Surveillance in Singapore, Japan and a Trump-led US tackled in films at Venice festival

Stranger Eyes, Happyend and 2073 take a worrying look at surveillance in Singapore, Japan and a Chairperson Trump-led future, respectively

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A still from Stranger Eyes, which looks at the issue of surveillance cameras in Singapore. The film was shown at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, as did Happyend and 2073, which also tackle surveillance concerns. Photo: Akanga Film Asia

Published: 4:15pm, 18 Sep 2024Updated: 9:40am, 19 Sep 2024

It is 40 years since 1984, the year in which George Orwell’s prophetic dystopian book was set, but the world the British writer predicted, where privacy had all but evaporated and Big Brother was watching, seems ever closer.

At the recent Venice International Film Festival, Asian filmmakers tackled the subject of surveillance with intriguing results.

“I mean, we’re living in a moment now … I think a lot of films need to deal with this reality, right?” suggested Yeo Siew Hua, the Singaporean director behind the slow-burn thriller Stranger Eyes.

Set in modern-day Singapore, Stranger Eyes begins with Junyang (Wu Chien-ho) and Peiying (Anicca Panna) desperately searching for their abducted daughter, Little Bo.

Stranger Eyes 默視錄 by Yeo Siew Hua - Trailer - Venezia 81 Main Competition 2024

Things get even worse when the couple begin to receive DVD recordings of their everyday movements, an unnerving phenomenon that immediately recalls Michael Haneke’s 2005 thriller Hidden.

The police install a security camera outside their home – one more in a city state where every street corner has them.