Eric Khoo

For the World Scout Committee member, see Eric Khoo Heng-Pheng.

Eric Khoo
File:Eric Khoo 2010.JPG Eric Khoo in 2010
Chinese name	邱金海
Born	(1965-03-27) 27 March 1965 Singapore
Other name(s)	Qiu Jinhai
Occupation	Director Screenwriter Producer Cinematographer
Parents	Khoo Teck Puat Rose Marie Khoo
Official website	www.erickhoo.com

Eric Khoo (Chinese: 邱金海; pinyin: Qiū Jīnhǎi; born 27 March 1965) is a Singaporean art-house filmmaker. He is the son of the wealthy businessman Khoo Teck Puat (1917–2004).

Career

Khoo's films Mee Pok Man and 12 Storeys have together been screened at over 60 film festivals, held all over the world including Ivy League festivals such as Venice, Berlin and Rotterdam.

In 1998, Khoo was ranked as one of the 25 exceptional trend makers of Asia by Asiaweek magazine and in the following year was included into Asiaweek’s leaders for the millennium issue. He was an Executive Producer for the local comedy hit, “Liang Po Po – The Movie” (1999), and “One Leg Kicking” (2001), which were both the highest grossing local movies for their respective years in Singapore. He also produced “15” (2003) directed by Royston Tan, which has been invited to the Venice Film Festival (2003) and Sundance (2004). His TV work includes being Executive Producer of “DRIVE”, an anthology series for the Television Corporation of Singapore (1998), and “Seventh Month” (2004), a highly acclaimed TV horror series for Channel U (SPH Mediaworks). These productions served as a platform for grooming young talented filmmakers.

Some of his notable achievements include being the first recipient of the National Arts Councils Young Artist Award for Film in 1997 and together with James Toh and Lucilla Teoh they wrote the White Paper which resulted in the formation of the Singapore Film Commission. Khoo was conferred the Singapore Youth Awards (Individual) in 1999 for his dedication to film-making and contributions to society.

In 2004 Khoo directed his third feature Be With Me which was selected as the opening film for the Directors’ Fortnight Cannes 2005. The film has since won several awards overseas and has been invited to the Toronto International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival amongst others. It has also received international distribution including the US and Europe with glowing reviews in the French media when it opened in October 2005.

Khoo was a judge at the 10th Busan International Film Festival 2005 and Be With Me is the first Singaporean film to be nominated for the European Film Awards 2005. In 2006 Khoo executive produced Royston Tan’s second feature “4:30” and was invited to direct for the Jeonju Digital Film Festival in Korea - “No Day Off” the story of an Indonesian maid. He was awarded the 2006 Singapore Youth Awards Medal Of Commendation and he was the first Singapore director whose films were featured in a retrospective in Korea. The Seoul Independent Film Festival paid this tribute to him.

In 2007, Khoo was appointed as a board member of NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia. He produced Royston Tan’s “881” a box office hit and received the highest arts honor the Cultural Medallion by the President of Singapore in the same year. In 2008, Khoo was awarded the Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des letters from the French Minister of Culture and his feature film, My Magic was selected for Cannes official selection main competition. It is distributed in France by ARP and Wild bunch for international sales. My Magic picked up the best film award at Fribourg International Film Festival and was voted best film of 2008 by Le Monde.

In 2009, Khoo entered into a partnership with Infinite Frameworks to form a new company, Gorylah, specializing in the production of genre films. Gorylah’s maiden effort, Darah, went on to win the Best Actress award at the 2009 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. Khoo executive produced Boo Jun Feng’s first feature film, Sandcastle. The film was selected for 2010 Critic’s Week at Cannes. Centre Pompidou in Paris held an Eric Khoo retrospective in 2010 and he was featured in Phaidon Books, Take 100 - The Future of Flim, 100 new directors. Eric was President of the Jury for the International Competition at the 63rd edition of the Locarno International Film Festival in 2010.

Tatsumi, based on the life and short stories of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, is Khoo’s first animation feature which premiered at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and world sales is handled by The Match Factory. Tatsumi won best animated feature at the Sitges Flim Festival and the best film and best composer in the Muhr Asia/Africa Awards at the 8th Dubai International Film Festival. It made its North American premiere at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). In the same year his production 23:59, an army paranormal film, was number one at the Singapore box office. In 2012 Khoo was Jury President at the Asian Film Awards and Rotterdam International Film Festival. He was the head of the Jury at Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival 2013.

Khoo has five critically acclaimed feature films that were at film festivals all over the world: Mee Pok Man (1995), 12 Storeys (1997), Be with Me (2005), My Magic (2008) and Tatsumi (2011). Mee Pok Man won prizes in Singapore, Fukuoka and Pusan. It was also entered into the 19th Moscow International Film Festival. 12 Storeys won him the Federation of International Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award and the UOB Young Cinema Award at the 10th Singapore International Film Festival, and the Golden Maile Award for Best Picture at the 17th Hawaii International Film Festival. 12 Storeys was also the first Singapore film to be invited to take part in the Cannes Film Festival. Be With Me opened the Directors' Fortnight at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, while My Magic was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and was voted as one of the top five films of that year by Le Monde. Most recently, Tatsumi, based on manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi's memoir, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

In September 2014, Khoo announced that he will release a drama anthology, In the Room, in 2015. Exploring themes of love and sensuality, the film will star Hong Kong actress Josie Ho, up and coming Korean actor Choi Woo-shik, Japanese adult-film actress Shou Nishino, and actor Koh Boon Pin, who starred in Khoo's 12 Storeys. In the Room will also feature a homage to controversial cabaret dancer Rose Chan, the subject of a biopic that was first announced in 2009 but is still under development. In the Room premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015 and travelled to the San Sebastián International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival and Singapore International Film Festival before being banned from commercial release in Singapore.

In addition, 2015 saw the release of Khoo's short film as part of an omnibus, 7 Letters, to commemorate Singapore's 50th year of independence.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Roles	Note
1990	Barbie Digs Joe	Director, writer	Short
1991	Hope and Requiem	Director, writer	Short
1991	August	Director, writer	Short
1992	The Punk Rocker and...	Director	Short
1993	Symphony 92.4 FM	Director	Short
1993	The Watchman	Director	Short
1994	Pain	Director, producer	Short
1995	Mee Pok Man	Director
1997	12 Storeys	Director, writer	Chinese: 十二楼; pinyin: Shi'er lou
1999	Liang Po Po: The Movie	Executive producer
1999	Stories About Love	Executive producer
2000	Moments of Magic VDO	Director	Singapore's millennium MTV
2000	Home VDO	Director	Short
2001	One Leg Kicking	Writer, executive producer
2003	15: The Movie	Producer
2005	Be With Me	Director, writer
2006	Digital Sam in Sam Saek 2006: Talk to Her	Director	Segment: No Day Off
2006	Zombie Dogs	Producer
2006	0430	Producer
2007	881	Producer
2008	My Magic	Director, writer
2008	Invisible Children	Producer
2009	Darah	Producer
2010	Sandcastle	Producer
2011	Tatsumi	Director
2011	60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero	Director	Segment
2012	23:59	Producer
2013	Ghost Child	Producer
2013	Recipe	Director	Telemovie
2015	In the Room	Director
2015	7 Letters	Director	Segment: "Cinema"
2015	"Wanton Mee"	Director	Telemovie
2016	Apprentice	Producer	Post Production

See also

• Cinema of Singapore

External links

• Eric Khoo website
• Zhao Wei Films
• Eric Khoo at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Eric Khoo
• Biography