*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.
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"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
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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).
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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
Sao Paulo FF, Brazil
MIDBO, Colombia
Asian Film Joint, Japan
Porto/Post/Doc, Portugal (International Competition)
2025
Bangkok Experimental FF, Thailand
Antenna Documentary Festival, Australia (Feature Length Competition)
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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
