https://mothership.sg/2024/04/mark-lee-peter-yu-acting-awards/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1vovp-JUuRKEZouwaGHwWBf-5yYgpu-aAgq_A8yMbNiph_xjH-4mIkP4Q_aem_AYks9Y9Sbsr3VdggY-GTwDq096tcTES9GJksV6ed2LsPIc20Vb-mGo7qUNg1XTM-82L56bwG0J8HyD1rZchTqC2p

Zi Shan Kow |  April 14, 2024, 09:12 PM

Singaporeans Mark Lee and Peter Yu nabbed both acting awards at the Ho Chi Minh International Film Festival on Apr. 13. 

Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor

Mark Lee won Best Actor and Peter Yu won Best Supporting Actor for the 2023 Singaporean film “Wonderland”. 

While they were not present at the event to receive the award, director Chai Yee Wei stood in for them.

After hearing about the result, Lee said in an Instagram post: 

“This is my first international award! Thank you judge! Thank you director! Thank you producer and screenwriter! Thank you to all the cast and crew members! Thank you! Thank you!”

This is Yu’s first international acting award for a feature film. He won an award for a short film in 2018. 

International recognition

Michelle Chang, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Mocha Chai Laboratories, congratulated the pair on their first acting awards in a feature. 

She said in a statement: 

“This is Mark’s first acting award in a feature film. Seeing Mark and Peter move the audiences here in Vietnam made us even more confident that Wonderland’s themes transcend boundaries and borders and are universally relatable.”

Chai also told The New Paper: 

“This showed that our Singaporean actors have the ability to win over audiences and jury from around the world, from [the] US to Ho Chi Minh City. 

And I think it is incredible that I have two of the best Singaporean actors who won the acting awards from such a strong line-up of international movies. So grateful.”

“Wonderland” also won the Local Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival earlier this year. 

The award is presented to the film that best promotes understanding and acceptance between people.

About “Wonderland”

In this Mandarin and Hokkien drama film set in 1980s Singapore, Lee and Yu play two middle-aged fathers who bond over their love for their daughters. 

It has an all-Singaporean cast including Xenia Tan, Janice Seah and Rajeswary Nadarajan. 

“Wonderland” will be showing in Singapore cinemas from Aug 8. 

You can watch the movie teaser here: 

Top images via Mocha Chai Laboratories.

https://variety.com/2023/film/asia/wonderland-singapore-film-festival-mark-lee-1235819378

By Naman Ramachandran

Chai Yee-Wei’s “Wonderland” comes to the Singapore International Film Festival after debuting at the San Diego Asian Film Festival where it won the audience award.

Chai’s credits include “Blood Ties” (2009), “Twisted” (2011) and “That Girl in Pinafore” (2013), which premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival. “Wonderland” is his fifth feature. He is the founder of Singaporean post-production house Mocha Chai Laboratories.

Set in 1980s Singapore, “Wonderland” follows two middle-aged fathers – Loke, who owns a joss paper shop and lives with his daughter Eileen, and Tan, a lonely church pianist and recovering alcoholic-gambler. They become friends after Loke sells his house to fund Eileen’s studies abroad and moves next to Tan. Filled with regrets over his own estranged daughter, Tan offers to translate and transcribe the illiterate Loke’s correspondences with Eileen. When Tan learns about a tragedy, he constructs an elaborate lie to protect Loke from the truth.

The cast includes Mark Lee, Peter Yu and Xenia Tan. 

“This story was inspired by an incident that happened during my years as a foreign student in the U.S. more than 20 years ago. This film explores the hopes, dreams and fears of a Southeast Asian parent for his daughter, pursuing the American dream. Singaporeans of the 1980s-90s looked to the West as the promised land, and my film seeks to ask the questions of how far one would go in pursuit of that dream,” Chai told Variety. 

“To a large extent, Singaporeans’ mentality of looking beyond the shores as a ‘wonderland’ still stands, whether it be education, media, fashion, taste, or knowledge. The inability to recognize and value our own talents is something that as a society, we have yet to overcome,” Chai added.

