CANNES – Astro Shaw, with partners HBO Asia and the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) announced that works are underway for the upcoming film adaptation of Tan Twan Eng’s The Garden of Evening Mists. The novel was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, and also won the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize and the 2013 Walter Scott Prize. This feature film adaptation will see an international production team from Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and India working to bring together this celebrated novel to the silver screen.
Taiwanese award-winning filmmaker, Tom Lin, famed for his feature films Starry Starry Night and Zinnia Flower, will be directing from the screenplay by Scottish BAFTA-winning screenwriter, Richard Smith.
Working alongside the internationally recognised director and screenwriter are Golden Horse Awards winner and Malaysian actress, Lee Sin Je; prominent Japanese actor and multi-award winner, Hiroshi Abe; and Hong Kong actress-cum-director and producer, Sylvia Chang. Also joining the line-up are British actors; David Oakes (The White Queen, Victoria and The Borgias) and John Hannah, famously known for his role in the romantic comedy Four Weddings and A Funeral and The Mummy trilogy.
The film adaptation of The Garden of Evening Mists, set in various locations in Malaysia including the scenic landscapes of tea plantations of Cameron Highlands, will build on the rich imagination of the novel, written by Malaysian novelist; Tan Twan Eng, taking place in Malaya just after World War II.
The Garden of Evening Mists follows the story of Teoh Yun-Ling, a young law graduate as she seeks solace among the tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner, the mysterious Aritomo Nakamura. Yun Ling seeks Aritomo’s help to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the Japanese war camp. Instead, he offers to teach her the art of Japanese gardening and over time, Yun Ling and Aritomo embark on a forbidden love affair.
