Eric Khoo was born in 1965 and is an award-winning filmmaker who has also received the Cultural Medallion for Film in 2007, the highest honour for individuals who have achieved excellence in the fields of literary arts, performing arts, visual arts and film, and contributed to Singapore’s cultural environment. Khoo helms Zhao Wei Films and has been credited for reviving the Singapore film industry and for putting Singapore onto the International film map in the mid-1990s with movies like Mee Pok Man (1995) and 12 Storeys (1997). He was the first Singaporean to have his films invited to major film festivals such as Toronto, Busan, Berlin, Telluride, Venice and Cannes. Khoo has also produced several award-winning films including 15: The Movie (2003) and Apprentice (2016).
His film Be With Me (2005) opened the Directors Fortnight in Cannes and his next feature My Magic (2008), his fourth feature, screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. He released his first animated feature, Tatsumi, in 2011 and played at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. The film won awards at Tokyo and Dubai film festivals and was an APSA nominee for Best Animated Feature Film.
In 2012 Khoo headed the juries at Asian Film Awards, Rotterdam International Film Festival and in 2013 the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. He was invited to be on the official Cannes short film competition jury in 2017. In 2019, he served as International Jury President for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
