KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — Award-winning filmmaker Edmund Yeo is premiering his latest work The Age of Goodbyes at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
After most recently adapting Banana Yoshimoto’s Moonlight Shadow in Japan, this time he finds inspiration nearer home with an adaptation of Ipoh-born Li Zi Shu’s The Age of Goodbyes.
The Age of Goodbyes will be part of the Special Presentations segment of the festival, which Anita Lee, Chief Programming Officer, TIFF, called “a selection of films that feels most relevant to the moment with the power to spark a rich dialogue with our public audience.”
Yeo, in a heartfelt statement on social media, said that TIFF had always been a big dream for him.
“Ever since I was making student short films and dreaming of becoming a filmmaker, Toronto was one of the great cinematic stages I looked up to. To be able to bring The Age of Goodbyes, a film that is so deeply personal and closely intertwined with my own life, to its world premiere at TIFF is an honour beyond words,” he said.
Homegrown talent Yeo (seen here on the set of ‘The Age of Goodbyes’) honed his skills in Japan. — Picture courtesy of Happy Together Pictures /Renaissance Films
He said that being able to bring the work to TIFF was not a solo achievement but one he shared with the cast and crew of The Age of Goodbyes.
“From our cast and crew to everyone who supported us along the way, this film exists because of their passion, dedication, and belief. Without them, there would be no The Age of Goodbyes. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to work with great people,” he said.
Ipoh is a city dear to Yeo’s heart, being the birthplace of his mother and where he cherished memories of time spent with the maternal side of his family, including his late maternal grandmother, as well as his cousins.
“My mother Chik Soon Come was also born in Ipoh, where she grew up with her eight siblings. The film takes place between 1969 and the 1970s, the very era in which my mother started becoming a singer. Whenever I think of that time, I cannot help but imagine the radios in the city’s kopitiams playing her songs.
“To recreate the Ipoh that lives in my imagination, and to share that city with audiences from around the world, is something I look forward to with great excitement,” he said.
Yeo also paid homage to author Li Zi Shu.
“It was her wonderful novel that inspired me to make this film and gave me the opportunity to bring such an unforgettable character as Du Li An to the screen. The Age of Goodbyes is both a tribute to her work and a deeply personal reflection on family memory, history, and the place I call home,” he said.
TIFF will run from September 10–20, and will be the 51st edition of the festival.