Anthony Chen’s ‘We Are All Strangers’ Boarded by Paradise City Sales

Paradise City Sales is about to symbolize internationally “We Are All Strangers,” Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen‘s third and final movie in his acclaimed “Growing Up” trilogy. The movie is at the moment in post-production.

After “Ilo Ilo,” which received Cannes’ Camera d’Or for best first movie, and “Wet Season,” “We Are All Strangers” is a portrait of recent day Singapore and is an epic story highlighting class inequalities and revisiting the definition of household.

Here’s a first still of the movie:

The movie reteams Paradise City Sales and Chen. Beyond dealing with worldwide sales on “Ilo Ilo” and “Wet Season,” the Paris-based company also produced Chen’s English-language feature “Drift,” starring Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat which premiered at Sundance.

“We Are All Strangers” brings again the appearing duo Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler, whose performances in “Ilo Ilo” and “Wet Season” earned essential laurels. Yeo Yann Yann received the Golden Horse Award for best supporting actress for “Ilo Ilo” and best actress for “Wet Season,” while Koh Jia Ler was nominated twice at the awards.

“Returning to complete my Singapore ‘Growing Up’ trilogy with Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler is a profoundly personal journey. These are actors I have collaborated with over 13 years,” said Chen. “Through these films, we’ve grown together; our 11-year-old young boy has grown up, and I have grown older. And in many ways, his transformation mirrors the heart of these stories: how we become strangers to who we were, and how we find our way back again.”

“We Are All Strangers” is written and directed by Chen, and is produced by means of his Singapore-based manufacturing company Giraffe Pictures.

“It’s such a joy to work again with Anthony as he brings his ‘Growing Up’ trilogy to a close. We’ve loved being part of this decade-long adventure and witnessing both his growth as a director and the extraordinary evolution of his amazing actors,” Paradise City Sales said in an announcement. “It’s a rare cinematographical feat to capture the passage of time in people and in a place with such warmth and beauty and we can’t wait for the world to share laughter and tears as they discover this wonderfully tender last installment,” the company continued.

Chen grew to become the first Singaporean filmmaker to win the Caméra d’Or at Cannes with “Ilo Ilo” which went on to garner more than 40 worldwide awards worldwide. His second feature, “Wet Season,” premiered at Toronto and acquired a number of Golden Horse Awards nominations. His current work consists of the Sundance movie “Drift” and “The Breaking Ice” which performed at Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

His new project is backed by the Singapore Film Commission, the Red Sea Fund and the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. Executive Producers are Joe Tsai, Arthur Wang and KH Kuok. Paradise City is promoting all territories excluding Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. China’s Rediance will deal with distribution in Mainland China.

“We Are All Strangers” joins Paradise City Sales’ busy slate which incorporates “Tell Me Everything” which can compete at Sundance; Laurent Micheli’s social thriller “Nino in Paradise” which can display screen at Unifrance’s Paris Rendez-Vous and was a part of Tallinn Black Nights Critics’ Pick Competition. Post-production titles embody Martin Provost’s romantic comedy “Love Lessons,” Judith Godrèche’s “A Girl’s Story” and Warwick Thornton’s “Wolfram.”