News Release For immediate release
Sandcastle premieres at Cannes Film Festival
Singapore, 20 April 2010 – A Singapore film has once again been selected for screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Sandcastle, directed by Boo Junfeng, will see its world premiere at the 49 th International Critics’ Week (ICW), which runs from 13-21 May. As a first-time feature film director, Junfeng is also eligible for the Caméra d’Or (Golden Camera) award, a distinction for best first feature film in any one of the Cannes’ selections - the Official Selection, the Directors' Fortnight or the International Critics' Week . Sandcastle ’s selection marks the sixth consecutive year that a Singapore film has been featured at Cannes, reinforcing the growing traction of local film in the international festival circuit.
Mr Kenneth Tan, Director of the Singapore Film Commission and Film, Animation and Publishing at Media Development Authority said, “Film festivals such as Cannes are important platforms for local filmmakers to launch their international film careers. Junfeng’s passion and skills are clearly shown through his achievements thus far. From being one of the top graduates of his cohort in film school to showcasing his short films at numerous festivals around the world, his growth in filmmaking is remarkable and continues to earn praise from many industry practitioners. The SFC is proud to have supported Junfeng in his feature film directorial debut and we encourage him to continue making movies that resonate with audiences both in Singapore and overseas."
Sandcastle is supported by the Singapore Film Commission’s New Feature Film Fund (NFFF) and was picked up in February by Fortissimo Film for worldwide distribution outside Singapore. Through NFFF, the SFC aims to nurture the next generation of aspiring local filmmakers by providing them the opportunity to direct
their first feature film in partnership with experienced film production companies so as to gain valuable insights into the business aspects of the film industry in addition to honing their directing and story-telling skills.
Said Boo Junfeng, “I’m really happy. It’s a dream come true for me to have my first film presented at Cannes Critics’ Week. I’ve always heard that it’s the best place to be at for first-time directors. I see this as part of my learning process and am really looking forward to interacting with the audience and film critics at the festival.”
Sandcastle is the first local film to be featured in the ICW, the oldest parallel competitive section with a highly selective programme of only seven feature films and seven shorts films. The ICW is the platform where world-renowned film talents such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Wong Kar Wai, Jacques Audiard and François Ozon were first discovered.
In 1997, 12 Storeys by Eric Khoo was the first Singaporean film to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival, showcasing in the Un Certain Regard section. Eric Khoo’s Be With Me, opened the Director’s Fortnight in 2005. This was followed by the 2006 country showcase where 12 Singapore feature films and short films were presented at the World Cinema (Tous les Cinémas du Monde) event. In 2007, three Singapore films were selected - Anthony Chen’s short film Ah Ma clinched a Special Mention, while Pok Yue Weng’s short film SuperDONG together with Ekachai Uekrongtham’s feature film Pleasure Factory screened at the Directors’ Fortnight and Un Certain Regard respectively. Khoo’s My Magic also made headlines in 2008 when it became the first Singapore film to compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or award. At last year’s Festival, HERE by Ho Tzu Nyen was selected for screening at the 41 st Directors’ Fortnight.
Sandcastle is a co-production by Singapore’s Zhao Wei Films, Akanga Film Asia and Infinite Frameworks. On the film’s selection, Executive Producer Eric Khoo commented, “I am thrilled that Sandcastle will be the first Singaporean film to platform at prestigious Critic’s’ Week. Junfeng once again has surpassed our expectations for his first feature and done us proud with the Cannes selection”.
The plot centers on the 18 year old protagonist, En, and his father’s activities during Singapore’s formative years. Please refer to the annex for more information on Sandcastle.
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Singapore Film Commission (SFC) The Singapore Film Commission (SFC) is an agency under the Media Development Authority (MDA) that facilitates and assists film development for Singapore. The SFC’s key areas of focus are: Funding, Facilitation and Promotion. Its mission is to nurture, support, and promote Singapore talent in film-making, the production of Singapore films, and a film industry in Singapore. For more information please visit, www.sfc.org.sg
Annex
SYNOPSIS En is a 17-year-old who is waiting for his enlistment into the army and for his neighbour’s sexy daughter, Ying, to show signs of interest in him. In the meantime, he has to put up at his grandparents’ place as his mother is going on a long holiday with a man he doesn’t like (his father has died years before) and to whom he would really prefer not to see his mother remarry.
But as En soon finds out at his grandparents’ place, life cannot be put on hold indefinitely. He runs into Ying in compromising circumstances and gets more and more involved with his grandparents’ lives – the routines his grandfather builds around his grandmother’s dementia and which his grandfather fears are no longer sufficient to support her worsening condition. At his grandparents’ place En also discovers that there may be more to his father’s student activist past than his mother lets on and is determined to get to the bottom of the matter.
As his family is drawn together in a sudden tragedy, En has to decide where his loyalty lies and stand up for what he believes in. But in a country where ideologies are forged on constantly shifting sands, he finds himself struggling to stay true to what he knows to be right. And in a family that prefers to forget, the sandcastles of everything he holds dear seem doomed to be washed away by the tides of time.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Boo Junfeng is one of the most prolific young Singaporean filmmakers currently making films. Since 2005 his short films have won several awards at the Singapore International Film Festival, including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Special Jury Prize, Special Achievement Award and twice for Best Film. He was also the first recipient of the McNally Award for Excellence in the Arts – the valedictorian honour of Lasalle College of the Arts – and the latest recipient of the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council.
Boo Junfeng first went to film school at age 16. He specialised in art direction at the School of Film and Media Studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where he graduated as the top student with the Shaw Foundation Gold Medal and the Medal and the Media Development Authority Prize.
His love for writing and directing began during a six-month exchange programme at the Escola Superior de Cinema I Audiovisual de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, where he made his first short film, UN RETRATO DE FAMILIA.
His works often centre on themes of alienation, kinship, love and sexuality. His subsequent short films as well as his segment in the omnibus feature film, LUCKY 7 , have garnered him acclaim at numerous prestigious film festivals around the world.
In 2008, he continued his film education at The Puttnam School of Film at Lasalle College of the Arts, where he graduated as college Valedictorian with first-class honours for his Bachelor of Arts. His thesis film TANJONG RHU was selected at the 59 th Berlin Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Teddy Award for Best Short Film.
Boo Junfeng is currently working with Dick Lee as Multimedia Director on Singapore’s 2010 National Day Parade.
SCENES FROM SANDCASTLE