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Contract (A Zoom Film)

Recorded in a single take, Contract is a fast-paced original Zoom film inspired by true events.

It’s April 2020 and the world is gripped by fear due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Oil prices have tanked, the stock market has crashed, and bodies are piling up.

In Singapore, what was initially considered a situation under control, has exploded into an overwhelming number of new cases islandwide stemming from cramped living conditions in migrant-worker dormitories. Tensions are high as the country enters its third week of "Circuit Breaker" lockdown to curb the spread.

‘Contract’ follows Jane, a fresh hire at a multinational company, as she stumbles into the world’s worst first day at work over several Zoom calls.

Just 3 hours into her new job, Jane has a tough choice to make:
(A) Destroy her family and her future
(B) Become an accomplice to mask murder.

Which should she choose?

  • Kamil Haque
    Director
  • Ashley Sim
    Assistant Director
  • Stephanie Bovis
    Key Cast
  • Kimberley Kiew
    Key Cast
  • Sharon Mah
    Key Cast
  • Tarun Satyakumar
    Key Cast
  • Ratish Balakrishnan
    Key Cast
  • Niharika Iyengar
    Key Cast
  • Nicole Daswani
    Key Cast
  • Isabelle Virag
    Key Cast
  • Rachel Yang
    Key Cast
  • Bharath Haridas
    Animator
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 11 minutes 54 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 24, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Singapore
  • Country of Filming:
    Singapore
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Zoom (Live Recording)
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kamil Haque

Kamil Haque is the founder and artistic director of Haque Centre of Acting & Creativity (HCAC). After eight years working and coaching in Los Angeles, Kamil returned to his native Singapore in 2013 to establish HCAC, Singapore’s first professional acting centre and Asia’s first centre to teach the preeminent Lee Strasberg’s method of acting.

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Director Statement

For so long, as artist and audience, we have been used to communion in the shared and defined space of the cinema and theatre. Pre-show rituals with the cast just before the premiere. The reverberations in the audience as they take their seats, and the excitement of friends and loved ones in the front row. The house lights going down. The sense of community.

The reality is, it’s 2020. For the first time in centuries, theatre and cinema as we once knew it cannot take place anywhere on this planet. In Singapore, we’re more fortunate than most. In recent weeks we have begun to see some of our venues re-open at limited capacity, with a whole new set of pre-show routines for the audience. Meanwhile, my artistic comrades worldwide continue to fight the good fight.

As my collective and I worked on Contract, we had to examine what it meant to us when the spaces we once shared became off-limits. Cyberspace was the only shared space where we could safely come together and create, but what does a ‘live’ performance look like when performers cannot be in the same room?

I’m deeply proud of my cast and crew for finding ways to re-invent the art form during a global pandemic. Rehearsals and filming were a bizarre negotiation of everyone managing their own lights, sound, Wi-Fi and set design. We had to come to terms with going live and being on camera being one and the same. How then, could we create a form of acting that fits live-recorded film? And of course, how do we utilise the Zoom platform to create an imaginary world? All these considerations are crucial in ensuring that the show can go on.

With Contract, we’re hoping to examine the very definition of the word. What happens when we breach a professional, familial, or social contract? What if we breach all at the same time? Can holding on to one be just as dangerous as breaking one?

All that said, I’m delighted you’re tuning in to watch The Haque Collective in our first-ever digital production. The best thing about film and theatre in the digital age is our expanded reach - whether you live in Singapore or elsewhere, if this is your first time watching a Singaporean production, I hope it’s not your last. Here’s hoping that in the near future, we can finally see all of you in the shared spaces we so treasure. For reel this time.

With Hope Towards The Future,
Kamil Haque