Singapore has officially selected Stranger Eyes, written and directed by Yeo Siew Hua, as its submission to compete in the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
His film A Land Imagined was selected for the 2018 Oscars.
Stranger Eyes is a mystery thriller about a man – Darren (Wu Chien-ho) – whose baby daughter goes missing. He begins receiving voyeuristic video recordings of his daily life, and suspicion falls on his neighbour Goh (Lee Kang-sheng) as he investigates her disappearance. The film also stars Anicca Panna and Singaporean actress Xenia Tan.
Yeo Siew Hua called the distinction an honor. “It’s a real honor to represent Singapore again for a second time since my previous film.”
Stranger Eyes made history as the first Singaporean film to be selected for the main competition at the Venice International Film Festival where it had its world premiere in 2024. It also opened the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and the Singapore International Film Festival in 2024. It earned six nominations at the 61st Golden Horse Awards, including Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (for Lee Kang-sheng), and Best Original Screenplay (Yeo Siew Hua).
Here is the synopsis: After enduring months of a fruitless police investigation into the disappearance of their daughter, a young, estranged couple, Junyang and Peiying, realize they are bring filmed surreptitiously when they begin receiving mysterious packages at their door containing DVDs with footage of their daily lives. The moments captured are unnerving not only for the violation of their privacy, but for what is exposed about Junyang and Peiying’s relationship on a most intimate level. Suspecting their voyeur is responsible for taking their daughter, the couple embark on a desperate mission to seek him out, only to find the truth of his identity is more complicated than it seems.
The announcement was made by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), with the Singapore Film Commission Advisory Committee confirming the choice.
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