The film is produced by Michelle Chang and Chia Choong Kai and written by Chang, Allan Ho and Chance Wanlass.

“It resonated with me at so many levels: Singapore has not had a film of such a nature for a long time; we have our usual slapstick comedies you will find launched during every Chinese New Year and horror-thriller fare during our Ghost months or Halloween, as they are generally perceived as safer bets in the box office. ‘Wonderland’ stands out for me as it is neither. It is a family drama set in the 1980s about how white lies ironically seal an unlikely friendship between two men,” Chang told Variety. 

“‘Wonderland’ is tonal and layered – the kind of film I personally enjoy. On a personal level, I have a wonderful relationship with my father and when I was young, my father would expose me to everything American – music, fashion and art. I am always been fascinated with strong bonds and unlikely friendships between two men, for instance ‘Green Book,’ ‘Sideways’ and ‘Joint Security Area,’ where meaningful male friendships are formed in the most unlikeliest of circumstances. I am fascinated with male friendships as it is acceptable and widely practised for women to draw each other out to share, to create a support system, but not so for men, especially Asian men. Hence when I was given the chance to write and produce it, I took it without hesitation,” Chang added. 

The film will continue its festival journey before releasing commercially in Singapore in 2024. “We are planning a robust marketing campaign for the film leading up to its commercial cinema release next year. As this film is not our usual horror and slapstick comedy fare, it is going to be challenging for us at the local box office. Hence, we need to devise a different approach to marketing it; we will seek out like-minded partners and organizations to generate buzz at the grassroots level. Traditional forms of marketing will not work for this film. We are also considering iTunes movies as an option followed by SVOD,” Chang said.

Going forward, Chai is splitting his efforts between going hyperlocal for my his personal directorial projects, and producing projects with more commercial and international appeal. Chang has three series in development, two of which are funded by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the third co-financed by Mocha Chai Laboratories, for markets beyond Singapore. Chang is also a painter, having featured in 20 exhibitions over the past decade. She is currently writing a treatment for animated film “The Blue Cat,” inspired by her paintings.

https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/wonderland-singapore-film-mark-lee-peter-yu-award-palm-springs-film-festival-383141

The Mandarin and Hokkien language film picked up the Local Jury Award at this year’s festival. 

Singapore film Wonderland has picked up the Local Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It was up against three other films. The festival runs until Sunday (Jan 14).

The Local Jury Award is presented to the film that best promotes understanding and acceptance between people.

The Mandarin and Hokkien language film features an all-Singaporean cast. It tells the story of single father Loke (played by Mark Lee) and his relationships with his daughter Eileen (Xenia Tan) and his new neighbour Tan (Peter Yu). Loke lies to Eileen, telling her that he can afford her overseas education and convinces her to go to New York City. He then moves into a one-room flat to save money. There, he befriends Tan, whom he comes to rely on to read and write letters to Eileen. Tragedy strikes when Tan receives bad news about Eileen and, unable to tell Loke the truth, he fabricates a lie.

The film, which is set in the 1980s, also stars Janice Seah and Rajeswary Nadarajan.

Wonderland is directed by Chai Yee Wei and produced by Mocha Chai Laboratories, a development house founded in 2012 by Chai and industry veteran Michelle Chang.

Said Chang, 50: “Winning the Local Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is totally unexpected, as we are talking about an independent, non-English, Hokkien-dialect film from tiny Singapore, moving the hearts and minds of Palm Springs residents.

“This win is proof that as long as you believe in something, work hard at it, and never let go of your passion, the world will conspire to reward you for it.”

This is Chang’s first screenplay, and she co-wrote it with her husband Chance Wanlass.

She told CNA: “Making this movie is so special for me on so many levels … I hope our wins for the film inspire all dreamers out there to never let go of their passion, no matter what age they are.”

Said Chai, the director: “Wonderland winning the local jury award in Palm Springs speaks volume about the way the subject matter touches people from all walks of life, regardless of where you are from. It is super encouraging for a film that is shamelessly Singaporean to touch people from all walks of life. To be able to direct something like this is an opportunity that doesn’t come very often. Kudos to all the Singaporean team members.”

