Eric Khoo’s My Magic premiering in Cannes3 min read

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Excitement is brewing over in Cannes today as veteran filmmaker Eric Khoo awaits the screening premiere of his latest film My Magic. Joining Eric Khoo, Freddie Yeo and team at the Grand Theatre Lumiere to watch the premiere is Nicholas Chee and Randy Ang from Sinema, and Jason Poh and April Tong from Originasian Pictures.

The screening will begin at 4.30pm France time (11pm Singapore time.)

The long time director, writer and producer has been part of 25 films so far over a period of 13 years. His new movie My Magic addresses issues of love, life, family ties, redemption and magic. The filmmaker describes it as his most personal piece of work to date. This will be his first Tamil film, with 80% of the dialogue in Tamil in a story inspired by Singaporean fire-eater Francis Bosco. It was shot in a marathon 9-day schedule last December. The film revolves around an alcoholic magician who tries to reconnect with his 14-year-old son.

Besides hitting an international audience, My Magic has also brought together various Singapore talents.

Bosco Francis, the lead actor of the movie, is one of a handful of professional magicians in Singapore. A former labourer, his interest in this mysterious craft was piqued when he was picked to be the stage assistant for a touring American magician in the 1960s.

Eric Khoo also co-wrote My Magic with Wong Kim Hoh, a senior journalist with Singapore’s biggest newspaper The Straits Times. Long-time friends, the duo have also collaborated on Be With Me, as well as No Day Off, a short film about the life of an Indonesian maid in Singapore.

Also on board the team is, Director of Photography, Adrian Tan. He is one of the top TV commercial directors in Singapore and was responsible for the startlingly beautiful visuals of Be With Me, which nabbed the movie the Best Cinematography Award in the Stockholm International Film Festival.

Tan Fong Cheng, the Producer for the film, cut her teeth in the industry producing television commercials before rising through the ranks to become divisional controller of production house Moviola in Shanghai. In 2001, she decided to concentrate on movies and came on board Zhao Wei Films.

Another of Eric Khoo’s previous partners in film is James Toh. They first collaborated on the screenplay for the critically-acclaimed ’12 Storeys’ in 1997.

Finally what is a film without the music. Kevin Mathews has scored the music on several Eric Khoo projects including Be With Me, Mee Pok Man, 12 Storeys and One Leg Kicking. A lawyer by day, and music composer by night, he has a band called Groovy People. Besides Kevin Mathews, Eric Khoo’s son Christopher Khoo also composed the film’s gorgeously evocative central theme Lonely Boy in just one night. The piano lover who is 10 years of age and the third of Eric Khoo’s four boys, has been keenly interested in My Magic from day one, reading every page of the script as it was being written.

Eric Khoo is no stranger to the Cannes Film Festival, with three of his previous films making it big at Cannes. They include Mee Pok Man, 12 Storeys and Be With Me.