The Leap Years is a Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures

MediaCorp Raintree Pictures

MediaCorp Raintree Pictures is a film production company based in Singapore. The company, a division of MediaCorp Group, was established in 31 March 1996. The company occasionally ties up with other film companies to produce Asian or Western films...

, based on the novella Leap of Love by the author Catherine Lim

Catherine Lim

Catherine Lim is a best-selling Singaporean fiction author known for writing about Singapore society and of themes of traditional Chinese culture. Hailed as the "doyenne of Singapore writers", Lim has published nine collections of short stories, five novels, two poetry collections and numerous...

. The production for the film started in 2005, and the film was initially to be released in December 2005 release. It was released on February 29, 2008 in Singapore.

Plot

Li-Ann, a single and attractive teacher in a Singaporean girl's school teaches her students about an obscure leap year custom practiced in Ireland, where men cannot refuse a proposal or date from a woman should she do so on February 29; she chances upon Jeremy at Windows Cafe who becomes a major part of her life.

Setting

In the original story, the cafe was called the Blue Paradise Café, while in the movie it was Windows Cafe. (Windows Cafe was an actual restaurant at Club Street, Singapore, at the time the movie was filmed. Though by the time the film opened, it had been replaced by a new restaurant called Seven On Club.)

Cast

• Wong Lilin as Li-Ann (younger years - ages 24 to 36)
• Ananda Everingham
  Ananda Everingham
  Ananda Everingham is a Laotian-Australian film actor who was born in Thailand. Working primarily in Thai films, he is best known for his lead role in the 2004 horror film, Shutter.-Biography:...
  
   as Jeremy Harvey (younger years - ages 24 to 36)
• Qi Yu Wu as KS
• Joan Chen
  Joan Chen
  Joan Chong Chen is a Chinese American actress, film director, screenwriter and film producer. She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor...
  
    as Li-Ann (older years - age 48)
• Jason Chan
  Jason Chan
  Jason Keng-Kwin Chan starred on Power Rangers: Ninja Storm in 2003 as Cameron Watanabe, the Green Samurai Ranger. He was born in Malaysia and moved to Perth with his family when he was only 5...
  
   as Raymond
• Vernetta Lopez
  Vernetta Lopez
  Vernetta Lopez is a Singaporean actress and a radio DJ for Class 95FM. She is remembered for her television role as Denise, in the Singapore TV production sitcom Under One Roof. Lopez is of Portuguese and Thai ancestry from her father as well as Peranakan from her mother.-Personal life:In 1997,...
  
   as Jennie
• Nadya Hutagalung
  Nadya Hutagalung
  Nadya Yuti Hutagalung , has been a model, film actress, was one of the first VJs on MTV Asia , TV host, MediaWorks artiste, painter and jewellery designer. Her father, Ricky , is Indonesian , and her mother, Dianne , is Australian.She married Desmond Koh at the Uma Ubud in Bali on 16 December 2006...
  
   as Suneetha
• Paula Malai Ali
  Paula Malai Ali
  Paula Malai Ali Othman is a television personality from Brunei. Formerly a veejay for Channel V, she is now a presenter for ESPN Star Sports....
  
   as Kim
• Tracy Tan as Dyllan

Production

The Joan Chen part is not in the novella. According to director Jean Yeo, it was added as a marketing decision to get Joan Chen involved, as her presence could help with the distribution of the film. It was shot separately, and the 9 minutes of Joan Chen's part was shot by the second unit director.

Li-Lin's real life husband Allan Wu

Allan Wu

Allan Wu is a Singapore-based Chinese-American actor and MTV Asia VJ who is recognized by many people as the host of the Asian version of The Amazing Race....

makes a very brief cameo appearance as Danny, the husband of Kim (Paula Malai Ali), during Li-Ann's second leap year of meeting Jeremy.

External links

• The Leap Years - MediacorpRaintree.com