“It’s a family affair,” Eric Khoo shared, while talking about his latest movie, Spirit World.

With father Eric Khoo directing, and sons Edward writing, James producing, and Christopher in charge of music, it wasn’t an exaggeration at all to call this a family production. “My youngest son Lucas actually wrote the first treatment of the script,” Khoo added.

(x)clusive had the opportunity to sit down for a casual chat with the director and writer of Spirit World, prior to its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), where we talked about how it feels to have their film premiere at BIFF, the inspirations behind the movie, the filming experience, and working with a multicultural cast and crew.

You seem to have an affinity with Korea, having served as a judge at BIFF in 2005, directing a film at the Jeonju Digital Film Festival, and heading the jury at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2013. How does it feel to be back in Korea, with your film chosen as the closing film for this year’s BIFF?

ERIC: It’s really heartwarming because my first feature, Mee Pok Man, came here 29 years ago and I’ve been coming to the festival since the second one with 12 Storeys. To actually see how the festival has grown is incredible because back in the day, it was very, very different. The cinemas were scattered around and when I was on the jury for the 10th anniversary, we actually did the ground-hacking for the cinema centre. 

I feel a deep connection with Korea and I think they’re very forward-thinking, because they were the first to start digital film festivals, and you know, now everything is digital. And I think it’s just been rapid in terms of creativity coming out from Korea – movies, television, Kpop, and it all started around 30 years ago, with the government agenda pushing for soft power in terms of Korean entertainment. 

And what about yourself, Edward? How does it feel to have your first full-length film premiere at BIFF2024?

EDWARD: It feels great. This project’s been in the works for a long-time. As much as it was conceived during Covid, Covid also slowed things down. So it’s nice to finally have it play at a film festival that’s very personal to us, at the Busan International Film Festival. It’s a nice closure for the movie.

In Spirit World, you blend fantasy and the afterlife with deeply personal themes. What were your influences in bringing this film to life?

ERIC: I was toying around with this idea of a film about the afterlife. But I wasn’t really going anywhere with the concepts I had. Then I sat down with Edward and we decided to have music…

EDWARD: I think it was the music of The Beach Boys, especially two songs – This Whole World, and a lesser known song called Break Away. Lyrically the songs spoke some of the themes we were interested in. Thinking about surf music led us to elements about the beach, the ocean and surfing and surf music, and that kind of cross-pollination between American and Japanese culture. The Japanese are very reverential, like if they like your art, they’ll follow you to the end of the earth, and that kind of idolship was something we wanted to explore. When you see the film, you’ll see that it’s also about fandom as well. 

We wrote this film during Covid when we were all cooped up at home and the ways that we could escape was to go back to the art we like, and the music that we like. So that whole period reminded us about why we love the art that we love. It was important to have these artistic outlets that you can plug into when you’re in a bad spot, and be inspired. Then it was just – how do we get Catherine there?

So from the start, you already knew you wanted to work with Catherine for this film?

EDWARD: Yes, we knew that there was a prospect of working with Catherine so we kind of shaped it around her.

ERIC: She’s always wanted to do something in Japan. Back in 1965, she was in Japan promoting her first film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and since that trip, she’s just had a love affair with Japanese culture. So it really was a spiritual trip for all of us.

How did you balance the elements of grief, music, adulation, and spirituality in the narrative?

EDWARD: Those themes provided the subtext of the film, and once we got Cat to Japan and we shaped these supporting characters around her, it became sort of an ensemble film. When you’re writing, you just let it go, and it became a bit of a road movie – a movie about going home, facing your past, and balancing these themes is about not making them so obvious? I just focused on the characters and let them drive the story. I think we were blessed with a great cast. There are things you can write and things that are left empty, and the cast just fills it up. Everyone knows Catherine but with Yutaka Takenouchi, I think we got the right guy. 

ERIC: To be honest, there was another actor that I wanted, but I won’t mention who. But that actor’s schedule didn’t allow him to be part of the film. If I had gotten the other guy, it wouldn’t have worked. Watching the film, if we had gotten the other guy, it would not have been as powerful a movie as we have now. So I think fate and destiny guided us.

What was the filming process like – especially since you were working with people from different countries and languages?

ERIC: Actually it was fantastic. It was beautiful because everyone worked in unison. I remember Catherine was really excited because we had two girls in the film crew, and she goes, “this should happen in France!” 

EDWARD: I think with the exception of the Japanese team, everybody felt like they were on holiday.

ERIC: Everybody was happy going to work.

EDWARD: Everyone really takes care of you. I was only going to be there for a few days but I extended because set life was so good. The food was good, there were all kinds of different sponsors that came… I remember when we were doing a scene at the beach, we had a food truck come and make us hot ramen. When you eat like that and everyone’s in a good mood, they bring that good mood to set… The whole vibe was just great. I think you do good work when you’re not stressed.

ERIC: And we shot for 22 days, about 10 hours or less per day… It was like a holiday!

Were there any memorable moments while filming this movie?

EDWARD: Sometimes it felt like nature was kind of working with us. When we needed some nice light, the sun came out. Those moments when you’re on set, you know you’ve got something good. There weren’t big, dramatic things that were memorable. Just small little happy accidents on set. It was just serendipitous, you know?

What was it like collaborating with each other on this project, being family members and all? 

ERIC: I’m very happy because you know James helped to produce it, then you’ve got Christopher who wrote the main score for the music. It’s basically a family affair. My youngest boy, Lucas, wrote one of the earliest treatments when I first had this idea, back in 2018. But it morphed and changed from that because it was a film about reincarnation set in China. 

Is there a message you hope to convey to the audience through this film?

ERIC: As Edward put it, the script was put together during the depressing time of Covid, and I think there is this element of hope and ray of love in the film which we hope the audiences will take home.

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Credit for the photos: © L. Champoussin/M.I.Movies/Zhao Wei Films/KnockonWood/Wild Orange/Fourier Films

Stay tuned for part 2 where we talk more about storytelling, Eric Khoo’s filmmaking journey, and the future of Singapore cinema.

You can also read our review of the film here.