SINGAPORE, Feb 9 — Singaporean film Ah Girl has won the Youth Jury Award at the 55th International Film Festival Rotterdam, which ran from January 29 to yesterday in the Netherlands.
It is the first full-length feature by Singaporean director Ang Geck Geck who took 10 years to make it, having also written the screenplay, The Straits Times reported.
“I wanted to tell a story about a broken family, from the perspective of a child going through the pressure (of) having to make important decisions that will affect her life to come. This is also a story about self-love,” Ang was quoted as saying in a press statement.
Set in 1990s Singapore, the 99-minute drama follows the titular Ah Girl, aged seven, through the highs and lows of childhood.
The film stars child actresses Ong Xuan Jing and Sydney Wong, alongside theatre actress Doreen Toh and Mediacorp artistes Carrie Wong and James Seah.
According to the Singapore newspaper, the film draws from Ang’s childhood memories.
The film was part of Rotterdam’s Bright Future section, spotlighting debut feature-length films with original subject matter and distinctive style.
“The performances of the kids, especially our titular Ah Girl, are sheer wonder and I appreciate so much the director’s intelligence of using the camera format and height to experience the world from the (limited) children’s perspective,” festival committee member Stefan Borsos, who specialises in South and South-east Asian films, was quoted as saying.
Ah Girl was also shortlisted for the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema Award and among the top 25 in the Audience Award category.
The film is scheduled to open in Singapore in the second half of this year.
