Anthony Chen’s Berlinale competition title “We Are All Strangers” has proven to be a hot title, with Paris-based Paradise City Sales locking in distribution partners across the world.
The film made history as the first Singaporean entry ever to compete in Berlin’s main competition section. Among the deals closed are ARP Selection (France), Curzon (U.K. and Ireland), Elastica Films (Spain), Trigon Film (Switzerland), A-One Films (Baltics), Ama Films (Greece), Golden Scene (Hong Kong), Movicloud (Taiwan), Challan (South Korea), PT Falcon (Indonesia) and Moving Turtle (Middle East and North Africa), with additional negotiations still ongoing.
The new film rounds out what Chen has called his “Growing Up” trilogy, a body of work that began with “Ilo Ilo,” which won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes, and continued with “Wet Season.” Set in contemporary Singapore, the new film again features Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler, who have appeared throughout the trilogy. Paradise City Sales has represented Chen’s work internationally across all three films, as well as “Drift,” with the films collectively travelling to Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and Berlin.
The film is written and directed by Chen and produced by Huang Wenhong and Chen for Giraffe Pictures, with Joe Tsai, Arthur Wang and KH Kuok serving as executive producers. Financing comes from the Singapore Film Commission and the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund.
“Dreams swiftly turn to survival strategies in Anthony Chen‘s gentle, perceptive domestic saga, and love isn’t always enough to live on,” wrote Guy Lodge, reviewing the film for Variety. “The film is consistently involving and finally moving, sparked especially by Chen regular Yeo Yann Yann’s wonderful performance as an immigrant outsider in this family and society alike.”
“We’ve long appreciated Anthony’s work, and it’s a pleasure to finally be able to work together on ‘We Are All Strangers,’ a film which has the rare ability to build a deep intimacy with its characters whilst also revealing the heart of a nation,” said Curzon managing director Louisa Dent. “We believe it will be a welcome discovery for audiences in the U.K. and Ireland.”
“We are incredibly proud to work with Anthony Chen and to bring his deeply moving and universal cinema to Spanish audiences,” said Elastica director Enrique Costa. “With ‘We Are All Strangers,’ he crafts a powerful and emotionally resonant portrait of the family we are born into and the family we choose, confirming his place as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary cinema.”
Other titles on the Paradise City Sales slate include Moshe Rosenthal’s “Tell Me Everything,” in Sundance’s World Cinema Competition; Warwick Thornton’s “Wolfram,” competing at the Berlinale; and Mees Peijnenburg’s “A Family,” which picked up a Special Mention in the Berlinale Generation section.
English (US) ·