April 17, 2023
SINGAPORE – Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s new film The Breaking Ice will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
The prestigious French film festival, which held a press conference in Paris on Thursday, announced that the movie will premiere in the Un Certain Regard section, which shines the spotlight on up-and-coming art-house directors and artistically daring films.
The premiere of The Breaking Ice – which stars Chinese actors Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran and Qu Chuxiao – also marks 10 years since Chen’s debut film Ilo Ilo clinched the festival’s Camera d’Or for best debut feature in 2013. It will be his fourth outing at Cannes.
The Breaking Ice is written and directed by Singaporean film-maker Anthony Chen. PHOTO: GIRAFFE PICTURES
Written and directed by Chen, 38, The Breaking Ice follows the blossoming relationship among three young adults in their 20s, set over a few days in the winter snow. This is his first China feature.
Later in April, the Beijing International Film Festival will dedicate a section to all the films he directed, as well as the recent Singapore-South Korea co-production Ajoomma, which he produced.
The prolific film-maker premiered his first English-language film, Drift, at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, United States, in January to critical acclaim.