This Singaporean film is one for the books with its nomination in the Berlin International Film Festival’s main competition.
Homegrown director Anthony Chen’s We Are All Strangers has become the first local film to be selected for the coveted Golden Bear — the film festival’s top award.
This year, it stands against 22 other films, with the only other Asian film being Japanese animation A New Dawn directed by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya.
We Are All Strangers tells the story of 21-year-old Junyang and his girlfriend when they are forced to face reality after being hit by a life-altering event. At the same time, while his father struggles to hold their modest life together, a woman enters his life and both generations must redefine their family.
The film, set over three years, stars local actors Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler — who previously appeared in Anthony’s Ilo Ilo and Wet Season — alongside Andi Lim and Regene Lim.
It marks the final instalment in Anthony’s critically acclaimed ‘Growing Up’ trilogy, which include Ilo Ilo (2013) and Wet Season (2019), the former of which received the Camera d’Or award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
On the selection of his new film for the Golden Bear, 41-year-old Anthony said: “Completing my Singapore ‘Growing Up’ trilogy has been a profoundly personal journey. This film also reflects my own evolution — as a son, a husband and now a father. Ilo Ilo was made in my late 20s, Wet Season in my 30s, and We Are All Strangers in my early 40s.
“All these films capture my love for Singapore and our people, my enduring portrait of home. I am immensely proud to present this final chapter at Berlin.”
Also written by Anthony, the film is produced by his production company Giraffe Pictures and supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and the Singapore Film Commission.
Previous winners of the Golden Bear include renowned works like Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet and Sense and Sensibility, Zhang Yimou’s Red Sorghum, Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia.
Anthony and the four actors will attend the world premiere of We Are All Strangers at the festival, which will run from Feb 12 to 22.
The film is slated for release in Singapore and multiple territories in 2026.
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kristy.chua@asiaone.com
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