Director Eric Khoo at 60: ‘I want to help the next wave of film-makers find their voice'

Straits Times

5 days ago

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Film-maker Eric Khoo put Singapore on the international film map in 1995 with his debut feature Mee Pok Man.
SINGAPORE – Film aficionados will agree that local director and screenwriter Eric Khoo single-handedly put modern Singapore cinema on the international map with his seminal drama Mee Pok Man (1995), followed by another classic, 12 Storeys (1997).
Both movies – the first about a noodle seller and his fascination with a disillusioned prostitute, and the latter a social commentary about a group of ordinary Singaporeans living in the same HDB block – blazed a trail, being screened at more than 60 film festivals worldwide.
Khoo did Singapore proud when 12 Storeys became the first made-in-Singapore film to officially participate in the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, thanks to its nomination in the Un Certain Regard section.
Through the years, he continued to garner attention and awards at the prestigious event. His works Be With Me, an anthology about love and solitude, opened the Directors' Fortnight sidebar in 2005; and My Magic, a drama about a single father, was selected to compete for the top Palme d'Or award in 2008.
For his contributions to the local film industry, Khoo was conferred the Cultural Medallion for Film in 2007.
The auteur is celebrating Singapore's 60th birthday with Kopitiam Days, an anthology of six short films revolving around a kopitiam that unveils the interwoven stories of strangers who find solace, love and connection within the country's social fabric.
Khoo serves as the executive producer and creative director of the project that showcases six rising writer-directors: Yeo Siew Hua, Shoki Lin, M. Raihan Halim, Tan Siyou, Don Aravind and Ong Kuo Sin. It is jointly produced by Khoo's company Zhao Wei Films , as well as Akanga Film Asia and Clover Films.
Kopitiam Days held its world premiere at the Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands, on Aug 5 with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife, Ms Jane Ittogi, as the guests of honour.
Special screenings of the film are slated to be held at community hubs and centres across Singapore.
Khoo, who turned 60 on March 27, is married with four sons – Edward, 31, a director; James, 29, and Christopher, 28, both producers; and Lucas, 26, a master's student at Dartmouth university in the US.
What is your core memory of Singapore?
The relentless heat, punishing humidity and nasty mosquitoes. But this tiny island also has a culinary scene as vibrant as its people. Meals are often mouthwatering experiences, thanks to generations of diverse cultures cooking side by side.
What do you consider your biggest contribution to Singapore?
Directing Mee Pok Man 30 years ago with a fantastic team. The film didn't just mark a milestone, it kick-started Singapore's modern cinema. Later, co-writing the white paper with a couple of my mates in 1997 led to the birth of the Singapore Film Commission, fuelling the rise of a new generation of talented home-grown film-makers.
What do you love or hate about the country?
I love the food, but hate the heat. I often wish we have four seasons: Imagine savouring my favourite wonton mee at Tanglin Halt or digging into Samy's Curry at Dempsey while snowflakes gently drift outside. It will be a true heaven for foodies.
What is the one thing you miss about the Singapore of your childhood?
Singaporean film-maker Eric Khoo at two years old.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ERIC KHOO
Grabbing tasty bites from pushcart hawkers under five-foot-ways ; catching blockbusters that played for months in grand 1,000-seat cinemas, such as Bruce Lee's The Big Boss (1971) at Majestic Theatre; tuning into (cable-transmitted radio service) Rediffusion; and hunting for Action Man figures at that sacred toy shop, The Orchard Store.
What is the best and worst thing about turning 60?
These days, I've ditched dull, drawn-out films you watch only when you're ironing. There's just too much to do and not enough hours in the day. Life feels more exciting, and I'm more energised than ever.
SG60's theme is Building Our Singapore Together. What would you like the Singapore of the future to look like?
I wish my favourite Hainanese curry rice and Peranakan mee siam will stay just as delicious in the decades to come.
(Singapore's first prime minister) Lee Kuan Yew once considered air-conditioning as one of the most important inventions ever, so I fantasise that we will become an air-conditioned city which is blissfully mosquito-free.
Maybe I'm dreaming, but what matters most is that we keep loving, creating and savouring life together. I can't be prouder of our new SG60 film Kopitiam Days, a heartfelt tribute to our homeland, our community and, of course, those perfect soft-boiled eggs.
(From left) Eric Khoo with Kopitiam Days directors Tan Siyou, Don Aravind, Shoki Lin, M. Raihan Halim, Ong Kuo Sin and Yeo Siew Hua.
PHOTO: CLOVER FILMS
And what does your next era look like?
I don't have a crystal ball, but my greatest passion is film. I want to keep creating and help the next wave of film-makers find their voice.
None of this would have happened without my late mother, who introduced me to the magic of cinema. May she keep smiling at me and guiding me from heaven.