PUBLISHED ONApril 17, 2021 4:02 AMByKwok Kar Peng[UPDATE: June 25]
The telecast date has been brought forward to Aug 9.
It's not often that our local dramas film period pieces here in Singapore, due to our very modern environment.
In fact, the cast of Channel 5's new post-World War II drama This Land is Mine was supposed to film in Malaysia, actress Rebecca Lim told us.
However, those plans were thwarted when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and international travel became almost impossible. So the production crew built at least four period sets here in Singapore, and AsiaOne was recently invited to visit two of them.
One is a 1940s nightclub complete with coloured lightbulbs on the stage and a disco ball, and the other is an entire kampung hut with wooden flooring, a porch, and a (fake) well at the back.
Housed within and outside an unused building along Kay Siang Road, you'd never know driving past the quiet area that a whole different era existed inside.
This Land is Mine is set in Singapore following the end of World War II, the surrender of the Japanese, and the return of the British. Singapore had much rebuilding to do, both physically and spiritually, and the drama series features the difficulties and strength of the locals as they face unemployment, soaring food prices, and social unrest.
The drama stars Pierre Png as Dennis Chiang, a rising associate in the law firm of d'Almeida & d'Almeida and Rebecca as his cousin June, a clerk in the same law firm. Local singer-songwriter Shabir plays former war hero Habibullah who lost an arm in battle, and Charlie Goh plays half Chinese, half Japanese translator Hojo.
Watch our video to visit the sets, and find out what these four actors say about their characters, filming in period dramas, what they think they would be like if they lived in 1945, and what item they would bring from 2021 to the 1940s.
This Land is Mine premieres Aug 9 on meWATCH and Channel 5 at 9.30pm.
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kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com