The inspiration for the film came from an incident the director encountered when he was studying in the United States – a fellow Singaporean student had died unexpectedly, which made him think about the loss from the perspective of a new parent. 

“I’ve always wanted to explore a story about the relationship between a father and a daughter, and this film very much does so. I’ve been wanting to tell this story for over 20 years, but I’ve had difficulties because it is a heavy topic,” said Chai in a previous interview with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). 

In the same interview, Chang added: “The father-daughter relationship of the story is a beautiful aspect that we’ve been able to capture, but there’s also the other aspect of it, which is the story of two men in their silver years forming a beautiful friendship. It was important for us to tell this story in an Asian context.”

Chai’s previous works include That Girl In Pinafore and Mr Midnight: Beware The Monsters.

Wonderland had its world premiere in November at the 24th San Diego Asian Film Festival as part of the event’s Asia Pop! section. It won the Best Audience Award. 

The film had its Asian premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival in early December. 

Lee next stars in Money No Enough 3 alongside Henry Thia and Jack Neo.

https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20231115-1450079

钟雁龄

发布 /

2023年11月15日 10:30 AM

由李国煌、俞宏荣和新人陈雯诗主演的本地电影《乐园》（Wonderland）不久前在圣地亚哥亚洲电影节（San Diego Asian Film Festival）举行全球首映，刚刚更夺下“观众票选大奖”，让导演蔡於位喜出望外。

目前人在越南跑影展的蔡於位接受《联合早报》访问时表示，《乐》全片对白超过90%是福建话，能够得到美国观众青睐让他很惊讶：“这部福建话电影可以让美国人引起共鸣和感动，让我觉得很欣慰，因为这是观众最直接的选择。”

蔡於位透露《乐》构思概念了20年，主要针对的就是新加坡观众，尤其是建国、立国一代老一辈观众。他说：“这部电影我很想拍给我90多岁的阿嫲（外婆）看，但很可惜她在今年初我拍片一半的时候就过世了。我希望这部电影可以引起老一辈年龄群观众的共鸣。”

《乐》新加坡国际电影节秒杀 望明年中父亲节时公映

《乐》以华语和闽南语为主，故事发生在1980年代新加坡，单亲爸爸老陆（李国煌饰）为了让独生女Eileen（陈雯诗饰）能安心在纽约深造，撒谎说自己负担得起海外教育费用。女儿出国后，老陆卖掉房子搬进一房式组屋。固执安静的老陆遇上友善外向的老陈（俞宏荣饰），不识字的老陆开始依赖老陈为自己写信给女儿。过程中，老陈也得到了心灵上的慰藉，并羡慕老陆的父女情。岂料，一天老陈收到关于Eileen的坏消息，他却不忍向老陆说出残酷真相，于是编了一个又一个的谎言。

电影也会在今年的新加坡国际电影节放映，蔡於位透露，电影节的门票已经秒杀售光，男主角李国煌要票也扑空。不过，他预计电影会在2024年中父亲节期间公映，希望到时更多本地观众有机会观赏。

李国煌也特意为了这部片化老妆，“增岁”10年。谈到《乐》美国夺圣地亚哥亚洲电影节大奖，李国煌：“对我来说，演员的表演并没有语言上的障碍，我们听不懂韩语但韩片却大受欢迎，加上字幕翻译，相信理解不是障碍。演员精彩的演技，加上声音的表演，还有字幕，当然导演功力要在，都是电影受不受欢迎的关键。其实到今时今日，语言已经不是观影的指标。”他很开心《乐》在新加坡电影节票房秒杀，也希望明年公映时，更多新加坡人能看到这部好戏。

俞宏荣很开心电影夺美国电影大奖，他受访时说：“我觉得当地观众觉得导演拍摄手法很新鲜，加上剧情很温馨感人，又是家庭父女的题材，所以他们会喜欢这部电影，并以观看后的感受和感觉来投选。”

