Anthony Chen’s Distance plays to sold out crowds at Golden Horse Film Fest

SINGAPORE — The omnibus film, Distance, executive produced by homegrown film-maker Anthony Chen, made its world premiere at the 2015 Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei to a sold-out audience. Tickets to two out of the three halls screening the film were sold out in hours. (The third hall was for invited guests —and that was fully subscribed, too.)

Distance was selected as the opening film of the prestigious film festival in Taiwan, which is currently ongoing and will end on Nov 26. Pulling together the combined talents of young award-winning directors from Singapore (Tan Shijie), China (Xin Yukun) and Thailand (Sivaroj Kongsakul), this Pan-Asian omnibus feature film stars popular Taiwanese actor Chen Bo-Lin (Blue Gate Crossing, The Continent) playing three different characters in three separate shorts, all centred on the common theme of distance.

The actor said at the festival press conference: “The challenge of having to transform between three very different roles within a short space of time was both stressful and exciting. It was like a marathon! We had two to three days in between each segment. It allowed me to really tap into both past experiences and memories, and perhaps look into the future.”

He added: “I have worked on so many films, and I have never seen an executive producer like Anthony, who was always the first (to arrive) on set and last (to leave) every day. But this film is ultimately about the whole team. Everyone worked hard on making the best possible film.”

For local director Tan, whose short film, Not Working Today, won the Best Singapore Short Film at last year’s Singapore International Film Festival, contributing to this project has more than allowed him to try new things.

“It was great to have had the opportunity to do this project ... and the making of this film allowed me to understand certain things about myself and the craft,” shared Tan.

“Collaborating with teams across territories in Singapore, Taiwan and China was a really challenging but rewarding experience; and the opportunity to direct well-known actors such as Chen Bo-Lin and Yo Yang was exciting for me. It was an opportunity to do something bigger and bolder, (and it was) something I really relished.”

Giraffe Pictures, Anthony Chen’s film company which produced the movie, will soon be starting its Asia-wide promotions for Distance, including the launch of the theme song, which is sung by Singapore’s very own Stefanie Sun, early next year.

Anthony Chen himself is a multiple Golden Horse Awards winner. He made history in 2013 by becoming the first Singaporean to take home the Best Feature Film prize for his debut feature, Ilo Ilo, on top of the awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (for Yeo Yann Yann), and Best New Director.

Distance will open in Singapore cinemas in March/April 2016.