A Land Imagined

A Land Imagined (Chinese: 幻土) is a 2018 neo-noir mystery thriller film[1] written and directed by Yeo Siew Hua. A Singapore-France-Netherlands co-production,[2] the film tells the story of a police investigator who uncovers the truth behind the disappearance of a construction worker.[3]

A Land Imagined
Directed byYeo Siew Hua
Produced byFran Borgia
Written byYeo Siew Hua
StarringPeter Yu
Luna Kwok
Liu Xiaoyi
Jack Tan
Ishtiaque Zico
Music byTeo Wei Yong
CinematographyHideho Urata
Edited byDaniel Hui
Production
company
Akanga Film Asia
Films de Force Majeure
mm2 Entertainment
Volya Films
Distributed bymm2 Entertainment (Singapore)
Release date
  • 7 August 2018 (2018-08-07) (Locarno)
  • 8 December 2018 (2018-12-08) (SGIFF)
  • 21 February 2019 (2019-02-21) (Singapore)
Running time
95 minutes
CountrySingapore
France
Netherlands
LanguageMandarin
English
Bengali

The film premiered in competition on 7 August 2018, at the 71st Locarno Film Festival, and won the top prize of the festival, the Golden Leopard.[4] At Locarno, Yeo also won the Junior Jury award and a Special Mention award. In December 2018, A Land Imagined played in competition at the 29th Singapore International Film Festival, where it was named Best Asian Feature Film by a jury led by Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan. It is the first time a Singaporean film has won the award. The film was released in Singapore theatres on February 21, 2019.[5] It was selected as the Singaporean entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[6]

Plot

The film revolves around Lok, a police officer who is investigating the disappearance of a Chinese migrant worker working at a land reclamation site. The investigation leads him to the disappearance of another Bengali worker, who was on good terms with the missing worker. As he retraces the steps of the missing worker, Lok gets a sensing of the plight of these workers as they happen to work for an unscrupulous employer.

Cast
  • Peter Yu as Lok
  • Luna Kwok as Mindy
  • Liu Xiaoyi as Wang
  • Jack Tan as Jason
  • Ishtiaque Zico as Ajit

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 67%, based on 12 reviews.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8]

Awards and nominations
Festival Date of ceremony Award & Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
56th Golden Horse Awards 23 November 2019 Best Original Score Teo Wei Yong Won
56th Golden Horse Awards 23 November 2019 Best Original Screenplay A Land Imagined Won
13th Asian Film Awards 17 March 2019 Best New Director Yeo Siew Hua Nominated [9]
12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards 29 November 2018 Achievement in Cinematography Hideho Urata Won [10]
Young Cinema Award Yeo Siew Hua Won [11]
2nd El Gouna Film Festival 28 September 2018 El Gouna Gold Star - Feature Narrative Competition A Land Imagined Won [12]
12th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival 21 November 2018 Best Film - New Asian Cinema Comeptition Nominated [13]
26th Filmfest Hamburg 5 October 2018 NDR Young Talent Award Yeo Siew Hua Nominated [14]
55th Golden Horse Film Festival 17 November 2018 NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film A Land Imagined Nominated [15]
43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival 1 April 2019 Firebird Award - Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language) Nominated [9]
71st Locarno International Film Festival 11 August 2018 Golden Leopard - International Competition Won [9]
Junior Jury Award - International Competition Won [9]
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention Won [9]
Best Actress - Boccalino d’Oro Award Luna Kwok Won [16]
3rd London East Asia Film Festival 4 November 2018 Special Jury Mention A Land Imagined Won [17]
2nd Nepal International Film Festival 27 February 2019 Best International Feature Film, Gautam Buddha Award Won [18]
2nd Pingyao International Film Festival 17 October 2018 Jury Prize - Roberto Rossellini Awards Won [19]
6th QCinema International Film Festival 30 October 2018 Pylon Best Picture - Asian Next Wave Competition Won [9]
48th International Film Festival Rotterdam 2 February 2019 Special Mention - Youth Jury Award Won [20]
29th Singapore International Film Festival 8 December 2018 Best Film - Asian Feature Film Competition Won [9]
Lesley Ho Asian Film Talent Award Yeo Siew Hua Won [21]
Swarovski Inspiring Woman in Film Award Luna Kwok Won [22]
63rd Valladolid International Film Festival 27 October 2018 Best Director of Photography Hideho Urata Won [9]
Golden Spike Award for Best Film A Land Imagined Nominated [9]
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See also

References
  1. Sarah Loh, Genevieve. "Why this Singapore film's historic win at one of the world's most important festivals matters". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
  2. "A Land Imagined". Films de Force Majeure. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
  3. "A Land Imagined - Locarno Film Festival". Locarno Festival. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
  4. Lodge, Guy. "A Land Imagined,' 'BlacKkKlansman,' Women Directors Win at Locarno Fest". Variety. Retrieved Nov 10, 2018.
  5. "Yeo Siew Hua's A Land Imagined first local movie named Best Film at Silver Screen Awards". The Straits Times. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  6. Ramachandran, Naman (27 September 2019). "Singapore Sends Locarno Winner 'A Land Imagined' to the Oscars". Variety. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  7. "A Land Imagined (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  8. "A Land Imagined Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  9. "A Land Imagined - Awards".
  10. "APSA 2018 Winners".
  11. "APSA 2018 Winners".
  12. "El Gouna Film Festival - A Land Imagined".
  13. "Five Flavours Asian Film Festival - A Land Imagined".
  14. "Hamburg Film Festival - A Land Imagined".
  15. "Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema(NETPAC)". TGHFF. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  16. "A LAND IMAGINED wins the Golden Leopard in Locarno!". Torino Film Lab. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  17. "A Land Imagined receiving award for Competition strand at LEAFF". London East Asia Film Festival - Facebook. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  18. Khalid, Sadia (28 February 2019). "'Meenalap' and 'Komola Rocket' entice judges at NIFF". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  19. "2018 2nd PYIFF Awards". PYIFF. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  20. "IFFR is almost ending, but not before the Awards Ceremony has taken place". Hubert Bals Fund - Facebook. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  21. "THE 29THSINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WRAPS UP 12-DAY FESTIVAL WITH STELLAR SUPPORT FROM LOCAL AND REGIONAL FILMMAKERS AND AUDIENCES" (PDF). SGIFF. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  22. "THE 29THSINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WRAPS UP 12-DAY FESTIVAL WITH STELLAR SUPPORT FROM LOCAL AND REGIONAL FILMMAKERS AND AUDIENCES" (PDF). SGIFF. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
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