate 'Opium' and 'Ocean'. It revisits the opium trade that underpinned British colonial expansion, contending with how opium may be understood, perceived and represented. Found footage and layered voices link Singapore's port history to narcotic economies.