SINGAPORE – Two features and two short films made with Singapore participation will be heading to the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 14 to 25.
Feature films Viet And Nam and Mongrel, both produced by Singaporean Lai Weijie, will make their world premiere at the 2024 edition of the prestigious film festival.
Both films received grants from the Singapore Film Commission and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), according to an IMDA press statement on May 2. The films have also been acquired for global distribution.
Viet And Nam, helmed by Vietnamese director Truong Minh Quy, will screen in the Un Certain Regard section, which is for unique, non-traditional films. The drama follows the lives of two coal miners, Nam and Viet, who go on a journey to look for the remains of Nam’s father.
Mongrel, directed by Singaporean film-maker Chiang Wei Liang, has been selected for the Directors’ Fortnight section of the festival. The drama revolves around Oom, a caretaker for the elderly and disabled, who has to choose between survival or dignity.
The two Singaporean-directed short films heading to Cannes are Withered Blossoms by Lionel Seah and Cold Cut by Tan Siyou.
Withered Blossoms is a tale about a young woman and her grandmother. It was selected out of more than 2,260 submissions from film schools around the world to compete in the La Cinef (formerly Cinefondation), a section for young film-makers and students.
Meanwhile, Cold Cut will screen at a special programme under Directors’ Fortnight and at the Singapore-Philippines pavilion. The drama follows a student who is about to compete in a local talent show when a mysterious butcher “takes her to unknown horizons”.
Mr Justin Ang, IMDA’s assistant chief executive of media, innovation, communications and marketing, said: “We are ecstatic that Singapore’s talents have continued with our strong showing in 2023 to once again make their mark at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. To date, we have had over 30 projects by Singaporeans premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.”
In 2023, three films with local involvement made their debut at the French city: drama The Breaking Ice by Singapore film-maker Anthony Chen, the horror work Tiger Stripes by Malaysian film-maker Amanda Nell Eu and the drama Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell by Vietnamese film-maker Pham Thien An.
Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell went on to win the Camera d’Or award, which recognises excellence in a film-maker’s first feature film, while Tiger Stripes won the grand prize for best feature at Cannes’ International Critics’ Week. This is a sidebar event of the Cannes Film Festival dedicated to first or second films.
