We Are All Strangers by Anthony Chen becomes first Singaporean film to compete for Berlin's Golden Bear award
Directed by acclaimed Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen, We Are All Strangers follows a family as they confront love, loss and responsibility.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Anthony Chen, We Are All Strangers is the first Singaporean film to compete for the Golden Bear, Berlin International Film Festival’s top award. (Photos: Giraffe Pictures, Instagram/antchen)
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Acclaimed filmmaker Anthony Chen continues carrying the banner for Singaporean films on an international stage. On Tuesday (Jan 20), it was announced that Chen's latest film, We Are All Strangers, is the first-ever Singaporean film to compete for the Golden Bear award – the top honour at the Berlin International Film Festival.
The Golden Bear is considered one of the most prestigious film festival awards, alongside the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or and the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion. Previous Golden Bear recipients include Terrence Malick's war film The Thin Red Line and the Hayao Miyazaki classic, Spirited Away.
Twenty-two films will be in the running for this year's competition with We Are All Strangers being one of the two films from Asia in the selection, alongside the Japanese anime film, A New Dawn, by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya.
In 2023, the Berlin International Film Festival saw the Singapore film Tomorrow Is A Long Time premiering as part of the festival's Generation 14plus selection.
Starring longtime collaborators Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler, We Are All Strangers follows a family as they confront love, loss and responsibility.
Supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Singapore Film Commission, We Are All Strangers marks the third and final film in Anthony Chen's Singapore Growing Up trilogy, which comprises 2013's Ilo Ilo and 2019's Wet Season.
In a statement, Anthony Chen said: “Completing my Singapore Growing Up trilogy has been a profoundly personal journey. This film also reflects my own evolution – as a son, a husband, and now a father. Ilo Ilo was made in my late twenties, Wet Season in my thirties and We Are All Strangers in my early forties. All these films capture my love for Singapore and our people, my enduring portrait of home. I am immensely proud to present this final chapter at Berlin.”
We Are All Strangers will make its world premiere at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, which runs from Feb 12 to 22.
Yvonne Tang, assistant chief executive (Media Industry Group) at IMDA, said, “We are excited that We Are All Strangers has achieved a historic first for Singapore cinema. This groundbreaking selection marks Singapore's inaugural entry into Berlin's most prestigious category, competing alongside the world's finest films for the Golden Bear.
“The film exemplifies the remarkable rise of made-with-Singapore storytelling on the global stage. This milestone further validates Singapore's emergence as a significant force in international cinema, showcasing our ability to create compelling narratives that resonate with audiences worldwide.”
