S’pore film-maker Green Zeng’s The Return at Venice Film Fest

SINGAPORE — Multi-disciplinary artist Green Zeng’s feature film debut, The Return, will be hitting the big screen in Venice this week. It will be competing at the International Film Critics’ Week, an independent sidebar section at the ongoing Venice International Film Festival.

It’s the first feature-length Singapore film selected for competition at the world’s oldest film festival. Fellow artist Ho Tzu Nyen’s Earth was previously featured in the festival’s short-film competition section, Corto Cortissimo, in 2009.

Zeng said he was “in shock” when he first found out about the selection. “I didn’t believe it as it was unexpected,” he said. “It was only when I received the official confirmation email that it all sank in. It was unreal.”

The Return, which follows the story of an old man who returns home after being incarcerated for many years for being an alleged communist, will be screened from Wednesday to Friday at the International Film Critics’ Week, as one of seven debut full-length films from directors all over the world. These will be competing alongside films in the official Venice Film Fest selection for the best debut film award.

But Zeng, who has directed short films such as Blackboard Whiteshoes, which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, and Passenger, which won a prize at the Akira Kurosawa Memorial Short Film Competition in Tokyo that same year, said he’s not thinking too much about winning.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’ve already won,” he said. “To be selected for this festival is no easy feat and a big achievement for me. I’m happy to be able to share my little Singapore film at this much- respected international platform.”

The film-maker and visual artist is hoping for a Singapore premiere, if selected for the Singapore International Film Festival, and is planning a theatrical release as well.

Zeng is not the only visual artist flying the Singapore flag overseas this week — 10 Singaporean artists, including Singapore’s representative at this year’s Venice Biennale, Charles Lim, and Cultural Medallion recipient Lee Wen, will have their works shown at the Saatchi Gallery in London for START art fair, which shines the spotlight on emerging artists and new art scenes. These works were chosen from the previous Prudential Singapore Eye exhibition at ArtScience Museum. Genevieve Loh