Eric Khoo

Eric Khoo Kim Hai (born 27 March 1965) is a Singaporean film director and producer who is often credited for the revival of the Singapore modern film industry.

Born on 27 March 1965 in Singapore, Eric Khoo was the youngest son of the 15 children of Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat from his second wife Rose Marie Wee.

His mother, who was a cinephile, introduced him to cinema when he was three years old.

He later received his education at the United World College of South East Asia.

Khoo's interest in film eventually led him to study cinematography at the City Art Institute in Sydney, Australia.

Khoo's films Mee Pok Man and 12 Storeys have together been screened at over 60 film festivals, held all over the world including prestigious festivals such as Venice, Berlin and Rotterdam.

Khoo has five critically acclaimed feature films that were at film festivals all over the world: Mee Pok Man (1995), 12 Storeys (1997), Be with Me (2005), My Magic (2008), and Tatsumi (2011).

Mee Pok Man won prizes in Singapore, Fukuoka, and Pusan.

Some of his notable achievements include being the first recipient of the National Arts Councils Young Artist Award for Film in 1997 and together with James Toh and Lucilla Teoh they wrote the White Paper which resulted in the formation of the Singapore Film Commission.

In 1998, Khoo was ranked as one of the 25 exceptional trend makers of Asia by Asiaweek magazine and in the following year was included into Asiaweek's leaders for the millennium issue.

His TV work includes being executive producer of DRIVE, an anthology series for the Television Corporation of Singapore (1998), and Seventh Month (2004), a highly acclaimed TV horror series for Channel U (SPH Mediaworks).

These productions served as a platform for grooming young talented filmmakers.

He was an executive producer for the local comedy hit, Liang Po Po – The Movie (1999), and One Leg Kicking (2001), which were both the highest grossing local movies for their respective years in Singapore.

He also produced 15 (2003) directed by Royston Tan, which screened at the Venice Film Festival (2003) and Sundance (2004).

In 2004, Khoo directed his third feature Be With Me which was selected as the opening film for the Directors’ Fortnight Cannes 2005.

The film has since won several awards overseas and has been invited to the Toronto International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival amongst others.

It has also received international distribution including the US and Europe with glowing reviews in the French media when it opened in October 2005.

Khoo was a judge at the 10th Busan International Film Festival 2005 and Be With Me is the first Singaporean film to be nominated for the European Film Awards 2005.

In 2006, Khoo executive produced Royston Tan’s second feature 4:30 and was invited to direct for the Jeonju Digital Film Festival in Korea – No Day Off the story of an Indonesian maid.

He was the first Singapore director whose films were featured in a retrospective in Korea.

The Seoul Independent Film Festival paid this tribute to him.

In 2007, Khoo was appointed as a board member of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Asia.

He produced Royston Tan's 881 a box office hit and received the highest arts honor the Cultural Medallion by the President of Singapore in the same year.

In 2008, Khoo's film, My Magic was selected for Cannes official selection main competition.

It is distributed in France by ARP and Wild bunch for international sales.

My Magic picked up the best film award at Fribourg International Film Festival and was voted best film of 2008 by Le Monde.

In 2009, Khoo entered into a partnership with Infinite Frameworks to form a new company, Gorylah, specializing in the production of genre films.

Gorylah's maiden effort, Darah, went on to win the Best Actress award at the 2009 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.

Khoo executive produced Boo Junfeng's first feature film, Sandcastle.

The film was selected for 2010 Critic's Week at Cannes.

Centre Pompidou in Paris held an Eric Khoo retrospective in 2010 and he was featured in Phaidon Books, Take 100 - The Future of Film, 100 new directors.

Khoo was President of the Jury for the International Competition at the 63rd edition of the Locarno International Film Festival in 2010.

Tatsumi, based on the life and short stories of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, is Khoo's first animation feature which premiered at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and world sales is handled by The Match Factory.

Tatsumi won best animated feature at the Sitges Film Festival and the best film and best composer in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards at the 8th Dubai International Film Festival.

It made its North American premiere at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

In the same year his production 23:59, an army paranormal film, was number one at the Singapore box office.

In 2012, Khoo was Jury President at the Asian Film Awards and Rotterdam International Film Festival.

12 Storeys won him the Federation of International Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award and the UOB Young Cinema Award at the 10th Singapore International Film Festival, and the Golden Maile Award for Best Picture at the 17th Hawaii International Film Festival.

He was the head of the Jury at Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival 2013.

It was also entered into the 19th Moscow International Film Festival.