Venice Competitor ‘Stranger Eyes’ Director Yeo Siew Hua Developing Limited Series as Part of Producer Akanga Film Asia’s Growing Slate (EXCLUSIVE)

Fran Borgia of Singapore’s Akanga Film Asia (“Tiger Stripes”), who’s at the Venice Film Festival this week with Yeo Siew Hua’s Golden Lion contender “Stranger Eyes,” has unveiled two new projects on his production company’s fast-growing slate, including a limited series from Yeo, whose “A Land Imagined” won the Locarno Film Festival’s top prize in 2018.

“We are excited to announce that we are expanding our horizons beyond Southeast Asia, embarking on ambitious new projects in collaboration with partners from China, Japan and India,” Borgia told Variety. “These international co-productions present new challenges and opportunities, allowing us to push creative boundaries and expand our artistic skills.”

Described by the producer as “a captivating and innovative addition to [Yeo’s] body of work,” the Singaporean filmmaker’s seven-part psychological police thriller series “The Fundamentals” delves into small-town paranoia, blending science, cultism and procedural elements. Created by Yeo and written by Yeo, Jen-Fang Wang, Ting Chi-Wen and Chen Chieh Ju, the series is being developed between Akanga Film Asia (Singapore) and Volos Films (Taiwan), with Yeo, Borgia and Stefano Centini of Volos Films serving as showrunners. Currently in development, the series is set to be shot in Taiwan in 2025.

Set in the small town of Chunding, “The Fundamentals” follows a police inspector and a sophisticated investigator who make the grisly discovery of 25 decapitated bodies and a hidden cult seeking to restore nature’s balance through supernatural means. As they delve into the investigation, the inspector’s immersion in the cult threatens his partner’s scientific beliefs and their quest for the truth.

Also on Akanga’s slate is “Waiting for Godard” (pictured, top), a debut feature written and directed by Vu Minh Nghia, whose short film “Live in Cloud Cuckoo Land” premiered in Venice’s Horizons strand in 2020. A co-production between Vietnam and Singapore, the film is produced by Nguyuen Trung Nghia, at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight this year with the short film “Mulberry Fields,” Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, whose Berlinale Panorama player “Cu Li Never Cries” won the award for best first feature, and Borgia. The project has been in development at SGIFF Southeast Asia Film Lab 2023, HIFF Project Lab 2024 and Produire Au Sud Taipei 2024.

Vu’s first feature follows a young independent filmmaker who’s fallen on hard times after a prolonged bout of unemployment caused by new government policies. He meets old colleagues from the State Film Studio whose future seems uncertain as they struggle to adapt to the rapidly changing global economy. They feel like ghosts from the past, carrying the classic propaganda films they once made. Intrigued, he decides to interview them.

Noting how his Singapore-based shingle is “passionate about discovering and supporting emerging voices in the industry,” Borgia said: “We are particularly excited about our work with filmmaker Vu Minh Nghia from Vietnam, whose unique perspective and storytelling approach are sure to add something special to our creative projects.” 

Along with “Stranger Eyes,” the producer is on the Lido this week with Singaporean filmmaker Tan Siyou’s first feature, “Amoeba,” which the duo is presenting at the Venice Production Bridge’s Gap-Financing Market. Other projects on Borgia’s slate include “Renoir,” a sophomore feature written and directed by Chie Hayakawa (Cannes Un Certain Regard player “Plan 75”), which marks Akanga’s first co-production with Japan, and “The Thonglor Kids,” from acclaimed Thai filmmaker Aditya Assarat, who returns to feature filmmaking after 2010’s “Hi-So.” Principal photography on the film, which follows a man who retires to the countryside after a failed marriage, only to have his life upturned by the arrival of his best friend, is set to begin in Thailand in the last quarter of 2024.

“We are currently collaborating with a remarkable group of Asian filmmakers, including Tan Siyou, Yeo Siew Hua, and K. Rajagopal from Singapore; Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka from China and Japan; Rima Das, Deyali Mukherjee, and Aakash Chhabra from India; Giovanni Rustanto from Indonesia; Ash Mayfair and Vu Minh Nghia from Vietnam; Chie Hayakawa from Japan; and Aditya Assarat from Thailand, among others,” said Borgia. “We are honored to be part of this talented and diverse group of creators.

“Our goal is to tell stories that connect with people everywhere while staying personal and uniquely ours. By blending diverse cultural influences with fresh storytelling techniques, we aim to create content that resonates with audiences all around the globe.”