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Each episode follows one resident as he or she navigates through everyday life and its challenges. These stories include the ups and downs of a mother and her autistic son; a taxi driver by day and a spiritual medium by night; and a banker who is a father and husband who harbours a secret that comes to life late at night.
INVISIBLE STORIES also showcases Singapore’s inclusive multi-cultural identity with a regional cast from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore. Golden Horse Award winner Yeo Yann Yann (‘Wet Season’ and ‘ILO ILO’) and Taiwanese newcomer Devin Pan appear in the first episode. Veteran Singapore actor Wang Yu Qing (‘Hello From The Other Side’ and ‘Reach For The Skies’) plays the taxi driver in the second episode.
Other cast members include Thai actress and model Suchada Muller (‘Insect In The Backyard’ and ‘The Last Executioner’), Malaysian actor and director Gavin Yap (‘The Bridge’ and ‘Lion Mums 3’), Bangladeshi actor Sudip Biswas (‘Sutopar Thikana’ and ‘Café 999’), Indonesian actress Sekar Sari (‘SITI’). Cast from Singapore include Regina Lim (‘Not So Long Time Ago’, ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’), Aden Tan (‘Lion Mums’ and ‘Ah Boys To Men 3’) and Sunny Pang (‘Code Of Law’ and ‘Fly By Night’) as well as Singapore based actress Rosalind Pho (HBO Asia Original ‘Sent’, ‘Tanglin’).
Tunes from Singaporean singer-songwriter Leslie Low accompany the screenplay, and Leslie guest stars as a busker as well. Leslie was the former frontman of popular indie band Humpback Oak and previously fronted one of Singapore’s greatest musical efforts, The Observatory. Melancholic and reflective in nature, his songs are usually inspired by the personal, subjective, and introverted mindset of living in Singapore.
WORLD PREMIERE AT LEADING FILM FESTIVALS
The first episode,INVISIBLE STORIES: LIAN, will make its world premiere at the 2019 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival on 16 November, while the first two episodes, INVISIBLE STORIES: LIAN and INVISIBLE STORIES: CHUAN, have been selected by the Singapore International Film Festival to be presented on 28 November.
REGIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
For the first time ever, HBO Asia has also organised a short film competition to invite emerging film makers to submit untold stories from their own neighbourhoods. HBO Asia hopes to empower a new generation of storytellers by providing them a regional platform to showcase their talents – an opportunity to be featured on HBO GO, HBO Asia’s internet streaming platform. Competition opens from now till 17 January 2020, for full details visit https://invisiblestoriescontest.hboasia.com.
EPISODE SYNOPSIS
Episode 1 – INVISIBLE STORIES: LIAN
Premieres: Sunday, 5 January at 10pm on HBO GO and HBO
Lian is the story of a burnt out and financially-drained single mother struggling to cope with her 19-year-old son with autism, who displays aggressive behaviours during meltdowns following the sudden death of his grandmother, who was his main caregiver.
Cast: Yeo Yann Yann, Devin Pan
Episode 2 – INVISIBLE STORIES: CHUAN
Premieres: Sunday, 12 January at 10pm on HBO GO and HBO
Chuan is a taxi driver by day and “tangki” (spiritual medium) by night. He finds his sanity in peril when a malicious ghost begins to haunt him, pushing him down a path of self-destruction in search of the truth.
Cast: Wang Yu Qing, Aden Tan
Episode 3 – INVISIBLE STORIES: JUNE
Premieres: Sunday, 19 January at 10pm on HBO GO and HBO
A tale of friendship between three sex workers operating a brothel out of a flat.
Cast: Suchada Muller, Sunny Pang
Episode 4 – INVISIBLE STORIES: KEAGAN
Premieres: Sunday, 26 January at 10pm on HBO GO and HBO
A successful banker with a secret alter ego rebels against the life he leads and embarks on a journey of self-discovery that puts everything he has built at risk – his job, his family, his whole life.
Cast: Gavin Yap, Rosalind Pho
Episode 5 – INVISIBLE STORIES: SAYEED
Premieres: Sunday, 2 February at 10pm on HBO GO and HBO
A bittersweet love story between a foreign construction worker and a foreign domestic worker that challenges the conventional notions of migrant workers.
Cast: Sudip Biswas, Sekar Sari
Episode 6 – INVISIBLE STORIES: NEXTBLKGRL
Premieres: Sunday, 9 February at 10pm on HBO GO and HBO
An aspiring teenage influencer from a broken family seeks to change her life by diving into the spurious world of social media, only to find her own reality falling apart at the seams.
Cast: Regina Lim
INVISIBLE STORIES is created by Singaporean Ler Jiyuan with a team of local writers and produced by Singapore-based production house Birdmandog. The series is produced as part of a two-year partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in Singapore. Through a series of workshops and collaborations with local companies and talent on HBO Asia Original productions, the partnership aims to develop the content production capabilities of Singapore’s media industry.
HBO Asia started producing Original productions in 2012 and has produced a range of Asian Original productions including series, movies and documentaries. To date, HBO Asia has produced and aired 19 Asian Original productions with more in the pipeline.
