ScreenSingapore Rolls Out The Red Carpet With ‘The Devil Inside Me’1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe inaugural ScreenSingapore kicks off Sunday with the world premiere of China’s The Devil Inside Me starring Tony Leung Ka-fai and Kelly Lin, as the island nation tries to plant its flag as the definitive film festival in Southeast Asia.
The seven-day business fair, what organizers call a “hybrid event,” is launched in the spirit of “don’t judge, just celebrate,” and encompasses business meetings, a three-day market, seminars, and nightly red carpet premieres of films from China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Hollywood, including Mr. Poppin’s Penguins, Super 8, and Tom Hanks making an appearance for the closing film Larry Crowne.
“I sort of think we stole from the best,” ScreenSingapore chairman Greg Coote told The Hollywood Reporter. “We stole from Cannes, we stole from the American Film Market, from CineAsia, and Showest in Las Vegas. We put together all those things, so we get the red carpets, the independent marketing business, the Cine Expos, where the studios are unveiling all these new products to the exhibitors in the region, and then you get the trade exhibition from Las Vegas, and I think they work.”
The event, hosted by the Singapore Media Development Authority with a reported price tag of S$8 million (US$6.5 million), is established to serve three objectives, said Singapore Media Development Authority chief executive Aubeck Kam: a business event to bring film industry leaders to Singapore, to raise the level of communication between regions, and to spark greater interest in film in the Singaporean public.