《乐园》获得资讯通信媒体发展局的“人才提升计划”支持，影片由Mocha Chai Laboratories与mm2娱乐联制。

This year’s Cannes Camera D’Or winner, Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, has been hailed by Variety for its ‘meticulous, intricately staggered compositions (that) paint in the rich, wet greens of the surrounding forest, the mineral blues of weather-heavy skies and the interrupting gauze of mist over everything…’

‘I think that’s the beauty of collaboration: being able to connect with someone, understand what they’re trying to say, and then do my best to express that through color’. -Mark Song

Having been involved in the award-winning film “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”, Mark Song, Senior Colourist and Finishing Artist here at Mocha Chai Lab, shares his experience working on the film on Filmworkz’s podcast series “Create Incredible”!

Mocha Chai Lab is proud of what Mark has achieved! Here’s to more in the future

Check out the podcast episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3M7bPD5asvDWoEB2BjSB21…

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/…/mark-song…/id1649337016…

#mochachailab#colourist

https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/inside-the-yellow-cocoon-shell-a-film-made-with-singapore-participation-wins-camera-d-or-at-cannes

Mocha Chai Laboratories is so proud to be the postproduction facility behind production house Potocol’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”. With the recent award given to Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell at Cannes, The Straits Times wrote about Mocha Chai Lab’s involvement in the film 🙌✨

We are so proud to be part of this! Big shout out to our Senior Colorist and Finishing Artist, Mark Song and Supervising Sound Director Xander Toh for their mastery! We did this film in Atmos too! Thank you Jeremy Chua and Pham Thien An for entrusting “Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell” to Mocha Chai! More to come!

Related:
https://mochachailab.com/how-to-grade-a-cannes-winner/

Updated 24 June 2023: Title of Film

Introducing the cast of “Wonderland”! ✉️❤️

Set in 1980s Singapore, a time when studying abroad was a luxury that few could afford, Loke (played by Mark Lee) is a single father who works hard to ensure that his only daughter Eileen (played by Xenia Tan) gets the best education.

Loke lies to Eileen, telling her that he can afford her overseas education, and convinces her to go to New York City to further her studies. While she is away, Loke moves into a one-room flat to save as much money as possible.

Loke finds himself in the spotlight as his new senior neighbours try to befriend him. He meets Tan (played by Peter Yu) who is the default “leader” of their makeshift social club, the Senior Citizens’ Corner. Loke, who is illiterate, comes to rely on Tan to read and write letters to and from Eileen; Tan finds solace in helping his new friend because he yearns for the same relationship with his estranged daughter.

Tragedy strikes when Tan receives bad news about Eileen, and unable to tell Loke the devastating truth, he fabricates a lie that becomes full-blown deception.

Fun fact: this is the first time that 2 veteran actors, Mark Lee and Peter Yu are on screen together! Additionally, this is also Xenia’s first time acting in a feature film!

We are delighted to have them as our main cast in our long-awaited feature film! We hope that everyone will support them and continue to support us through this journey!

“Wonderland” is a Mocha Chai Laboratories production.
Director: Chai Yee Wei (@ywchai)
Producer/Co-writer:
Michelle Chang (@myshchang)
Co-writers: Allan Ho & Chance Wanlass

mochachailab #thelastletters #comingsoon #cast #reveal

本土天王李国煌为新电影《写给爸爸的信》牺牲大，四个月不做脸部护理，还得惊心胆颤戴隐形眼镜！

文 / 李亦筠

来自 / 早报数码

发布 / 

2023年3月8日 8:09 PM

《写》如火如荼拍摄中，李国煌星期三（3月8日）接受《联合早报》访问时透露，片中角色60多岁，为了让角色更写实，除了让化装师做一点点非常自然的老装，他从农历年前开始蓄胡子，《猫山王中王》杀青后也不染发：“不染的头发是黑白灰，《猫》头发染黑，拍完《猫》头发还没长白，所以《写》用干洗的洗发剂喷成灰白色。我四个月也不去脸部护理。”由于片中患病，眼球呈灰色，他透露首度为戏戴隐形眼镜：“惊心胆颤，放了老半天都放不进去，得请化装师帮忙。”他说拍完戏取下时费了一番功夫，因为缺乏勇气摘下：“刚开始会害怕，后来就没问题。”在不同场景调整情绪是他拍摄此片的挑战。

