PUBLISHED ONAugust 01, 2024 6:48 AMByYeo Shu HuiLocal film Wonderland held its gala premiere at Golden Village VivoCity yesterday (July 31) with a host of local celebrities and influencers.
However, the most anticipated guests of the evening were President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse Ms Jane Ittogi who arrived at the red carpet at about 7pm, shaking hands with the attendees.
The couple also stood beside the cast members of Wonderland for photos and could be seen sharing pleasantries with local actors Mark Lee, 55, Peter Yu, 56, and Xenia Tan, 29.
Directed by local director Chai Yee Wei, Wonderland centres around reserved and illiterate single father Loke (Mark), who forms a friendship with Tan (Peter) after the latter helped him write letters to his daughter Eileen (Xenia), who is studying in the United States.
When a tragedy strikes, Tan and their neighbours seek to hide the truth from Loke, and their web of lies soon spirals out of control.
Other local celebrities who were there included Pierre Png, Hossan Leong, Xixi Lim, Joshua Tan, Ya Hui, Noah Yap, Angela Ang, Tang Miaoling, Asher Su, Zhang Shuifa and Sonia Chew.
When asked by DJ Yasminne Cheng, who hosted the event, what Wonderland meant to her, Sonia responded: "To me, Wonderland is a happy place, and a happy place is where my loved ones are."
The 32-year-old then invited her mum to join her on the red carpet and shared that it had been a while since they watched a movie together.
Later at the movie theatre, Mark, 55, thanked President Tharman for attending the event.
He also said: "I am happy to be able to work with director Chai Yee Wei for the second time… He filmed a humane, touching and warm film this time round and I am sure all the actors who were present and had worked with him would feel that it's an honour."
On working with Peter, 56, Mark added: "This is the first time we worked together and I won Best Actor and he won Best Supporting Actor. We would also like to thank director Chai for giving us the opportunity."
Mark and Peter were awarded for their performances in Wonderland at the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival in April.
Wonderland, which also stars Candyce Toh, Ye Shipin, Vincent Tee, Zhang Wei and Rajeswary Nadarajan, opens in Singapore cinemas on Aug 8.
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