*Worldwide Rights

small hours of
the night

directed by daniel hui

Singapore / 103 Mins / English, Malay, Mandarin

Logline:

A woman is trapped in a dark room, being interrogated by a man. Through the course of one long night, their conversation gets increasingly haunted by ghosts from the future.

Synopsis:

Singapore, in the late 1960s — the newly independent country is still grappling with its identity. In a dark room, a woman is trapped, being interrogated by a man. Through the course of one long night, identities and duration start to blur. Ghosts from the future haunt their conversation, telling of a bizarre tombstone trial that speaks to the state’s nascent political and legal landscape.

  • "Shot in high contrast black-and-white, this is equal parts political critique, psychological drama and cinematic puzzle" Screen International

    ★★★★ "A fascinating experimental drama that explores several challenging themes" International Cinephile Society

    "The treatment of Hui’s subject matter may be minimalist, but it is also quietly brutal" Variety

  • Daniel HUI is a filmmaker and writer. A graduate of the film program in California Institute of the Arts, he is one of the founding members of 13 Little Pictures, a critically acclaimed independent film collective in Singapore. He wrote and directed Eclipses (Pixel Bunker Award for International New Talent, Doclisboa IFF 2013), Snakeskin (Special Jury Award TFFDoc, Torino FF 2014; Award of Excellence, Yamagata IDFF 2015; Special Jury Mention, RIDM 2015), and Demons (In Competition, Kim Jiseok Award, Busan IFF 2018; Berlinale Forum 2019).

  • 2024

    International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands (World Premiere)

    Doc Fortnight, USA (North American Premiere)

    FICUNAM, Mexico - International Competition (LATAM Premiere)

    Taipei IFF, Taiwan (Asian Premiere)

    Pesaro FF, Italy - Competition Pesaro Nuovo Cinema

    DMZ Docs, South Korea

    BFI London Film Festival, UK

  • Year: 2024

    Country: Singapore

    Language: English, Malay, Mandarin

    Length: 103 mins

    World Premiere: IFFR 2024

    Director: Daniel Hui

    Producer: TAN Bee Thiam, Daniel Hui

    Cinematographer: LOOI Wan Ping

    Editor: Daniel Hui

    Music: Cheryl Ong

    Sound: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr

daniel hui

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