S'pore film Wonderland to compete at Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival
Local film Wonderland is set to compete at the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival, which takes place from April 6 to 13.
Wonderland, which stars veteran actors Mark Lee and Peter Yu, premiered at the San Diego Asian Film Festival last November and is set to hit local cinemas on Aug 8.
In an interview with TNP, director Chai Yee Wei shared that Wonderland was born of several real-life experiences and events that he’d witnessed in his youth.
“They stuck with me all these years, and I had always been thinking about how to crack the story,” said Chai, who is best known for his previous films, Blood Ties (2009) and That Girl in Pinafore (2013).
It was only when he discussed his thoughts with Michelle Chang, co-founder of local studio Mocha Chai Laboratories, that things began to make sense.
“She was the one who cracked the perspective of how to tell the story.”
Chang, who made her screenwriting debut with this film, said that Wonderland is a love story in which no one says “I love you”.
“I took a lot of inspiration from watching my dad, you know, the typical Chinese father, who doesn’t say 'I love you' but says it in every other way, whether it’s asking if you’ve eaten, asking you to buy clothes, things like that,” said Chang.
“It’s very Singaporean, very Asian.”
She adds that the film, which is set in the 1980s and is centred on elderly characters who primarily speak in Hokkien, was a huge risk.
Chai added: “The fact that this movie got made is a miracle.”
“Everyone wants to have rom-coms and young, good-looking people robbing banks,” said Chang.
“In the sea of all this YA (young adults) content, there’s Wonderland, which is completely different.
“It’s a family drama – it’s not an action flick, it’s not about gangsters – but we feel there’s a place for a movie like that.”
Despite that, Wonderland has been well-received by international audiences.
In January, it clinched the Local Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
According to Chang, the story also resonated deeply with audiences during its premiere at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.
“I asked the audience: ‘You guys don’t know any of the actors, you guys don’t speak Hokkien. Why did it resonate?’ And they said it was because the feelings a father has for his daughter are universal.”
As the team gears up for the Ho Chi Minh International Film Festival, Wonderland is set to go up against some “very strong films” from the South-east Asian region.
Chang says she’s not trying to think too much about it.
“There’s a whole lot of different genres. There’s horror, there’s action, but we always say that the fact we are selected is already a win in itself, so we’re just going to go and enjoy ourselves,” she says.
“And we hope that the magic will continue to happen.”
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