GreenSn0w

CANNES, FRANCE: The next Singapore movie may star Oscar-winning Australian actress, Cate Blanchett.

This would be possible, thanks to a bilateral agreement on movies, which will be signed by Singapore and Australia later this year.

Once the deal is signed, filmmakers from both sides would have more funds and resources to make bigger productions.

Singapore will be the first in Southeast Asia to have such an agreement with Australia.

The intention for a co-production treaty between Singapore and Australia was announced at the Cannes Film Market in France.

It comes after three years of talks.

There are already several partnerships between Australia and Singapore media companies.

One example is Home Song Stories, a film co-produced by Singapore's MediaCorp Raintree Pictures and Australia's Film Finance Corporation.

The film is about a nightclub singer's struggle with love and money in Australia.

It stars Joan Chen and Singapore actor Qi Yuwu and is scheduled for release later this year.

Man Shu Sum, Director of Singapore Film Commission, said that Singapore, being a small market, has to co-produce films with international players to become a world market.

More of such co-productions would be made possible when the Singapore-Australia treaty is signed by the end of this year.

The treaty would also give filmmakers from both sides the support from the two governments, in terms of funding and rebates.

Mark Woods, CEO of AusFilm, said: "Our friends in America obviously enjoy access to very large amounts of money, both at their production market and their movies and television programmes. For the rest of us, we all have limited resources and that's why we pool our resources for those projects where we have something in common. (This) makes a lot of sense.

"Singapore is at the heart of Asia and obviously there are relationships - particularly with Hong Kong, China, and of course Japan - that, certainly, Australia can look to Singapore as our partner in advancing its own relationship with Asia."

Singapore filmmakers are confident that the collaborative effort would also contribute to a richer story line.

Lim Jen Nee, a Singapore producer, said: "If we have a co-production with Australia and there are some trade-offs, like some Australian cast members in this project (Home Song Stories), I do not necessarily think that it is a bad thing and it may not 100% dilute a Singaporean film. It really depends on the elements in a story, in a script, how we can incorporate these 2 cultures together. It's something that I think filmmakers have to work on."

Over the last few years, Singapore has signed co-production deals with Canada, Japan and most recently, New Zealand.

Europe is also on Singapore's radar.

And at this year's Cannes Film Market, the Media Development Authority is partnering an Italian investment agency to match make some 40 producers from Europe and Asia in projects worth nearly US$100 million.