NATHAN HARTONO STARS IN CAR-RACING-THEMED MOVIE

Singapore’s SIMF Management and Taiwan’s Opensky Entertainment, are pleased to announce their partnership to co-produce Singapore’s first car racing-themed movie tentatively titled, WARRIOR OF LOVE 《战神》.

This will be the first leading role in a feature film for Singaporean singer-songwriter, Nathan Hartono 向洋, who emerged as the first runner-up for popular Chinese reality singing competition, Sing! China 中国新歌声 in 2016.

“I am excited to start! I am still very raw when it comes to screen acting for I have only been involved in a handful of projects that involved acting so far. It is a great honour for me to be offered the leading role in this film. I do feel the pressure but it is the good kind of pressure; the kind that drives me to improve and do greater things. I cannot wait to take on the challenges this film will bring,” says Nathan.

WARRIOR OF LOVE is a comedic portrayal of a young and gullible Cinderella who falls in love with the Prince of Speed. Her dream of being a professional car racer appears to be fulfilled when she meets and saves her idol. However, he is not what he seems to be... The movie follows the self-discovery journeys of the two lovers, steering through laughs and tears, hopes and fears, helping each other along the way to discover the sides of themselves that they never knew, and eventually reach their respective destinations in life to fulfill their dreams and become better people.

WARRIOR OF LOVE was featured at the 14th Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum in 2016. This Singapore-Taiwan co-production will be the first commercial film for Singapore director, Derrick Lui 雷坚钦. Derrick’s previous indie film 1400 had its world premiere at the prestigious 39th edition of Festival des Films du Monde (MWFF) 2015 and won the Best Feature Film Awards in both the flEXiff 2015 of Sydney, Australia and 2016 Maverick Movie Awards in USA.

“I’ve always been passionate about cars, and grew up modifying and racing cars. No one in Singapore has made a feature film about cars before, and it will be a breakthrough for us locally if we are successful,” says Derrick.

There will be minimal use of computer-generated visual effects in this movie; instead, it will rely on actual stunt driving and precision driving techniques by several professional racers. Malaysia’s No.1 Drifter, Tengku Djan Ley, and Asia’s top female racer, Leona Chin, will make special appearances in the movie to showcase their driving skills. In addition, fans of Lotus sports cars will be delighted to know that Lotus Car Malaysia is pledging their support of the eye-catching models to be featured in the movie.

“We are excited to bring you the best of automotive culture in South East Asia condensed in to an action packed movie. Stay revved!” says Tengku Djan Ley.

“It is so rare to see high speed car action sequences on the big screen performed by women in Asia, which is why I am all geared up to lend my driving proficiency to this movie. Personally, the driving is the easier part but when it comes to the acting chops, I am new. I will do my best and will perform my best! I am really looking forward to be part of this movie,” says Leona Chin.

The movie is co-written by Singapore’s Boris Boo (Just Follow Law, Ah Long Pte Ltd), and Taiwan’s Gavin Lin  (Welcome To The Happy Days) and Hermes Lu (A Moment of Love), and co-produced by veteran film producers from both countries - Chan Pui Yin (Homerun, I Not Stupid), Chan Yan Yan (Taxi! Taxi!, Ilo Ilo), Audrey Peng Li-Hua (Pushing Hands), Joseph Sun (The Last Night of Madam Chin) .

With a production budget of US$ 1.8 million, WARRIOR OF LOVE is co-produced by SIMF Management and Opensky Entertainment; and supported by the Singapore Film Commission. Principal photography will start in mid-August in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. The movie is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2018 and will be distributed by SIMF Management and Golden Village Pictures in Singapore and Opensky Entertainment in Taiwan.