Raintree
Pictures' latest project stars Joan Chen in S'pore-Australia
film
SINGAPORE : "The Home Song Stories" is MediaCorp Raintree Pictures'
latest film, and one of its most international to date.
Starring international artiste Joan Chen and local star Qi Yu Wu,
the film is also the first Singapore-Australia collaboration.
It was the year 1964, a glamorous nightclub singer in Shanghai,
played by Joan Chen, met an Australian sailor.
They migrated to Australia.
But it was a short-lived marriage, and she ended up working in
Chinese restaurants.
The story was told through her son, who also happens to be the
director Tony Ayres himself, reliving the story and painting the
lives of Chinese in a foreign land.
"I've always felt that it was a big emotional story, with ups and
downs. For me, (this story) was important. And I guess being able
to work with companies like MediaCorp Raintree, having
co-productions between countries is a way of facilitating that,
because it's pretty hard to tell their stories as it's a small
marketplace. Films have to succeed internationally, so having an
international component is very significant for us," said Ayres,
director/writer of "The Home Song Stories".
The movie comes at a time when Singapore and Australia are due to
sign a Film Co-production Agreement at the APEC Ministers Meeting
in Sydney next month, paving the way for more cultural and creative
exchange between the two countries.
Also in the film is Singapore star Qi Yu Wu, who plays Chen's
lover.
Raintree said it's a film that's international while at the same
time "Uniquely Singapore."
"It's a film with various languages. It has English, Shanghainese,
Cantonese, Mandarin, good English, bad English, so it's very real
life, Singapore. And I think it makes our collaboration with
Australia that much more meaningful because you're looking at a
country that uses English as a first language, but it's about the
Chinese trying to make it in a predominantly English speaking
country," said Daniel Yun, Executive Producer of "The Home Song
Stories" and MD of MediaCorp Raintree Pictures.
"The Home Song Stories" opens on September 6.
It's also part of the official selection at the Berlin Film
Festival. - CNA /ls