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La Biennale di Venezia

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Cinema

Stranger eyes

Venezia 81 Competition
Director:
Siew Hua Yeo
Production:
Akanga Film Asia (Fran Borgia), Volos Films (Stefano Centini), Films de Force Majeure (Jean-Laurent Csinidis), Cinema Inutile (Alex C. Lo)
Running Time:
125’
Language:
Mandarin, English
Country:
Singapore, Taipei, France, USA
Main Cast:
Wu Chien-Ho, Lee Kang-Sheng, Anicca Panna, Vera Chen, Pete Teo, Xenia Tan, Maryanne Ng-Yew
Screenplay:
Yeo Siew Hua
Cinematographer:
Hideho Urata
Editor:
Jean-Christophe Bouzy
Production Designer:
James Page
Costume Designer:
Meredith Lee
Music:
Thomas Foguenne
Sound:
Tu Duu-Chih, Tu Tse-Kang

Synopsis

After the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple begins to receive strange videos, realising someone has been filming their daily life—even their most intimate moments. The police set up surveillance around their home to catch the voyeur, but the family starts to crumble as secrets unravel under the scrutiny of eyes watching them from all sides.

Director’s Statement

Once, I saw a man in a park. He was older, unremarkable in appearance. As I was staring at him, I began to craft a narrative around him. Later, I realised I was projecting my own aspirations onto this older man, even considering that perhaps he might be a reflection of myself. The thrill of secretly shaping this story intrigued me, until I noticed the surveillance cameras around me. I was being watched all along. Someone is always watching.
Since the pandemic, the discourse on surveillance has quietly shifted from concerns about freedoms to discussions of social responsibilities. What does it mean to exist as merely an image to be perceived? Do we see people as more than just patterns or types, recognising their full humanity with agency, histories, and fantasies? I sometimes wonder if I am more nostalgic for human surveillance rather than that by machines.
In a small island-state like Singapore, where there is no escape from the grid, watching and being watched becomes a daily ritual. With high population density and pervasive surveillance, the modern cityscape turns us into inadvertent witnesses to others’ lives, with its own set of consequences. More intriguingly, how does observing others reflect our own actions and perceptions of ourselves? After all, what is seen cannot be unseen.
Stranger Eyes contemplates these questions and the interplay between seeing and being seen. In an era where our sense of connection through visual consumption feels both limitless and alienating, the knowledge of being constantly watched—whether through social media or as an ethical necessity for safety—shapes our identities through a glass darkly. The act of seeing is ultimately not passive but reflexive and transformative; a dangerous game of imitation that could lead to the collapse of stable identities.

Production/Distribution

PRODUCTION 1: Akanga Film Asia - Fran Borgia
81 Ubi Avenue 4, #06-01 UB. One
408830, Singapore
Tel. (65) 67874068
franborgia@akangafilm.com
www.akangafilm.com

PRODUCTION 2: Volos Films – Stefano Centini
5F., No. 71, Aiguo E. Rd., Da’an Dist.
106006, Taipei City
Tel. (886) 223680538
contact@volosfilms.com
www.volosfilms.com

PRODUCTION 3: Films de Force Majeure – Jean-Laurent Csinidis
147 rue Paradis
13006, Marseille, France
Tel. (33) 484183033
contact@films-de-force-majeure.com
www.films-de-force-majeure.com

PRODUCTION 4: Cinema Inutile – Alex C. Lo
325 Hudson Street, 4th Floor
10013, New York, United States of America
Tel. (1) 6466185789
clo@cinema-inutile.com
www.cinema-inutile.com

WORLD SALES: Playtime - Joris Boyer
5, rue Nicolas Flamel
75004, Paris, France
Tel. (33) 153103399
joris@playtime.group
www.playtime.group

ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION: Europictures
Piazza Cairoli 9/A
00186 Rome, Italy
Tel. (39) 06 68336 25
info@europictures.it
www.europictures.it

INTL. PRESS OFFICE: Critical
Jon Rushton / jon@critical-pr.com / Tel. (44) 7969 837 242
Hannah Farr / hannah@critical-pr.com / Tel. (44) 7535 720 230

ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE: Echo SRL - Stefania Collalto
Via G. B. Morgagni 33
20129 Milan, Italy
Tel: (39) 02 46 762501
Mobile: (39) 3394279472
collalto@echogroup.it


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Biennale Cinema
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