We are proud to introduce to you this uniquely Singaporean family film directed by Anthony Chen. Ilo Ilo is the first Singaporean feature film to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Camera D’Or. The film features an international cast, including Singaporean actor Chen Tianwen, Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann and Filipino actress Angeli Bayani.
Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Ilo Ilo chronicles the relationship between a family of three and their newly arrived Filipino maid, Teresa, who has come like many other Filipino women in search of a better life. Their unique connection develops and soon Teresa becomes an unspoken part of the family [info from Wikipedia].
Ilo Ilo is now showing in cinemas across the UK so catch it while you can.
Showing at
16 May – Errol Flynn Northampton
23 May – Cine Lumiere (London), The Barn Dartington, Ipswich Film Theatre, Dundee Arts Centre
30 May – Warrick Film Theatre, Eden Court Inverness, Phoenix Leicester
6 June – Reading Film Theatre, Hyde Park Leeds, MAC Birmingham
13 June – Gloucester Guildhall, Reading Film Theatre, Filmhouse Edinburgh
20 June – Roses Theatre, Tewskebury, Ludlow Assembly Rooms
27 June – Trinity Theatre Tunbridge, Gulbenkian Cantebury
5 July – Hackney Picture House(London) , Cameo Edinburgh, Norwich Cinema City, York Picture House, Dukes at Komedia, Bath Picture House, Southampton Harbour Lights, Greenwich Picturehouse, Exeter Picturehouse, Oxford Picture House, Clapham Picture House (London), Bury St Edmonds, FACT Liverpool, Henley on Thames, Ritzy Brixton, Stratford Picture House, Stratford-Upon-Avon
Reviews
★★★★ THE GUARDIAN
★★★★ THE TIMES
★★★★ FINANCIAL TIMES
★★★★ EVENING STANDARD
★★★★ TOTAL FILM
★★★★ EMPIRE
★★★★ TIME OUT
★★★★ DAILY EXPRESS
★★★★ LITTLE WHITE LIES
“Beautifully-acted and precisely observed, ILO ILO is an amazing debut, full of heart and intelligence.” – Oscar Winner Ang Lee
“Ilo Ilo is filled with sweetness, humour and humanity: so assured and accomplished that it’s hard to believe this is a first feature.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“This sympathetic and engaging drama is deceptively gentle in its insight – compassionate yet unsentimental.” Marke Kermode, The Observer
“Chen scurries his handheld camera around the apartment and neighbouring streets like a tyro Truffaut. He could be making Les Quatre cent coos.” Financial Times
“Anthony Chen puts modern Singaporese cinema on the map with this beautifully observed and gently comic family drama.” Little White Lies