Singapore—With his first movie shot in mainland China, Singaporean filmmaker and screenwriter Anthony Chen has added yet another feather to his cap.
In 2013, the multi-awarded Mr. Anthony Chen, 37, was the first Singaporean to win the Camera d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival for his movie Ilo Ilo.
The Hollywood Reporter said this week that his new movie, The Breaking Ice, was a well-kept secret until it wrapped last month. Filming took place at Yanji, a border city in the far north of China.
The Breaking Ice stars Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran, and Qu Chuxiao, are all A-listers in China. The plot centers on the relationships that develop between the three young adult leads during a few days of heavy snowfall.
Ms. Zhou is best known for the film Better Days, while Mr. Liu stars in the Detective Chinatown franchise. They co-starred in Fire on the Plain, which made its debut last year. Mr Qu, meanwhile, starred in The Wandering Earth.
The Breaking Ice was produced by Canopy Pictures, which the director formed alongside Meng Xie, a Chinese producer. Huace Pictures, which co-financed the film, will manage its distribution in China.
Mr Anthony Chen’s first Chinese movie is said to be a big deal for the Singaporean director, who had to make an adjustment to China’s wintry weather.
The filmmaker told Variety, “It was a very memorable experience especially for someone who has grown up in tropical Singapore adjusting to minus 20 weather.
I shot rain in ‘Wet Season,’ snow and ice in ‘The Breaking Ice,’ next I would love to work with lots of sunshine. I was blessed with an amazing cast and crew who gave so much to the film. By the time I was out of quarantine, we only had three weeks to prep an entire feature. But we pulled it off with everyone’s dedication. It was a leap of faith for all of us.”
Mr Anthony Chen is best known for Ilo Ilo which not only won the Camera d’Or at Cannes but earned him a 15-minute long standing ovation. The film later went on to win the Sutherland Trophy for Best First Film at the London Film Festival.
His second feature film, Wet Season, in 2019, earned nominated for six Golden Horse Awards.
Last year, he contributed a short film to the anthology The Year Of The Everlasting Storm, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
/TISG
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