Be with Me

Last updated
Be with Me
Be with Me.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Eric Khoo
Written byTheresa Poh Lin Chan
Eric Khoo
Wong Kim Hoh
Produced byBrian Hong
StarringTheresa Poh Lin Chan
Samantha Tan
Ezann Lee
Seet Keng Yew
CinematographyAdrian Tan
Edited byLow Hwee-Ling
Music byKevin Mathews
Christine Sham
Production
company
Zhao Wei Films
Distributed by Warner Bros. (USA)
Peccadillo Pictures (UK)
Release dates
Running time
93 minutes
CountrySingapore
Languages

Be with Me is a 2005 Singaporean drama film directed by Eric Khoo. The film is inspired by the life of deafblind teacher Theresa Poh Lin Chan. It premiered as the Director's Fortnight selection in the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. It was also the official entry from Singapore for the 78th Academy Awards in the foreign language category. In December 2005, the academy body disqualified the film on grounds that the dialogue is mainly in English. [1] Out of 93 minutes, the film only has two and a half minutes of dialogue.

Contents

Be with Me is the first film in Singapore to explicitly feature a lesbian relationship. [2]

Cast

Release

Be with Me premiered at the Director’s Fortnight selection of the 2005 Festival de Cannes. [2]

Reception

Ong Sor Fern of The Straits Times rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "The way Khoo has marshalled his technical skills in the service of more characterisation and story marks a new stage in his development." [4]

Geoffrey Eu of The Business Times gave the film a rating of "B-" and wrote that "Chan's story overwhelms everything else around it and the result is a film that is elegant but uneven in tempo - the soft-edged style is there in abundance, but the movie's progress is perhaps not as smooth as it could be." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Action Party</span> Political party in Singapore

The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major conservative political party of the centre-right in Singapore. It is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in the Parliament of Singapore, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of Singapore</span>

Despite having a flourishing Chinese and Malay film industry in the 1950s and 1960s, Singapore's film industry declined after independence in 1965. Film production increased in the 1990s, which saw the first locally produced feature-length films. There were a few films that featured Singaporean actors and were set in Singapore, including Saint Jack, They Call Her Cleopatra Wong and Crazy Rich Asians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1965 in Singapore</span> Singapore-related events during 1965

The following lists events that happened during 1965 in Singapore.

The Cultural Medallion is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film. It is widely recognized as Singapore's pinnacle arts award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore at the 2005 SEA Games</span> Sporting event delegation

Singapore participated at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines under the IOC country code SIN. Sending a delegation of 658 athletes and 291 officials, the third largest it had ever sent to the games, the Singapore team set its target at 35 gold medals, five more than the haul won at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games held in Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Khoo</span> Singaporean film director and producer (born 1965)

Eric Khoo Kim Hai is a Singaporean film director and producer who is often credited for the revival of the Singapore modern film industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore Sports School</span> Independent school in Singapore

Singapore Sports School (SSP) is a specialised independent boarding school under the purview of Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore that offers an integrated sports and academic programme to secondary and post-secondary students in Singapore.

<i>Avatar</i> (2004 film) 2004 Singaporean film

Avatar is a 2004 English-language Singaporean science fiction action film directed by Kuo Jian Hong and written by Christopher Hatton.

<i>My Magic</i> 2008 Singaporean film

My Magic is a 2008 Singaporean Tamil language drama film directed by Eric Khoo and produced by Zhao Wei Films in association with Infinite Frameworks. My Magic was the first Singapore film to be nominated for the Palme D'Or, the top award for film at the Cannes Film Festival. It has been also selected as Singapore's official entry for the Oscars in 2009. It was released in Singapore cinemas on 25 September 2008.

In British Malaya, a Queen's Scholar was a holder of one of various scholarships awarded by the Government of the Straits Settlements to further their studies in the United Kingdom.

Jacen Tan is a Singaporean independent film director, and has been named by The Straits Times Life! as one of Singapore's "most exciting young talents" and “Singapore's latest film funnyman”.

Screen Singapore was a film festival in Singapore held from 1 August 2005 to 31 August 2005, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the independence of Singapore, to celebrate the heritage of Singaporean cinema from pre-independence days to the present.

The Singapore Women's Hall of Fame is a virtual hall of fame that honors and documents the lives of historically significant women in Singapore. The hall is the creation of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), and grew out of an earlier nine-member wall of fame that the organization created in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheang Hong Lim</span> Singaporean Chinese headman

Cheang Hong Lim JP was a Chinese opium merchant and philanthropist in Singapore. He was recognised by the British colonial administration as head of the local Hokkien Chinese community.

Zombie Dogs is a 2004 Singaporean mockumentary film directed by Toh Hai Leong. It criticises aspects of Singaporean life. The film discusses behavioural dysfunction in the facet of both anomie and alienation in Singaporean culture.

Gone Shopping is a 2007 Singaporean comedy-drama film directed by Wee Li Lin, starring Kym Ng, Adrian Pang, Aaron Kao, Magdalene Tan and Sonya Nair.

The Straits Chinese Magazine: A Quarterly Journal of Orential and Occidental Culture was a magazine published by Koh Yew Hean Press. Founded by prominent members of the Peranakan community of Singapore Lim Boon Keng and Song Ong Siang in 1897, it was the first English-language periodical to be owned, edited and published by Malayans.

References

  1. "Foreign Film Barred from Oscars", BBC News , BBC, December 23, 2005, retrieved April 8, 2012
  2. 1 2 Anomalilly (2019-04-19). "Film Review: Be With Me (2005) by Eric Khoo". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Holden, Stephen (2006-09-29). "Three Tales Revolving Around a Real Life". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  4. Ong, Sor Fern (7 September 2005). "A life less ordinary". The Straits Times . Singapore.
  5. Eu, Geoffrey (9 September 2005). "Tales of love, lovingly told". The Business Times . Singapore.