Film directed by Eric Khoo is excluded from "Together Apart"

Writer: Nur Iman Syasya

Eric Khoo's short film is not included in the Project Lapis Sagu anthology, "Together Apart".

3 Apr – Project Lapis Sagu is a part of an ongoing effort to promote greater understanding and mutual respect between Singaporean locals and foreigners.

Organised by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), in collaboration with four local filmmakers, one of whom is Eric Khoo, it started out as a contest launched last November, in which over 1,200 entries were submitted, to produce a film focusing on cultural diversity.

All of the entries were submitted by people of varying ages, nationalities and professions who are all hoping that their short film ideas will be one of the four chosen.

The winners will receive a cash prize of SG$5,000 each as well as the opportunity to be mentored by the four filmmakers who will help produce a screenplay and bring the winning story idea to life on the big screen as an anthology.

"Together Apart" poster.

One of those entries was by Tan Zi Hui, a laboratory executive, who was chosen to be a part of Team Eric. Her film idea was to be done musical theatre-style and depicted foreigners as zombies around a human, Singaporean protagonist.

Unfortunately for Ms Tan, her film idea will not be included in the anthology due to certain concerns. The most prominent concern being that the film might unintentionally cause offence if certain audiences interpret it out of context, MCI announced on 31 March.

The decision to exclude the film was made during discussion with Khoo and Ms Tan.

Tan Zi Hui, lab technician and horror movie aficionado

According to Channel NewsAsia, Khoo said that he wanted to tackle the issue of social integration and prejudice against foreigners and to express that fear of others could be overcome, 'not in a preachy heavy-handed way, but in a light-hearted, entertaining fashion'.

"Considering the contemporary wide appeal of zombies (e.g. "Train to Busan") and musicals (e.g. La La Land"), I felt audiences would be open to the sonic and visual entertainment, while being exposed to the underlying message of social integration embedded within the short film," he said.

Ms Tan feels that it is a 'pity' that the film will not be included in the anthology, but understood how the film could be interpreted in a drastically different way. "I think this is enough reason to not release the film," she added, "as it may be used as a vehicle by viewers with ill intentions to propagate a divide between locals and foreigners in Singapore."

The anthology of films will be released on 4 April. The anthology is called "Together Apart" and is made up of three short films developed from the other three winning ideas and directed by the three other filmmakers, Kelvin Tong, K Rajagopal and Sanif Olek.

(Photo source: lapis-sagu.sg)