Singapore Selects ‘Stranger Eyes’ as Oscar Contender for Best International Feature

Singapore has tapped “Stranger Eyes” as its official submission for the 98th Academy Awards‘ best international feature film category, the Singapore Film Commission has revealed.

The surveillance thriller, written and directed by Yeo Siew Hua, made history as the first Singaporean film selected for the main competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it world premiered at the 81st edition. The atmospheric psychological drama explores themes of surveillance, grief and identity.

This marks Yeo’s second Oscar submission following “A Land Imagined,” which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno and represented Singapore in 2018.

“It’s a real honor to represent Singapore again for a second time since my previous film,” said Yeo. “Thank you to all who have given me this opportunity to explore how we are looking at each other through this film. It is important to keep our stories alive and to continue to tell stories that matter.”

“Stranger Eyes” is an international co-production involving companies from Singapore, Taiwan, France and the U.S., including Akanga Film Asia, Volos Films, Films de Force Majeure and Cinema Inutile. Following Venice, the film opened both the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Singapore International Film Festival in 2024. Playtime handles international sales, while Film Movement is releasing in the U.S.

The production received support from the Infocomm Media Development Authority and Singapore Film Commission under the Media Talent Progression program.

Producer Fran Borgia of Akanga Film Asiasaid: “We started developing ‘Stranger Eyes’ 10 years ago and couldn’t have achieved this great privilege to be Singapore’s Oscars representative without the belief and support of the IMDA and SFC as well as our coproduction partners. We’re proud that a multinational film like ‘Stranger Eyes,’ reflecting Singapore’s precious diversity, can showcase our nation’s plurality on the world stage.”

Yvonne Tang, assistant chief executive at IMDA, highlighted the film’s international reach, noting it has screened in over 10 territories and reflects the growing strength of Made-with-Singapore productions alongside nine other films that premiered at major festivals including Cannes, Toronto and Busan this year.