Movies Features
First Singapore filmmaker competes for Cannes' top prize
By DPA
May 9, 2008, 14:45 GMT

Singapore - Eric Khoo, the first Singapore filmmaker to compete for the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is still pinching himself.

Up against such famed directors as Clint Eastwood is Khoo's 75- minute movie, My Magic, shot in a marathon nine days with a lead actor making his screen debut.

'I'm still on a mental high,' the 42-year-old Khoo said. 'It was my most passionate shooting, but I had no way of knowing it would be embraced so well.'

The production has drawn international attention to the fledgling industry in the city-state, often criticized for its banning or butchering of acclaimed movies deemed unsuitable for the conservative populace.

Khoo said the restrictions on films shown in his homeland have no influence on his choice of material. 'We're looking at a wider audience' in many other countries, he noted.

My Magic is about the estranged relationship between a down-and- out alcoholic musician, played by Bosco Francis, a 48-year-old professional illusionist, and his son, Jathishweran Naidu, a 13-year- old student.

The dialogue is mainly in Tamil, which makes it 'more authentic,' according to Khoo.

'We managed to shoot it in nine days in December because everything fell into place faster than expected,' he said. 'It was amazing. When we needed rain, it actually poured.' Twelve days had originally been set aside for filming.

Khoo met Francis 10 years ago and was fascinated watching his act, which included glass eating, walking on shards, piercing his skin and swallowing fire. During the ensuing years, Khoo's interest in making a film with Francis grew.

'It's real people and real stories that inspire me,' he said.

The script was co-written with Wong Kim Hoh, a senior writer with The Straits Times. Both Khoo and Wong attribute the ease and speed of the collaboration to a friendship spanning two decades.

My Magic marks the third time that Khoo has graced Cannes. In 1997, his 12 Storeys became the first film from Singapore to be shown at the prestigious event. Be With Me appeared in the Director's Fortnight in 2005. Neither were competing.

'I prefer working with a person who has never acted before,' Khoo said. 'I know what someone without film experience can do after being with them for five minutes. Francis knew just what I wanted.'

While Francis said the experience is not luring him away from his career as an illusionist, Naidu, who previously was considering law, now wants to pursue acting.

The role of the son is pivotal to the story, Khoo said. 'We needed to find a child who had the maturity to express the complex emotions the son was going through.'

My Magic is produced by Zhao Wei Films, co-owned by Khoo, in association with Infinite Frameworks, a local production house. The film was acquired by European distributors ARP and Wild Bunch.

The momentum from My Magic has prompted Khoo to start work on his next film, Chinese Rose, inspired by the life of Rose Chan, a famous cabaret singer-turned-stripper in Malaysia during the 1950s and 1960s

Budgeted at 1.5 million US dollars compared to 250,000 US dollars for My Magic, Khoo is once again on the search for an unknown for the lead.

The open casting call is seeking a 'voluptuous and sensual female' able to speak Mandarin and Cantonese who is not afraid of snakes, Khoo said.

Khoo encourages aspiring filmmakers in Singapore, particularly since funds are more available from the government to draw upon this for their projects.

The Singapore Film Commission (SFC), established in 1998, has 'put in place a series of schemes that will see a filmmaker through all the stages of a feature film production, from scriptwriting to project development and finally, to film production,' the SFC said.

The SFC is eager to encourage well-produced feature films that can compete on an international level that do not deal with banned subject matter, such as gays living happily together.

Homosexual acts are against the law in Singapore.