International and regional celebrities to grace the 25th edition of the filmfestival from December 4 to 14 20 November 2014, SINGAPORE – Stars who will be walking the red carpet at this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) include world-renowned auteur John Woo, actresses Zhang Ziyi, Juliette Binoche and Cheng Pei Pei.
John Woo and Zhang Ziyi will be in Singapore for Woo’s latest film, The Crossing, an epic love story spanning half a century of modern Chinese history. Woo, who has been making movies for over 40 years including A Better Tomorrow and The Killer in the 1980s, as well as a series of box office hits such as Broken Arrow, Face/Off, and Mission: Impossible II, will also be conducting a master class for the public on 5 December 2014.
Binoche will attend the Singaporean premiere of Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria (Sils Maria), screened in conjunction with 4th Rendezvous with French Cinema. Tickets for the film have already been sold out.
Meanwhile, Cheng Pei Pei will be in Singapore to confer the tribute to the late Sir Run Run Shaw, who founded Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB, at the Silver Screen Awards on December 13. Cheng was recently nominated for the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) Best Actress honors for her role in Lilting. The first screening for Lilting on December 6 has been sold out, but audiences can still catch a second screening on December 12. In keeping with the festival’s spirit of unearthing new talent, 36-year-old Ahmad Abdalla El Sayed Abdelkader, an Egyptian film director, editor and screenwriter, will be here as this year’s Filmmaker in Focus. Joining Ahmad Abdalla is Egyptian actor, TV host, producer and director Khaled Abol Naga, who has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since his appointment in 2007.
Also making an appearance at this year’s festival is renowned director Wang Xiaoshuai, who is also regarded as one of China’s “Sixth Generation” filmmakers. Wang will be here for his film, Red Amnesia, which follows a 60-year-old lady and her family in Beijing, reflecting on contemporary China and the country’s needs to recall its past. He is also the Jury Head for the Asian Feature Film Competition at the Silver Screen Awards.
Wang will also conduct a master class for the public on 9 December 2014. For details on Wang’s and Woo’s master classes, please visit the SGIFF website at www.sgiff.com.
Joining the list of stars are also well-known regional and local names including:
• Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, Huang Lu and Kelvin Tong, constitute the jury for the Asian Feature Film Competition of the Silver Screen Awards.
• Royston Tan (Jury Head for the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition of the Silver Screen Awards), and jury members Nguyen Trinh Thi and Yeo Yann Yann.
For the first time, SGIFF has received confirmation from all finalists of the Silver Screen Awards for their attendance. They include Meeting Dr Sun director Yee Chih-yen and his cast Chan Huai-yun and Wei Han-ting, as well as Court director Chaitanya Tamhane and his producer Vivek Gomber.
SGIFF will also be giving its first Honorary Award this year to legendary director Im Kwontaek.
Im, one of South Korea’s most prolific and respected directors, has directed more than 100 films over six decades. A Tribute to Im Kwon-taek will see three of his films screened including Mandala, Revivre and Village in the Mist.
SGIFF in partnership with Chaumet will also hold a roundtable talk titled Women in Film on 13 December featuring model and actress Marine Vacth, who is also Chaumet’s Ambassador, Huang Lu and Yeo Yann Yann. The three actresses from three different countries – France, China and Malaysia – will reflect upon their accomplishments in the past year, share their collective experiences and their working process with the directors of the films. The roundtable will also play trailers of films where the three women respectively acted in - Young & Beautiful by François Ozon, Blind Massage by Lou Ye and Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen.
Ken Kwek, director of Unlucky Plaza (Opening Film), will also be walking the red carpet on December 4 with his cast including Epy Quizon, Guo Liang, Adrian Pang, Judee Tan and Shane Mardjuki. Meanwhile, Lucky Kuswandi, director of In the Absence of the Sun (Closing Film), will attend the red carpet on December 14 along with his cast including actresses Adinia Wirasti. Marissa Anita and Ina Panggabean.
SGIFF, to be held from December 4 to 14, focuses on groundbreaking Asian cinema and discovering new film talents from Southeast Asia. SGIFF is known for its dynamic film programming and commitment to the development of a vibrant local film culture.
Yuni Hadi, Executive Director of SGIFF said: “Having regional and international stars attend the film festival will enable the filmmaking community as well as filmgoers to further expand the conversations on films and the art of filmmaking. We are looking forward to a thrilling 11 days next month!
