Anthony Chen’s Berlin Competition film We Are All Strangers has been acquired by Film Movement in the United States and Canada.
Film Movement is planning a theatrical release of the film, which made history as the first Singaporean film to enter the Berlin competition. The film will next be screened on April 1st, the opening night of the 50th Hong Kong Film Festival.
“With We Are All Strangers, Anthony Chen has created a timely family story that captures the social and economic fabric that characterizes modern life and filters it through the grounded human motivations of its vividly etched characters,” said Michael Rosenberg, president of Film Movement, who negotiated the deal with Paradise City sales executive Alexandre Moreau. “We’re thrilled that North American audiences will discover and relate to Chen’s globally resonant and moving vision,” he continued.
The US distributor previously handed over Chen’s debut film, “Iro Iro,” which won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
“We Are All Strangers” concludes what Chen calls his “Growing Up” trilogy, a series of works that begins with “Ilo Ilo” and continues through “Wet Season.”
The new film, set in modern-day Singapore, sees the return of Yeo Yan Yan and Ko Jia La, who appeared throughout the trilogy, and depicts the evolving bonds between generations.
Chen’s 2023 film “Drift” was released at Sundance and sold at Paradise City Sales.
In addition to the North American deal, Paradise City Sales also recently sold We Are All Strangers to Germany and Austria (Rapid Eye), Eastern Europe (HBO CEE), airlines (Encore) and Turkey (Filmarti).
The film was previously sold to ARP Selection (France), Curzon (UK 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).
We Are All Strangers was written and directed by Cheng and produced by Teo Yi-peng, Huang Wenhong and Anthony Cheng for Giraffe Pictures. Joe Tsai, Arthur Wang, and K.H. Kuok will serve as executive producers, and Julia Song will serve as co-executive producer. Funding was provided by 127 Wall Productions, Jasper Productions and the Singapore Film Board, with support from Red Sea Fund and MPA APSA Academy Film Fund.
Film Movement’s recent works include Chie Hayakawa’s Renoir, Dominique Moll’s Case 137, and Neo Sola’s Happy Ending.
