''#LookAtMe'' is a 2022 Singaporean film directed by Ken Kwek. It was premiered at 2022 New York Asian Film Festival. The film was inspired by

Amos Yee Amos Yee Pang Sang (, born 31 October 1998), also known as just Amos Yee, is a Singaporean convicted sex offender and former blogger, YouTuber and child actor. Yee is currently serving six years' imprisonment in the United States for sexual offense ...

's 2015 vlogs that criticised Lee Kuan Yew and Christianity, and other real life events.

Synopsis

Sean and Ricky Mazuki are twins who live with their mother, Nancy. Ricky is gay, while Sean has a girlfriend, Mia. Mia invites the twins to the evangelical megachurch she attends where the pastor, Josiah Long, gives a homophobic sermon. The brothers become enraged by the sermon and Sean creates a

vlog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

casting Josiah in a bad light. The vlog goes viral, which earns Sean a defamation lawsuit and a jail sentence for violating Singapore's laws on "hurting religious feelings" and " spreading fake news".

Cast

* yao - Sean and Ricky Mazuki (twins) *

Pam Oei Pamela Oei (born 26 January 1972) is a Singaporean actress. Oei is a theatre actress. Background Oei is part of the cabaret trio Dim Sum Dollies. She is also a certified Allen Carr therapist. Film roles Oei played the part of Peggy in the 1 ...

- Nancy * Ching Shu Yi - Mia *

Adrian Pang use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

- Josiah Long * Janice Koh - Gabriella Long

Reception

Martin Lukanov of ''Asian Movie Pulse'' akins the scenes of Josiah Long giving his sermon to "a real video by a real church leader". Anthony Kao of ''Cinema Escapist'' writes that the film's choice to switch between genres was effective: family drama to build sympathy for the Mazuki family with the audience and tragedy and prison exploitation illustrating how the family's lives are spinning out of control. Niina Doherty of ''Eastern Kicks'' writes that "Kwek's criticism of he societal issues of Singapore or its legal systemis subtle and effective". Akash Deshpande of ''High on Films'' writes that although the film had a chance of making a larger statement, it became "a reactionary work, which dulls its overall impact". At the 2022 New York Asian Film Festival, the film won a Special Jury Mention for Best Performer for its lead actor, yao. On 17 October 2022, the film was refused classification by

Infocomm Media Development Authority The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History Following the passing of the Info-communications Media Development Authority Bill in Parliame ...

, which effectively barred the film from being screened in Singapore for "its potential to cause enmity and social division". IMDA,

Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY; ms, Kementerian Kebudayaan, Masyarakat dan Belia; ; ta, கலாசார, சமூக, இளையர்துறை அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore r ...

, and

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

also stated that the pastor in the film engages "in an act prohibited by his professed religious faiths"; that the depictions of the pastor in the film are "suggestive of a real pastor in Singapore", and the allegations may be "perceived to be offensive, defamatory and contrary to the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act". The film was scheduled to be screened at 2022 Singapore International Film Festival. However, even with the ban, the festival decided to include the film in its advertised line-up, though the film was marked as unavailable for screening. The director, Ken Kwek and producers decided not to appeal IMDA's decision, as after assessing the authorities' decision, they concluded that the possibility of the appeal being be successful would be "exceedingly silm".

Notes

References

{{Ken Kwek 2022 films 2022 LGBT-related films Singaporean LGBT-related films 2020s English-language films Singaporean drama films LGBT-related drama films Films about LGBT and evangelicalism Films about social media Films about con artists Films about police misconduct Films about lying