Singaporean director Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut film to premiere at San Sebastian festival
Last Shadow At First Light, the debut feature film by Singaporean director Nicole Midori Woodford, will premiere at the prestigious San Sebastian International Film Festival in September 2023.
The movie, which took seven years to complete due to a long gestation period and the pandemic, was shot in Singapore and Japan. It will compete for the festival’s Kutxabank-New Directors Award.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Woodford, 36, a National Arts Council Young Artist Award winner in 2020, wrote: “This film has been a story I’ve revisited in my head since 2016 and at the heart lies a story about a daughter struggling to confront the mystery of her missing mother.”
Woodford, whose ancestry includes a Japanese grandmother and a British-Portuguese Eurasian father, added: “This was inspired by my own relationship with my mother and the frailties of my family while dealing with trauma. I learnt tremendously from this film and have my team to thank for helping me bring it all to life in Last Shadow At First Light.”
The movie stars Japanese actor Masatoshi Nagase, Japanese actresses Mariko Tsutsui and Mihaya Shirata, and Singaporean actor Peter Yu.
Shirata plays Ami, a teen who discovers old recordings of her long-dead mother (Tsutsui) and confronts her father (Yu). The girl then travels from Singapore to Japan and embarks on a road trip with a cynical taxi driver (Nagase).
The movie is executive produced by Potocol (Singapore), Fourier Films (Japan) and Studio Virc (Slovenia), in association with a number of partners.
Production was supported by the Singapore Film Commission, Slovenian Film Centre, Purin Pictures and the Talents Tokyo Next Masters Support Program.
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