The Edinburgh International University Film Festival (EIUFF) 2025 took place between the 31st of May and the 2nd of June. EIUFF is a student film festival. Find them @edi.iuff on Instagram.
Beyond These Walls – dir. Christine Seow – ★★★★
As the only solely documentary short film of the States of Mind category, Beyond These Walls, directed by Christine Seow stood out among its competitors. The category sought to trace the “delicate contours of our inner lives” and to serve as “windows into minds in motion” as per the EIUFF’s official programme. Being the first short-film presented, I had my doubts on whether my reaction to it – as in, I actually shed a tear or two – was due to a sort-of primacy bias or if the film was just that good. It was the latter..
Introducing Gladiolus Place, a girl’s home in Singapore, Beyond These Walls is an intimate exploration of the lives of its inhabitants and the resilience that they all carry. The documentary’s focus is a non-profit organization that houses girls from ages 11 and above that have “Child Protection concerns”, as stated by their official page. Seow masterfully interweaves interviews with both girls and members of the board, such as Head of Home Michelle Tan, with fly-on-the-wall style sequences of the girls’ lives in Gladiolus Place.
With a special focus on three different girls –Shakthi aged 17, Jenna aged 15, and Mary aged 16– the short film paints a complex, fully-fledged image of who they are and what they have been through, all in under 30 minutes. Seow is able to have a perfect balance between an intimate-style of storytelling while maintaining a warm atmosphere. She lets these girls exist, all of them, their pasts, their futures, but most importantly their presents and who they are with each other. We are invited to understand them, and paired with Michelle Tan’s emotional interviews on the mission of the home, the essence of Gladiolus Place comes across as what they set out to be: a safe and healing space for these girls to grow.
A scene that especially stuck with me was Jenna’s 16th birthday party. Shots of the girls preparing cards, balloons, setting up a table, and baking a cake were so impactful after learning Jenna’s story within the home. As she blows out the candles, the scene changes to an interview with her stating that this was her second birthday in Gladiolus Place, two more than she ever expected to spend when she was first brought in.
There is nothing better than when the only criticism one leaves a film with is that you wish it was longer. Seow’s portrayal of Gladiolus Place is so truthful, one leaves knowing that one does not know it all about these girls. Its honesty leaves you breathless (and even teary-eyed) yet hopeful— hopeful for these girls, and all the future girls that will pass through the doors of Gladiolus Place.
Image provided by the Edinburgh International University Film Festival.
