A Land Imagined () is a 2018 neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Yeo Siew Hua. A Singapore-France-Netherlands co-production, the film tells the story of a police investigator who uncovers the truth behind the disappearance of a construction worker.
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. 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 21 February 2019. It was selected as the Singaporean entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
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 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 , based on reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Awards and nominations FestivalDate of ceremonyAward & CategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef(s)56th Golden Horse Awards23 November 2019Best Original ScoreTeo Wei Yong56th Golden Horse Awards23 November 2019Best Original ScreenplayYeo Siew Hua13th Asian Film Awards17 March 2019Best New Director Yeo Siew Hua12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards29 November 2018Achievement in CinematographyHideho UrataYoung Cinema AwardYeo Siew Hua2nd El Gouna Film Festival 28 September 2018El Gouna Gold Star - Feature Narrative Competition A Land Imagined12th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival21 November 2018Best Film - New Asian Cinema Competition26th Filmfest Hamburg5 October 2018NDR Young Talent AwardYeo Siew Hua55th Golden Horse Film Festival17 November 2018NETPAC Award for Best Asian FilmA Land Imagined43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival1 April 2019Firebird Award - Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language)71st Locarno International Film Festival11 August 2018Golden Leopard - International CompetitionJunior Jury Award - International CompetitionPrize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special MentionBest Actress - Boccalino d’Oro AwardLuna Kwok3rd London East Asia Film Festival4 November 2018Special Jury MentionA Land Imagined2nd Nepal International Film Festival27 February 2019Best International Feature Film, Gautam Buddha Award2nd Pingyao International Film Festival 17 October 2018Jury Prize - Roberto Rossellini Awards6th QCinema International Film Festival 30 October 2018Pylon Best Picture - Asian Next Wave Competition48th International Film Festival Rotterdam 2 February 2019Special Mention - Youth Jury Award29th Singapore International Film Festival 8 December 2018Best Film - Asian Feature Film CompetitionLesley Ho Asian Film Talent AwardYeo Siew HuaSwarovski Inspiring Woman in Film AwardLuna Kwok63rd Valladolid International Film Festival 27 October 2018Best Director of PhotographyHideho UrataGolden Spike Award for Best FilmA Land Imagined
See also List of submissions to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Singaporean submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links
A Land Imagined at Locarno Film Festival A Land Imagined at Rotten Tomatoes