A Land Imagined
A Land Imagined | |
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Directed by | Yeo Siew Hua |
Written by | Yeo Siew Hua |
Produced by | Fran Borgia |
Starring | Peter Yu Luna Kwok Liu Xiaoyi Jack Tan Ishtiaque Zico |
Cinematography | Hideho Urata |
Edited by | Daniel Hui |
Music by | Teo Wei Yong |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | mm2 Entertainment (Singapore) |
Release dates | |
Running time | 95 minutes |
Countries | Singapore France Netherlands |
Languages | Mandarin English Bengali |
A Land Imagined (Chinese: 幻土) is a 2018 neo-noir mystery thriller film[1] written and directed by Yeo Siew Hua. A Singapore-France-Netherlands co-production,[2] the film tells the story of a police investigator who uncovers the truth behind the disappearance of a construction worker.[3]
The film premiered in competition on 7 August 2018, at the 71st Locarno Film Festival, and won the top prize of the festival, the Golden Leopard.[4] At Locarno, Yeo also won the Junior Jury award and a Special Mention award. In December 2018, A Land Imagined played in competition at the 29th Singapore International Film Festival, where it was named Best Asian Feature Film by a jury led by Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan. It is the first time a Singaporean film has won the award. The film was released in Singapore theatres on February 21, 2019.[5] It was selected as the Singaporean entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[6]
Plot
[edit]The film revolves around Lok, a police officer who is investigating the disappearance of a Chinese migrant worker working at a land reclamation site. The investigation leads him to the disappearance of another Bengali worker, who was on good terms with the missing worker. As he retraces the steps of the missing worker, Lok gets a sensing of the plight of these workers as they work for an unscrupulous employer.
Cast
[edit]- Peter Yu as Lok
- Luna Kwok as Mindy
- Liu Xiaoyi as Wang
- Jack Tan as Jason
- Ishtiaque Zico as Ajit
Reception
[edit]On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75%, based on 16 reviews.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8]
Awards and nominations
[edit]Festival | Date of ceremony | Award & Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
56th Golden Horse Awards | 23 November 2019 | Best Original Score | Teo Wei Yong | Won | |
56th Golden Horse Awards | 23 November 2019 | Best Original Screenplay | Yeo Siew Hua | Won | [9] |
13th Asian Film Awards | 17 March 2019 | Best New Director | Yeo Siew Hua | Nominated | [10] |
12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 29 November 2018 | Achievement in Cinematography | Hideho Urata | Won | [11] |
Young Cinema Award | Yeo Siew Hua | Won | [12] | ||
2nd El Gouna Film Festival | 28 September 2018 | El Gouna Gold Star - Feature Narrative Competition | A Land Imagined | Won | [13] |
12th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival | 21 November 2018 | Best Film - New Asian Cinema Competition | Nominated | [14] | |
26th Filmfest Hamburg | 5 October 2018 | NDR Young Talent Award | Yeo Siew Hua | Nominated | [15] |
55th Golden Horse Film Festival | 17 November 2018 | NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film | A Land Imagined | Nominated | [16] |
43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival | 1 April 2019 | Firebird Award - Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language) | Nominated | [10] | |
71st Locarno International Film Festival | 11 August 2018 | Golden Leopard - International Competition | Won | [10] | |
Junior Jury Award - International Competition | Won | [10] | |||
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention | Won | [10] | |||
Best Actress - Boccalino d’Oro Award | Luna Kwok | Won | [17] | ||
3rd London East Asia Film Festival | 4 November 2018 | Special Jury Mention | A Land Imagined | Won | [18] |
2nd Nepal International Film Festival | 27 February 2019 | Best International Feature Film, Gautam Buddha Award | Won | [19] | |
2nd Pingyao International Film Festival | 17 October 2018 | Jury Prize - Roberto Rossellini Awards | Won | [20] | |
6th QCinema International Film Festival | 30 October 2018 | Pylon Best Picture - Asian Next Wave Competition | Won | [10] | |
48th International Film Festival Rotterdam | 2 February 2019 | Special Mention - Youth Jury Award | Won | [21] | |
29th Singapore International Film Festival | 8 December 2018 | Best Film - Asian Feature Film Competition | Won | [10] | |
Lesley Ho Asian Film Talent Award | Yeo Siew Hua | Won | [22] | ||
Swarovski Inspiring Woman in Film Award | Luna Kwok | Won | [23] | ||
63rd Valladolid International Film Festival | 27 October 2018 | Best Director of Photography | Hideho Urata | Won | [10] |
Golden Spike Award for Best Film | A Land Imagined | Nominated | [10] |
See also
[edit]- List of submissions to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
- List of Singaporean submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
[edit]- ^ Sarah Loh, Genevieve. "Why this Singapore film's historic win at one of the world's most important festivals matters". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
- ^ "A Land Imagined". Films de Force Majeure. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
- ^ "A Land Imagined - Locarno Film Festival". Locarno Festival. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
- ^ Lodge, Guy (13 August 2018). "A Land Imagined,' 'BlacKkKlansman,' Women Directors Win at Locarno Fest". Variety. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
- ^ "Yeo Siew Hua's A Land Imagined first local movie named Best Film at Silver Screen Awards". The Straits Times. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ Ramachandran, Naman (27 September 2019). "Singapore Sends Locarno Winner 'A Land Imagined' to the Oscars". Variety. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ "A Land Imagined (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ "A Land Imagined Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ Lee, Jan (23 November 2019). "Yeo Yann Yann wins Best Leading Actress at Golden Horse Awards for role in Anthony Chen's Wet Season". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "A Land Imagined - Awards". IMDb.
- ^ "APSA 2018 Winners". 29 November 2018.
- ^ "APSA 2018 Winners". 29 November 2018.
- ^ "El Gouna Film Festival - A Land Imagined".
- ^ "Five Flavours Asian Film Festival - A Land Imagined".
- ^ "Hamburg Film Festival - A Land Imagined".
- ^ "Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema(NETPAC)". TGHFF. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ "A LAND IMAGINED wins the Golden Leopard in Locarno!". Torino Film Lab. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "A Land Imagined receiving award for Competition strand at LEAFF". London East Asia Film Festival - Facebook. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ Khalid, Sadia (28 February 2019). "'Meenalap' and 'Komola Rocket' entice judges at NIFF". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "2018 2nd PYIFF Awards". PYIFF. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "IFFR is almost ending, but not before the Awards Ceremony has taken place". Hubert Bals Fund - Facebook. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "THE 29THSINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WRAPS UP 12-DAY FESTIVAL WITH STELLAR SUPPORT FROM LOCAL AND REGIONAL FILMMAKERS AND AUDIENCES" (PDF). SGIFF. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "THE 29THSINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WRAPS UP 12-DAY FESTIVAL WITH STELLAR SUPPORT FROM LOCAL AND REGIONAL FILMMAKERS AND AUDIENCES" (PDF). SGIFF. Retrieved 9 September 2019.