Singapore has chosen Yeo Siew Hua’s "Stranger Eyes" to represent the country for the 2026 Oscar race in the best international feature category.
The Singapore-Taiwan-France-U.S. co-production debuted at last year’s Venice Film Festival.
"Stranger Eyes" stars a Taiwanese ensemble cast featuring legendary actor-director Lee Kang-Sheng, Wu Chien-Ho, Annica Panna, and Vera Chen. Malaysian actor Pete Teo and Singaporean actress Xenia Tan also appear in the film. Fran Borgia is the producer.
The pic follows a young couple who receive strange videos while investigating the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter.
They realize that someone has been filming their daily life, including their most intimate moments.
The police set up surveillance around their home to catch the voyeur, but tensions within the family rise as secrets unravel under the scrutiny of eyes watching them from all sides.
In an interview with Deadline out of Venice, Yeo said he conceived the idea for "Stranger Eyes" more than 10 years ago, but he and Borgia hit several “dead ends” with funding.
“We decided that we were going to try something else and pitch different projects, so that’s how A Land Imagined came about,” Yeo said.
"A Land Imagined", Yeo’s second feature, also went on to clinch Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Film Score at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Awards in 2019.
“After A Land Imagined garnered success, we decided to re-look at Stranger Eyes,” added Yeo. Funding came a lot easier this time around, and Yeo began workshopping "Stranger Eyes" at several labs from 2016 to 2022, including the Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab, Produire au Sud, and Nipkow Programm.
The deadline for submission to the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards is October 1.
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