SINGAPORE — It’s the cinematic love letter that keeps on giving. 

The film anthology 7 Letters has been selected as Singapore’s entry to the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category, chosen by a committee comprising six established members of the local film industry, who are part of the Singapore Film Commission Advisory Committee.

7 Letters was assessed based on criteria that included execution and production quality, strength of the narrative, originality and entertainment value of the film, as well as the performance of the director and cast. 

Singapore Film Commission director Joachim Ng said that 7 Letters was chosen because “it reflects the heartfelt stories of Singaporeans and celebrates the journey of our nation”.

He added: “We are confident that the universal themes in the film will also resonate with audiences beyond Singapore and do well on an international stage.”

A compendium of seven short films, 7 Letters is the combined efforts of seven acclaimed film-makers — Royston Tan, Eric Khoo, K Rajagopal, Jack Neo, Tan Pin Pin, Boo Junfeng and Kelvin Tong — who came together to deliver a cinematic love letter to Singapore on her 50th birthday.

Tan, who also served as the executive producer of the project, said he was both humbled and overjoyed upon hearing the news. 

“Amid the revelry across the country celebrating a very significant year in its nationhood journey, the seven of us decided on an introspective examination of our notion of home, family and the Singapore identity,” he said. “All of us have a special connection to Singapore and each of the seven ‘letters’ are intricately interwoven with our memories, experiences and personal stories. While we each have our own distinct cinematic style, the film came together to give a coherent and honest multi-faceted expression of what our country means to us.”

Other films previously selected for Academy Awards consideration include Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo (2013) and Eric Khoo’s animated work Tatsumi (2011). Sanif Olek’s Sayang Disayang (Lover Is Loved) was Singapore’s entry last year. None of the films were eventually nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in the final cut.

But things might bode very well for this critically acclaimed anthology, which transcends the limits of its form to create, with heartfelt sincerity, a living tableau of our island city-state. Right from the start, there was an overwhelming public demand to see the film, which centred around the concept of “home”. 

Tickets to the film’s initial three-day gala screening at the iconic Capitol Theatre were snapped up within two hours of their release on July 1. Additional screenings at the Gallery Theatre in the National Museum of Singapore were similarly taken. Due to popular demand, the film was later released commercially in seven Golden Village cinemas and ran for four weeks.