21 May – In a first ever collaboration with the National Gallery Singapore, five award-winning Southeast Asian directors are working together to produce an omnibus called "Art Through Our Eyes". Director Eric Khoo will be representing Singapore, alongside Malaysia's Ho Yuhang, Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Philippines' Brillante Mendoza and Indonesia's Joko Anwar. Khoo, who executive produced "Apprentice" – one of Singapore's entries at Cannes this year, has chosen Chua Mia Tee's 1977 "Portable Cinema" as the basis of his short film for the omnibus.
"We are excited to work with all five film directors who have produced award-winning bodies of work," said Dr. Eugene Tan, Director of National Gallery Singapore, in a statement. "Art transcends nationalities and we hope this project can spark cross-border dialogues about Southeast Asian art." Each of the directors is to produce a short film that will become part of the movie. The short films, inspired by the Gallery's Southeast Asian art collection, will be filmed in the directors' respective home countries.
Masterpieces from the 19th and 20th century that have been chosen by the other directors are Latiff Mohidin's 1958 "Aku" (Ho), Fernando Cueto Amorsolo's 1942 "Marketplace during the Occupation" (Mendoza), Raden Saleh's circa 1839 "Wounded Lion" (Anwar) as well as Raden Saleh's 1865 "Merapi, Eruption By Day" and "Merapi, Eruption By Night" (Weerasethakul). "Art Through Our Eyes" is set to be showcased later this year. (Photo source: Screen Daily)