Dain Said’s ‘Interchange’ to Open Singapore Film Festival

“Interchange,” a noir fantasy thriller by Malaysia’s Dain Iskandar Said, will be the opening film of the Singapore International Film Festival.

The film premiered last month in Locarno and traveled to Toronto. The Singapore screening on Nov. 23 will be its premiere in Asia. The SGIFF runs until Dec. 4.

“’Interchange,’ combines Said’s skill for genre story-telling with a distinct Southeast Asian flavor to produce a unique thriller that could not have originated from anywhere else,” said Yuni Hadi, executive director of SGIFF. “Choosing it as SGIFF’s opening film shows our commitment to celebrating our own voices, highlighting the capability of our creative industry, and welcoming a wider audience to the promise of Southeast Asian cinema.”

The story which is part detective thriller, part shamanistic fantasy, is inspired by real events a century ago when a Norwegian explorer traveled through central Borneo and took photographs of tribal women bathing in a river. The cast includes Malaysian TV personality Shaheizy Sam, (“Songlap”) Indonesia’s Nicholas Saputra, rising star Iedil Putra and Indonesian actress Prisia Nasution (“Sang Penari”.)

“Interchange” is the third feature by Said, who previously directed “Bunohan: Return to Murder,” which won eight awards at the 25th Malaysian Film Festival and was selected as Malaysia’s entry for Oscars.