A celebrity preacher who performs daredevil stunts for his congregation while hiding his fixation on a young follower sits at the center of “Trinity,” the new feature from director Boo Junfeng, which is among the projects at this year’s Tokyo Gap-Financing Market. Structured in three chapters modeled on the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the film follows Johnny, a pastor from Taiwan whose sermons have built him a large Singaporean following at a popular megachurch. The faithful also turn out in large numbers for the elaborate acrobatic shows he stages in the vein of Cirque du Soleil.
Though publicly known for his conservative stance, Johnny grows infatuated with Yang, a newcomer to his training program, and his preferential treatment of the young man soon becomes hard to miss. It unsettles his wife Ruth, and David, his leading disciple and his daughter’s husband-to-be, both of whom share in running the church. When Yang vanishes, a frantic Johnny starts his own inquiry.
The clues point toward the people in his inner circle, with tragic results. Johnny and Ruth later relocate to rural Taiwan, where they keep a low profile and worship at a modest local congregation – until Johnny glimpses an enigmatic stranger who may yet bring the couple divine grace. Boo, a Singaporean filmmaker, made his feature debut with “Sandcastle” (2010), which became the first film from Singapore to be selected for Cannes Critics’ Week.
His follow-up, capital punishment drama “Apprentice,” played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2016. He has also served as creative director of Singapore’s National Day Parade, including the 2025 edition marking the country’s 60th anniversary, and currently serves as chair of the Singapore International Film Festival. Producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, whose credits include “Apprentice,” co-wrote “Trinity” with Boo and has been involved since the idea first took shape.
He has also produced Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s “Headshot,” Ron Howard’s “Thirteen Lives” and Pang Ho-Cheung’s “Dream Home” and “Aberdeen.” His earlier career included stints as an international programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival and a program delegate for Cannes Critics’ Week, and he co-founded the Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC). He added that the way some Asian churches build spectacle into their services is what sets the story apart. Both Boo and Phathanavirangoon said the team is coming to Tokyo with a small gap in its financing left to close before the film can be completed.
The project is produced by Peanut Pictures, Filmagic Pictures and Gaïjin, and is listed as a co-production spanning 11 countries: Taiwan, France, Singapore, Poland, Greece, Japan, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. The Tokyo Gap-Financing Market runs as part of TIFFCOM, the content market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival.
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