Singapore Funds Board Locarno-Bound ‘Song of Scorpions’

Singapore-based film funds and distribution entities Aurora Media Holdings and M! Capital Ventures have boarded Anup Singh’s “The Song of Scorpions.” The film has its world premiere next month as a Piazaa Grande screening at the Locarno festival.

Shot on location in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, the film is a story of twisted love, revenge and redemptive power between a young tribal woman and a camel trader. The cast is headed by Iran’s Golshifteh Farahani (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”) and India’s Irrfan Khan (“Inferno”) alongside Indian cinema icon Waheeda Rehman (“Guide”).

The film’s producers include Michel Merkt (“Toni Erdmann”) for Switzerland’s KNM, Saskia Vischer and Shahaf Peled for Feather Light Films, in association with Thierry Lenouvel for France’s Cine Sud Promotion. Rights sales are currently being handled by the producers, who report that they have received multiple sales agency approaches.

Other finance is from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, Cineforom, Loterie Romande, France’s CNC Aide aux cinemas du monde and Eurimages. The Singapore pair make the film a France-Switzerland-Singapore co-production.

“’Scorpions’ has a beautiful heart and soul wrapped around its gorgeous production values, with amazing talent attached in front and behind the camera,” said Justin Deimen, group managing partner at Aurora.

Singh’s previous film “Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost,” also starred Khan, and opened Rotterdam in 2014.

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