Feature Details

FEATURE

June 27, 2023

Made with SG line-up for Cannes Film Festival

This year breaks the record of the most Made with SG features being screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

Singapore - Three highly acclaimed Singaporean films will make its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival happening from May 16 to 27. Well-known Singaporean director Anthony Chen's latest film The Breaking Ice will make its debut at the festival, along with local producers Fran Borgia and Jeremy Chua, who will also premiere their new films worldwide, Tiger Stripes at Cannes Critics' Week and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell at the Director's Fortnight respectively.

Tiger Stripes and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell scored awards for the Singapore Film Commission (SFC) and was given the Southeast Asia Co-Production Grant under the Media Talent Progression Programme (MTPP) by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). They will be competing in the festival's Camera d'Or for best debut feature. If attained, either title would be the second feature film to be awarded the Camera d'Or for Best First Film in 2013, behind Anthony Chen's Ilo Ilo.

2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the Singapore Film Commission. This year marks close to 20 years of local content and showcased at the Cannes Film Market. The international stage is a key space for Singaporean filmmakers and producers alike to showcase their films worldwide and establish partnerships with global media players.

Film Preview

The Breaking Ice (Anthony Chen)
A Camera d'Or winner in 2013 for Ilo Ilo, Chen returns to Cannes with his first feature filmed in China, about the blossoming relationship between a trio of twentysomethings (Zhou Dongyu from Better Days, with Liu Haoran and Qu Chuxiao) during a heavy winter snowfall in a remote border city. It is produced by Shanghai-¬based Canopy Pictures, a new outfit set up by Chen and Rediance CEO Xie Meng, with Huace Pictures as co-financier and mainland Chinese distributor. Since Ilo Ilo, Singapore-¬born Chen directed Wet Season (2019), a segment of anthology The Year Of The Everlasting Storm (2021) and the English-language Drift, which premiered at Sundance in January.

Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell (Jeremy Chua)
Vietnamese filmmaker Pham's feature debut follows a young man who embarks on a journey to the country¬side in search of his long-lost brother, father to his five-year-old nephew who has just lost his mother in a car accident. Singapore's Jeremy Chua and Vietnam's Tran Van Thi produce, with co-producers Marie Dubas, Ka Nguyen and Adria Mones Murlans. Pham's 14-minute short film Stay Awake, Be Ready was shot in one take and won the top Illy Prize in Directors' Fortnight in 2019.

Tiger Stripes (Fran Borgia)
Eu's feature debut is a Malay-¬language fantasy about a girl who discovers a terrifying secret about her body and learns to embrace herself when ostracised by school friends. The rare eight-¬country co-production is led by Malaysian producer Foo Fei Ling along with her Southeast Asian counterparts Patrick Mao Huang (Taiwan), Fran Borgia (Singapore), Yulia Evina Bhara (Indonesia), as well as Juliette Lepoutre, Pierre Menahem, Jonas Weydemann and Ellen Havenith from Europe. Director Eu's short film It Is Easier To Raise Cattle premiered in Venice's Horizons in 2017.

In Pursuit of Excellence

Justin Ang, Assistant Chief Executive of Media, Innovation, Communications and Marketing, IMDA mentioned, “We are absolutely thrilled that we have the most Made with SG films debuting in Cannes this year, especially since 2023 also marks the 25th anniversary of the Singapore Film Commission. The Commission has been instrumental in supporting our budding local directors and film talent in producing well told stories and we are so happy to celebrate this significant milestone. Over the years, Singapore has had more than 25 titles premiering in the major and parallel sections of the Cannes Film Festival, no mean feat for a small city-state! Recognition from established international film festivals is an affirmation of Singapore's media industry capabilities and the ability of our many wonderful talents to tell our stories to the world.”

Anthony Chen, Singaporean filmmaker, added, “It's great to screen at Cannes for the fourth time, with a new film. It's especially meaningful for me as it will be exactly 10 years since ILO ILO won the Camera d'Or at Cannes. Even though this film is shot and set in China, I find it a wonderful opportunity to introduce new Singapore talent to the world. In The Breaking Ice, Singaporean musician Kin Leonn composed all the original music, marking his feature debut.”

Fran Borgia, Singapore-based producer of Tiger Stripes, shared, “We are extremely proud of Tiger Stripes to be selected from over 1,000 submissions as one of the eleven feature films for this year's Cannes Critics' Week. Premiering in Cannes is meaningful in many ways, but most importantly it will allow the film and the talent in the region, in particular Singapore, be seen by international audiences and critics.”

