Topping the list in terms of the number of nominations is We Are All Strangers, which earned seven nominations, including for Best Narrative Feature, Best Director for Anthony Chen and Best Leading Actress for Yeo Yann Yann.
The film rounds up Chen’s Growing Up trilogy, which began with the film Ilo Ilo and also includes Wet Season. It follows 21-year-old Junyang, played by actor Koh Jia Ler, as he and his widowed father navigate work, family responsibilities and unexpected changes in life.
We Are All Strangers had its world premiere at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival and subsequently opened the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
It also received a special mention at the Far East Film Festival in Udine and was recently chosen as Singapore’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. Actress Yeo Yann Yann also received a further nomination for Best Performance at the 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Two other films, The Violinist and Ah Girl, each earned three nominations.
The Violinist, an animated film co-directed by Singaporean animator Ervin Han and Spanish animator Raul Garcia, is set in Singapore and Malaya before and during the Japanese Occupation, and follows two talented young musicians whose friendship and dreams are torn apart by World War II.
Earlier this year, the film won the top feature prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.