Deanna Yusoff to star in Singaporean independence day film

Malaysian-born actress Deanna Yusoff is slated to star in a movie commissioned to celebrate Singapore’s 50 years of independence (SG50) called '1965'.

The SG50 celebration film has been five years in the making and will begin pre-production this month with principal photography starting in November. The film hoped to be out in cinemas next year, Singapore's TODAY Online reported.

Deanna will be playing a single mother, Khatijah, alongside MediaCorp artiste Qi Yu Wu who will be playing Police Inspector Cheng.

Director Randy Ang will be co-helming a script by 10-year writing veteran Andrew Ngin Chiang Meng - known for his work on TV shows 'Growing Up' and 'Fighting Spiders' - alongside executive producer Daniel Yun who is making his editorial debut.

“There has been a lot of speculation because this movie has been in development for so long,” TODAY Online quoted Yun as saying.

“So let me say what it’s not about. It’s not a biopic of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. It’s not a political film nor a propaganda film. It’s not a docu-drama. It’s not a movie about the independence of Singapore. So, what is it really about? It’s about how fragile racial harmony can be and how we can take it for granted,” said Yun.

The film will be operating on a budget of S$2.8 million (RM7.12 million) and will be filmed mostly in Batam, Indonesia and at Infinite Studios’ soundstages there.

“The real challenge is to capture a moment in history and make a piece of Singapore history come alive. If we can, within minutes, transport our audiences back to the 1960s, then we have succeeded," Yun said.

Yun revealed that the rest of the 1965 cast will be revealed progressively including who will play the role of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.