The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) organizers have confirmed that award-winning director/producer Eric Khoo will head its first ever Southeast Asian Film Lab.
Khoo, a familiar name in the Asian film industry, put Singapore on the international film map
with his first feature film Mee Pok Man (1995), picking up prizes at Fukuoka, Pusan and
Singapore. His second feature 12 Storeys (1997) won the Federation of International Film
Critics (FIPRESCI) Award and the UOB Young Cinema Award at the 10th Singapore
International Festival, and the Golden Maile Award for Best Picture at the 17th Hawaii
International Film Festival. More importantly, 12 Storeys was the first Singaporean film to be
invited officially to participate in the 50th Cannes Film Festival (1997).
The Southeast Asian Film Lab is a six-day writing workshop aimed at emerging screenwriters
and/or writer/directors from Southeast Asia aged between 18 and 35, with a focus on stories
capturing the collective experiences of the past, present and future Southeast Asia, to be
developed into feature length screenplays.
Mentors for the film lab include Akanga Films’ award-winning producer Fran Borgia, and
independent filmmaker and co-founder of Da Huang Pictures Tan Chui Mui. It will be held
from 8 to 13 December 2014.
Executive Director of SGIFF Yuni Hadi said: “Our thinking behind the Southeast Asian Film
Lab is to unearth potential stories from the region, and explore the richness of Southeast
Asian culture through the medium of film. Film is one of the fastest and most powerful ways of
reaching the wider community. Through this creative collaboration between neighboring
countries, we will build up mutual appreciation and respect for our heritage amongst the
participants in Singapore and the region.”
Khoo said: "I believe that this lab will help aspiring filmmakers from Southeast Asia in their
story-telling. I look forward to meeting the participants".