SINGAPORE: Award-winning local novel "Sing to the Dawn" is being made into an animated film, slated for release in the middle of next year.

The US$5 million film is co-produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, Singapore's Media Development Authority and Infinite Frameworks.

"Sing to the Dawn" is about how a young girl Dawan from a rural village fulfils her life-long dream - by winning a scholarship to study in the city.

Based on the award-winning novel (of the same title) by local writer Ho Minfong, the book has been read, studied in school and enjoyed by many.

Now the film's producers believe it will reach out to an even wider audience around the world.

"MDA is the industry promoter. Our involvement in this project is to bring together the various partners, put a little bit of seed money in it so that all the parties can come together to produce this animated feature film," said Seto Lok Yin, Assistant Chief Executive, Media Development Authority of Singapore.

"We want to make it very special. We've put together a team, a creative team. This whole team loves Southeast Asian culture. And the whole look of the film is very Southeast Asian. It is not just the language that is in English, but it's the sensibility that is more global," said Daniel Yun, Managing Director, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures.

Production is now ongoing at Infinite Frameworks' Studios in Batam.

A group of international experts is leading the team of over 70 animators from Singapore and Indonesia.

They include UK's Steven Read, who worked on acclaimed animation features like Happy Feet, and Canadian film director Phil Mitchell, an animation veteran with 20 years experience.

"Initially finding those people was tough. But also being able to accommodate them into our budget was also a challenge as well. So we have a lot of support with the Media Development Authority and the manpower capability scheme," Mike Wiluan, Managing Director, Infinite Frameworks, Co-producer, "Sing to the Dawn".

"It's not a wham-bam, high tech extravaganza. It's a story. The look for the film is driven very much by wanting to come up with something art-directed and stylised, and following consistent visual rules. If folks come away from our movie, going - 'That's a beautifully-animated film', I'll be very happy," said Phil Mitchell, Animation Film Director, "Sing to the Dawn".

"We're really pushing the vibrancy of colour. Comparing this film to Happy Feet, the visual look will be far more colourful," said Steven Read, CG Supervisor, "Sing to the Dawn".

Unlike the original novel, the animated film version of "Sing to the Dawn" has animals that are indigenous to the Southeast Asian region.

The animals actually talk - though not to the humans, but among themselves!

Also adding a dash of comic relief is the film's villain Pairote - who had to thwart Dawan's efforts to save her town, and also the animals' attempts to preserve their environment.

The characters will be voiced by veteran local theatre actors, including Selena Rosa Tan and Lim Kay Siu.

The five original songs in the film were composed and sung by Singaporeans.

Production wraps up early next year and marketing for "Sing to the Dawn" starts at the Cannes Film Market later this month.

There are plans to dub the film into different languages for an international audience. - CNA/yy