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Do You Know Ajoomma Writer & Director He Shuming And Keanu Reeves Share The Same Management Company?

The Singaporean filmmaker’s first film, Ajoomma, starring Hong Huifang, will arrive on Amazon Prime Video on Apr 13 — it’s the first local title to launch on the streamer.

Ajoomma, the first Singapore-South Korea-co-produced feature film, featuring a Golden Horse Award-nominated performance by Hong Huifang, arrives on Amazon Prime Video this Thursday (Apr 13).

One naturally assumes that, after more than six months on the road, the film’s debut director He Shuming and producer Anthony Chen can now scale back on the publicity push, breathe a little, and, well, move on.

Guess again: Closure is still a long way to go.

Ajoomma — which is Korean for ‘auntie’ — is about Hong’s K-drama-obsessed Singaporean middle-aged widow embarking on a metamorphic trip to Seoul, where she’s joined by a young tour guide (Kang Hyung-Suk) and an elderly security guard (Jung Dong-Hwan).

The film premiered at the 2022 Busan International Film Festival in the New Currents section; was nominated for four Golden Horse Awards, including Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actor; and won Hong the Best Actress at the Asian World Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Film at the Red Sea International Film Festival.

Ajoomma was also Singapore’s submission for Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars.

“There are things still lined up all the way till December,” He tells 8days.sg Zoom from Los Angeles. Last month, He signed with Sugar23, the multimedia and management company, whose clientele includes Keanu Reeves, Steven Soderbergh, Jeremy Strong, and Diane Lane.

“I don’t actually feel a sense of ‘Oh, I’m so tired of talking about it’”, he continues. He says he still gets a kick from the reactions Ajoomma gets at the various film festivals. “The film going on Prime Video is a new chapter, so it feels like I’m starting all over again.”

Ajoomma recently played at California’s Sonoma International Film Festival and is heading for The Far East Film Festival in Italy’s Udine.

Unforgettable: He Shuming, Hong Huifang and Anthony Chen at Ajoomma’s press conference at the 27th Busan International Film Festival. “Of all the film festivals, the special one is still Busan,” says He. “That’s our first world premiere, so it was very special to me. Plus, it was in Korea and so to have Koreans reacting to the film and your cast there for the first time, you can’t top that.” The Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia was memorable too: “The audience would tell me, ‘This is my first Singaporean film; I came in to watch because of the Korean stars.’ One particular lady was very moved by the film because it reminded her of her daughter and their relationship.”

And as long as the film is travelling, the producer can’t rest, says Chen, joining the interview via Zoom from Tokyo, where he’s on vacation with his family.

“I’m still dealing with a lot of the distribution logistics,” the Camera d’Or-feted auteur reveals. “Because you never know what to expect.”

Things can get wildly complicated especially when Korean talents are involved.

Chen cites an incident where Korean producers and the reps of Yeo Jin-Goo, who has a cameo in Ajoomma, clashed over an unauthorised Yeo standee used to promote the film in Thailand. Turns out the unsanctioned publicity material was the handiwork of Yeo’s hardcore fans.

He, too, has a funny Yeo-related anecdote to share. He remembers being quizzed by a viewer at one film festival who thought the fictional Yeo-starring K-soap opera in the movie was the real deal.

“He was trying to sound like he knows the film business and that he knows the business of getting rights to something to put into films,” He recalls. ‘He said, ‘Could you talk us through the mechanics of getting this Korean drama into your film? How did you find the scene?’ I said, ‘It’s not a real drama — I wrote it!’”

He and Chen will be back in Singapore today (Apr 12) for a special screening of Ajoomma at the Asian Civilisations Museum to mark the film’s Prime Video debut. Hong will be in attendance as well.  The film is Prime Video’s first Singaporean release; it’s also available on the streamer in Malaysia and Brunei.

Ajoomma on streaming will give the film a “second big boost” in Singapore and people who missed it during its three-month theatrical run now have “no excuse not to catch it”, says Chen.

“I’ve been very shameless about that with people,” He says. “When they say, ‘Oh, I didn’t get the chance to see it,’ I’m like, ‘Why don’t you have time? It was playing for a while!” [Now that’s it on Prime Video] I’d say, ‘Now you have time. You can see it, you can download it, you can watch it and I’d love to hear what you have to say. Let’s check in after!’”

“Because of streaming, the film is never in its last leg,” Chen adds. “It’s going to be there for quite some time, not just for only two or three months. And you know what’s interesting? Mother’s Day is around the corner (May 14), and I think this is the absolute best film to watch with your mother or for mothers to force their kids to watch!”

Outstanding Ajoomma commitments aside, what’s next for the director and producer?

For Chen, he already has two films in the can: Drift, his English-language debut led by Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat, which premiered at Sundance Film Festive in January; and The Breaking Ice, his first mainland Chinese movie, starring Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran and Qu Chuxiao.

The Hong Kong-based filmmaker also hopes to start production this year on We Are All Strangers, the final film of his ‘Growing Up trilogy — which also includes 2013’s Ilo Ilo and 2019’s Wet Season. It will reunite him with actors Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler.

As for He, he’s still figuring out his next move, which is why he’s in LA “in the middle of a lot of meetings” with his reps.

Horse power: He Shuming walking down the red carpet at the Golden Horse Awards with Hong Huifang and Jung Dong-Hwan. “The highlight for me was experiencing the media fanfare leading up to the awards,” He reminiscences. “Meeting almost every single press member every single day about the film. The fans were also very generous. Every day when we returned to the hotel, there would be people waiting to take our photos and have me and Huifang sign their posters. The overall experience of being there made me feel like I’m a new student in school.”

Will He’s future include another collaboration with Hong?

“We’ve become very close in the last two years,” He says. “We’ve talked and I think sometimes we talk about what else is there, and what can I write for her. She has ideas of her own. I would love to work with Huifang jie again.

"It’s really gratifying to see her grow and to be a part of that. I’m very excited about her new chapter. She’s getting more opportunities now but I also hope that we will get a chance to work together again. I think it would be fun.”

And what about teaming up with Chen again?

“Anthony is a very busy man,” says He, with a laugh. “I have to go through someone else to talk to him. At some point, I hope there’s the right project for me and Anthony to work on again. Anthony really prides himself on building such an incredible slate. He’s doing all this work. Sometimes, I’ve said this to him before, like, ‘Do you get to sleep? Do you rest at all?’ He doesn’t.”

Alas, Chen’s workhorse routine has taken a toll on his health.

“My body is starting to crumble, actually,” the father of one admits. “Just last week I was diagnosed with a slipped disc. I’ve learnt that you can’t survive two years of sleeping four hours a day.

"But yeah, I guess I love cinema and I love making films. Me and my company [Giraffe Pictures], apart from producing my own films, will continue to champion first-time filmmakers, and young filmmakers, and I think there’s so much talent and so many stories that Singapore and our region can tell. We hope to show them to the rest of the world.”

Ajoooma drops on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday (Apr 13). Chen's Ilo Ilo and Wet Season as well as Distance, which he produced, will be added to the Prime Video library from Apr 20. Prime Video is available for S$2.99 per month, new customers can find out more at primevideo.com and subscribe to a free 30-day trial.

Photos: Amazon Prime Video, TPG News/Click Photos, Giraffe Pictures, Golden Horse Awards Committee

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Stream it Ajoomma Hong Huifang Anthony Chen He Shuming

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