Mr Jeremy Chua, lead producer of Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, said, “Grants such as the Southeast Asia Co-Production Grant not only help to provide a much-needed source of financial support for emerging filmmakers but also catalyse independent film production within our region. Apart from being familiar with each other's food, culture, music and way of life, we also understand each other in terms of colour, rhythm, emotion, and nature. Hence, we are able to create our own unique cinematographic methods and language. By premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell hopes to showcase this local artisanal, handmade Southeast Asian texture to the world."

Call-for-Proposals Scheme & Registration

To encourage the cultivation of Singapore's media industry, the SFC and IMDA came together to create the Call-for-Proposals for Films: Long-Form and Short-Form Content Grants under the MTPP. This project started from 2018, with means to support the production of content and provide quality roles for local media professionals. As of 1 May 2023, more than 300 media professionals and 35 projects were supported under this scheme, of which 11 have been released. All released films have been reported to do well, garnering top accolades at prestigious international film events or sold to major streaming platforms such as Netflix or Amazon.

From now until 17 July 2023, interested individuals and companies can visit https://go.gov.sg/cfp2023 to find out more details on the Call-for-Proposals (CFP).

List of Made with SG Films selected for Cannes Film Festival from 1997 to 2023

YearMade with SG Films

2023

I. Tiger Stripes - Cannes Critics' Week, co-produced with Akanga Film Asia
II. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell - Directors' Fortnight, co-produced with Potocol

III. The Breaking Ice - Un Certain Regard, co-produced by Canopy Pictures,

directed by Anthony Chen

2021

I. Rehana Maryan Noor - Un Certain Regard, produced by Potocol
II. The Year of the Everlasting Storm - special screening, anthology

featuring director Anthony Chen

2019

I. Piece of Meat (short film) - Directors' Fortnight, by Huang Junxiang and Jerrold Chong
II. Adam (short film) - Cinefondation Selection, by Shoki Lin
III. The Women (feature in development) - Cinefondation L'Atelier, co-produced with Potocol

IV. Talent Chiang Wei Liang accepted into Cinefondation Residence

2018I. Whether the Weather is Fine (feature in development) - Cinefondation L'Atelier, co-produced by AAND

2017

I. Jodilerks Dela Cruzv: Employee of the Month (short film) - Cannes Critics' Week, co-produced with AAND
II. City of Small Blessings (feature in development) - Cinefondation L'Atelier, produced by Akanga Film Asia, directed by Wong Chen-Hsi

2016

I. Apprentice - Un Certain Regard, produced by Peanut Pictures, Zhaowei Films and Akanga Film Asia, directed by Boo Junfeng
II. A Yellow Bird - Cannes Critics' Week, produced by Akanga Film Asia, directed by K. Rajagopal

2015

Popeye (aka POP AYE, feature in development) - Cinefondation L'Atelier, produced by E&W Films and Fisheye Pictures, directed by Kirsten Tan

2014

I. A Yellow Bird (feature in development) - Cinefondation L'Atelier, produced by Akanga Film Asia, directed by K. Rajagopal
II. Oh Lucy! (short film) - Cinefondation Selection, produced by Upside Down Concepts (Singapore) and directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi - won second prize
III. Last Trip Home (short film) - Cinefondation Selection, directed by Han Fengyu.

2013

I. Ilo Ilo - Directors' Fortnight, produced by Fisheye Pictures, directed by Anthony Chen - won Camera d'Or, first for Singapore
II. After the Winter (short film) - Cinefondation Selection, directed by Jow Zhi Wei

2011I. Tatsumi - Un Certain Regard, by Eric Khoo

2010

I. Sandcastle - Cannes Critics Week, produced by Zhao Wei Films, directed by Boo Junfeng (first for Singapore)
II. Here - Directors' Fortnight, produced by Akanga Film Asia, directed by Ho Tzu Nyen

2009I. Here - Directors' Fortnight, produced by Akanga Film Asia, directed by Ho Tzu Nyen

2008I. My Magic - Main Competition (first for Singapore), produced by Zhao Wei Films, directed by Eric Khoo

2007

I. Ah Ma (short film) - Main Competition, directed by Anthony Chen - won Special Mention prize (first for Singapore)
II. SuperDONG (short film) - Directors' Fortnight, by Pok Yue Wen
III. Pleasure Factory - Un Certain Regard, co-produced with Spicy Apple Films, Innoform Media, directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham

2006

Singapore showcased of 12 films at World Cinema (Tous les Cinemas du Monde)
I. Features: Smell Of Rain (Gloria Chee), One Last Dance (Max Makowski), I Not Stupid Too (Jack Neo) and Perth (Djinn Ong)
II. Shorts: G23 (Anthony Chen), Secret Heaven (Sun Koh), Birthday (Bertrand Lee), Monkey Love (Royston Tan), Sons (Royston Tan), Crocodile Journals (Yeo Lee Nah), 9:30 (Yong Mun Chee) and Blackboard Whiteshoes (Green Zeng and June Chua).