• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

Introduction

Singapore, Taiwan / 2019 / 103 min
Director：Anthony CHEN

Malaysian-born Ling is a Chinese language teacher at an all-male school in Singapore. Married 8 years but without any children, she is under a great deal of pressure. Her self-centered husband is indifferent to what Ling is feeling and doesn't even cooperate with the infertility treatment she suffers through. On the other hand, she has begun building a close relationship with one of her pupils, Wei Lun. This relationship crosses beyond a teacher-student bond and greatly shakes Ling.... The long-awaited second film by Anthony CHEN, whose "Ilo llo" (2013) won the Cannes Film Festival's Camera d'Or, is a very delicately depicted drama unfolding amid the damp air of Singapore's rainy season. YEO Yann Yann and KOH Jia Ler who respectively played the mother and son in "Ilo llo" once again co-star in this film and deliver performances surpassing even their previous work. World premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Won awards for the Best Chinese-language Film, Best Actress, and the Cinephilia Critics' Award at the Pingyao International Film Festival.

Director's Statement

I have always been interested in exploring female characters. In my debut feature "llo llo", I was examining motherhood and maternal instinct. "Wet Season" takes this exploration of female identity a step further.
The idea of a woman approaching her forties desperate to have a child of her own sunk into my head. On the page, I have described her as "having an elegant, almost motherly presence, but she is not a mother." This is the woman I have since been obsessed with, one who loses herself under the pressures of straddling the expectations of a modern working-woman and dutiful wife.
For me, "Wet Season" is a delicate portrait of a woman, not recognised in her marriage nor at work, on a journey to redefine and rediscover herself. My protagonist Ling is not a victim of her own fate. There is a silent resilience in her as she battles through life with dignity and grace.
In the past few years, this project has connected with me in more personal ways than ever as my wife and I deal with our own challenges of starting a family. The injections, the pills, the hospital visits; tears, anger, disappointment, these are now familiar rituals I have borne witness to. Despite the pains and struggles, the experience has reaffirmed my determination to realise this film.

note