Singaporean director Yeo Siew Hua on his new film about surveillance, Stranger Eyes, and why he’s after collaborations
- Yeo Siew Hua’s latest film Stanger Eyes explores the idea of being spied on for data ‘in a time such as has never been seen before’
- He talks about his previous films and how Chinese philosophy figures such as Confucius have influenced him, and why he’s exploring working with other writers
Beauty might well be in the eye of the beholder, but these days, so is everything else.
Surveillance is a 21st century growth industry, the street corner without a camera an endangered species. And in Stranger Eyes, his third feature film, Singaporean director Yeo Siew Hua brings the idea of being spied on uncomfortably close to home.
“Stranger Eyes is about surveillance, but unlike in science fiction, I’m more concerned with what it means to see someone – to see and be seen,” says Yeo, 39, during a video call from Buenos Aires, home to Yeo and his Argentinian wife.
“It starts with a missing child and some mysterious DVDs,” he says, discs that feature the private life of the child’s young father. “We’re living in a time such as has never been seen before, in which our existence is very much an image. More than ever, it’s an image to be seen, either on social media to affirm that existence, or as a subject of surveillance: data.”
Starring Taiwanese heavyweights Lee Kang-sheng and Wu Chien-ho, Stranger Eyes was shot wholly in Singapore and completed in the past few weeks. “A theatrical release is the plan for this year,” says Yeo, “but as with most of our films we’re looking for a world premiere at a leading festival, so we’re now submitting it.”
