Yeo Siew Hua mystery is first S’pore film to compete for Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion

Vietnamese-language horror-comedy Don’t Cry, Butterfly has been selected for the Critics’s Week section of the 2024 Venice Film Festival. — Photo MOMO FILM CO

SINGAPORE — Two films with Singapore participation will be take part in Venice Film Festival 2024, set to run from August 28 to September 7.

Stranger Eyes, a mystery thriller from Singaporean film-maker Yeo Siew Hua, will make its world premiere in the main competition section at the festival. It will be the first Singaporean film to compete for the Golden Lion, the highest prize awarded at the event.

Yeo’s feature will compete with new offerings from acclaimed film-makers including Spain’s Pedro Almodovar, Italy’s Luca Guadagnino, Todd Phillips from the United States and Brazil’s Walter Salles.

Don’t Cry, Butterfly – produced by Tan Si En of Singapore-based label Momo Film Co – is a horror-comedy from Vietnamese film-maker Dương Diệu Linh which will make its world premiere at the Venice Critics’ Week, a section showcasing debut films from emerging directors.

Don’t Cry, Butterfly is the only Asian title in this year’s Critics’ Week and will be competing for the Lion Of The Future prize.

Stranger Eyes is a four-country co-production that includes producer Fran Borgia from Singapore’s Akanga Film Asia, along with producers from Taiwan (China), France and the US. Set in Singapore, the film tells the story of a young couple searching for their missing daughter. It stars Taiwanese actors Lee Kang-sheng and Wu Chien-ho as well as Singaporean actress Xenia Tan (Wonderland, 2024).

Yeo’s detective mystery A Land Imagined (2018) won the Golden Leopard grand prize at the Locarno Film Festival and was Singapore’s Best International Feature Film entry to the Academy Awards.

In a written statement, Yeo, 39, says he is “proud to have the film compete on an international stage”, adding that Stranger Eyes is “a home-grown Singapore story”.

Borgia adds: “Singapore cinema has experienced significant growth over the past decade and the inclusion of Stranger Eyes in the main competition at Venice marks a new milestone.”

Don’t Cry, Butterfly is a Vietnamese-language feature that follows a wedding venue staff member who, after discovering her husband having an affair live on national television, resorts to magic to lure him back.

Producer Tan, 31, says: “We are grateful to have our film premiere at Venice. Don’t Cry, Butterfly is our first production set in Việt Nam, an exciting market in the region. It’s a film with potential to connect with everyone and I am excited for audiences to watch it.”

Both films have been supported by grants from the Singapore Film Commission and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

Mr Justin Ang, Assistant Chief Executive of Media, Innovation, Communications and Marketing at IMDA, said in a media statement: “The success of Stranger Eyes and Don’t Cry, Butterfly at the Venice Film Festival 2024 is a continuation of our film industry’s growing success in major film festivals around the world. This recognition will elevate the international visibility of Singaporean films and serve as an inspiration to all our aspiring film-makers. We take immense pride in the exceptional film talents in Singapore, who have demonstrated their ability to compete at the highest level.” — The Straits Times/ANN