The 27th edition of the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) will open with Interchange, a noir fantasy thriller by one of Malaysia’s most celebrated filmmakers, Dain Iskandar Said. Making its Asian premiere at the SGIFF after successful receptions at Locarno International Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival, the film’s opening will be on 23 November 2016.
Interchange brings together Dain Iskandar Said’s love of noir films and his fascination with folklore. An Indonesian-Malaysian collaboration, the film is based on a chain of events triggered by a true incident that took place a century ago, when Norwegian explorer Carl Lumholtz travelled through central Borneo between 1913 and 1917.
Among the photographs he took was one of a group tribal women bathing in a river, in an attempt to cleanse themselves of the evil effects of being photographed. The cast is led by seasoned TV personality and actor Shaheizy Sam, who won Best Actor for his film Songlap in the 1st ASEAN International Film Festival in 2013, and award-winning Indonesian film and TV personality Nicholas Saputra. They are supported by rising star Iedil Putra and Indonesian darling Prisia Nasution, recipient of the Citra Award for Best Leading Actress at the 2011 Indonesian Film Festival for her role in Sang Penari.
Taking on the journey together with young forensics photographer Adam (Putra) and his arrogant, gutsy colleague detective Man (Sam), audiences will find themselves entrenched in Borneo’s traditional folklore and confronted by the mysteries behind a series of macabre ritual murders that have occurred through the city in Said’s subterranean underworld.
This is the third feature of Dain Iskandar Said, after his widely well-received feature five years ago – Bunohan: Return to Murder, which won eight awards at the 25th Malaysian Film Festival – the second most awarded film on the Malaysian Film Festival of all time. It was also selected as Malaysia’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the 85th Academy Awards.
The 27th edition of SGIFF, which runs from 23 November to 4 December 2016, will take place across various venues, including National Museum of Singapore Gallery Theatre, Shaw Theatres Lido, National Gallery Singapore Auditorium, The Arts House Screening Room, Filmgarde Bugis+ and Objectifs Chapel Gallery. Ticket sales for SGIFF will begin on 28 October 2016.
Photo Credit: Danny Lim © Apparat 2016
