Singaporean director and filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua has a longstanding history with the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). Not only has he been consistently showcasing work he has helped produce or direct, but he looks upon the festival fondly as a key part of his formative years as a teen. But this year, Yeo is making new waves at the festival once again, with his fourth feature film Stranger Eyes opening SGIFF 2024 this November, which itself also made history as the first local film to be selected for the main competition at Venice.

“It’s an honour to have my own film open SGIFF,” says Siew Hua. “I do think that there’s something about local films that makes people feel very proud of them, because they speak to them on a fundamental level. I think more people need to understand the importance of such films, of such stories, and be more forthcoming with their support.”

Yeo shot to international fame when his sophomore narrative feature, A Land Imagined (2018), won the prestigious Golden Leopard (the highest award) at the Locarno International Film Festival. Now, with Stranger Eyes, he’s set to go even further, with a bigger budget and bigger ideas than ever before. “When I was still making independent films, I felt like it was at a level where I could handle everything on my own, with a smaller team. But with A Land Imagined being an international co-production, and the production aspects became much more multifold, and a much bigger distribution plan, and I didn’t want to stretch myself thin to the point it would affect the quality of the final product,” says Siew Hua. “One’s ambitiousness can come back to bite you, but I’m also glad that going bigger has introduced me to all these great talents as well, where I found an amazing team where we rally together instead of being a lone wolf.”

Speaking of the team, Siew Hua speaks fondly of the dream team that came together to create Stranger Eyes. “We have my producer and friend Fran Borgia onboard, and he’s someone who’s believed in me all these years. We’ve been working on projects together for years now, where Stranger Eyes even came up a decade ago, but were unable to produce it because we did not have the funds or capability to make it just yet, so I’m glad he’s the one seeing this come to life with me again,” says Siew Hua. “Meanwhile, we have leads like Lee Kang-Sheng, whose career I’d been following for some time, and with this film being about a strong silent type, it was a no-brainer to approach him, with his mastery of body language and a powerful gaze in his eyes. I’m glad he saw the potential in the film, and made a lot of accommodations in his schedule to make sure he appeared in it.”

“We also have Wu Chien-ho on board, who’s a younger actor and his performance struck me when I watched A Sun. His was the first name I put out when producers asked me who I wanted to cast, and I guess the stars aligned because he came onboard, and everyone came together to form a dream team,” he adds. “To me, it’s so important to maintain that trust and loyalty with each other, and not just with Fran and the cast, but the whole team coming together has this common goal we’re working towards that puts us all in a great position, and we essentially all want the best for the film.”

Stranger Eyes itself is a mystery thriller that deals with an estranged couple and their stalker. Months after the disappearance of their toddler, Junyang and Peiying reel from the police’s waning investigations. When they begin to receive mysterious DVDs containing secretly filmed footage of their lives, their suburban facades crumble and repressed resentments surface. Desperate to uncover the voyeur, Junyang gradually sinks into a quicksand of surveillance and self-confrontation. “I think that good work is recognised and rewarded during festivals, and my goal isn’t to please festivals, but to always focus on making something good and meaningful, and using the resources available to me in the best possible way to achieve something that is most meaningful, aesthetic, artistic, and can convince an audience or jury that it’s worth watching, or says something,” says Siew Hua. “In essence, it’s also a story that should be familiar to any Singaporean, with our increased surveillance in a dense city, where sometimes it feels like we’re always being watched, and watching others as well. It’s a natural response to my environment, and continues my journey of experimentation in cinema.”

As for how he feels about the current film industry, Siew Hua is positive and optimistic about how it’s come such a long way since his own days growing up. “I do wonder now with audiences being so used to watching things on online platforms, it might mean that for greater accessibility, films need to be on a platform to be watched after they leave cinemas, especially with the death of physical media like DVDs. The greater worry then is how we can preserve and keep film in today’s digital, streaming age,” he admits. “But other than that, we’re really seeing a lot more grants and funding opportunities now, greater film education, and better films as a whole. We still need to push those further, but what really would help at the end of the day is finding an audience. It’s all well and good to have all these awards and prizes, but ultimately all of that pales in comparison to just a handful of my Singapore audiences telling me that they appreciate the work I make and stories I tell about Singapore, and that goes a long way when it comes to supporting filmmakers and informing them that what they do really matters.”

Stranger Eyes makes its Southeast Asian premiere at the opening of SGIFF 2024 on 28th November 2024 at Capitol Theatre. Tickets available here

The 35th SGIFF runs from 28th November to 8th December 2024. More information available via their website here