李国煌片中内向、严肃，他说戏外在家少讲话：“工作上讲了那么多话。”片中与女儿互动温馨，他说戏外扮白脸比较多：“扮黑脸时，我的孩子会怕。”他说与孩子的互动像与朋友沟通：“他们知道我不喜欢说谎的孩子。孩子若说谎，我会变成恶魔爸爸。”他重视孩子的学习态度，而不是他们的成绩。

《写》以华语和闽南语为主，故事发生在1980年代新加坡，单亲爸爸老陆（李国煌饰）为了让独生女Eileen（陈雯诗饰）能安心在纽约深造，撒谎说自己负担得起海外教育费用。女儿出国后，老陆卖掉了房子搬进一房式组屋。老陆生性节俭、固执又安静，当陌生的乐龄邻居试图与他接触时，他有防备心。后来他遇上友善外向的老陈（俞宏荣饰），不识字的老陆开始依赖老陈为自己写信给女儿。老陈在帮助老陆的过程中得到了心灵上的慰藉，因为他渴望拥有一段和老陆一样的父女亲情。岂料，当老陈收到关于Eileen过世的消息时，不忍向老陆说出残酷的真相，因此编造了一个又一个的谎言。

李国煌和俞宏荣首次同台演出，俞宏荣说：“（演绎）男人脆弱的内心戏是最具挑战的。”他片中与李国煌以福建话交谈，他说有向李国煌请教。谈到与金马影帝入围者李国煌飙演技，他说：“爽！”谈到现实中他与父亲的互动，他说兄弟姐妹共10人，“孩子多，小时都是姐姐哥哥在照顾我，不过与爸爸的关系也很好。”

俞宏荣对《写》的角色感同身受：“剧本刻画我曾是重度赌徒，与女儿关系疏离。后来我成了虔诚基督徒。这根本是我的个人经历，所以当编剧告诉我，老陈这个角色并不是受到我的过去而启发时，我很惊讶。”他也补充说：“我如今已洗心革面。已经找回了我失去的大部分东西——除了一个遗憾。我希望当我自己的女儿结婚做妈妈的时候，她能理解我，有一天能和我联系。这部电影就给了我这种希望。”

网红陈雯诗演出李国煌的女儿，她说刚开始有压力，因为李国煌是资深前辈，“不过他教了我如何入戏，我学到很多。”《写》是她首次参与电影，她花了不少心思去背福建话。她打趣地说：“一直喃喃自语，有如疯子。”她受访时得知导演要让她唱福建歌曲，她笑说：“有压力！”

《写》导演蔡於位说此片在脑海中已酝酿了20多年，原来他在美国念书时，一名也在当地念书的新加坡女学生发生意外去世，他当时在想对方的父母一定很悲痛。他说：“自从我有女儿后，感受更深，就决定拍《写》。”他将在2023年4月初带着陈雯诗与饰演她朋友的一名演员到纽约拍摄车祸戏。

蔡於位说：“当地有工作人员帮我找景，前面两天我会勘景，然后拍摄两天。”他透露，选角时并没有想到让李国煌扮演老陆，“因为我倾向找比较‘严肃’的演员。后来意识到这并不是因为李国煌不严肃，而是他以往根本没有机会诠释这样的角色。”

《写》是制片人张玉仪第一部参与编剧的电影，她说：“‘两位老人之间不可能的友谊’这类主题并不算新鲜，但很少在亚洲地区出现。两人因为音乐而结缘，也因为同样深爱着女儿而相识相知。我深爱着我父亲，所以这部电影非常触动我。”

《写》预计2023年底或2024年初推出，获得资讯通信媒体发展局的“人才提升计划”支持，mm2娱乐是制作公司之一。

https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20230308-1370623