Pastor's Hidden Fixation Anchors Boo Junfeng's 'Trinity' at Tokyo Gap-Financing Market

Director Boo Junfeng is presenting his new feature "Trinity" at this year's Tokyo Gap-Financing Market, a drama about a celebrity preacher who stages daring stunts for his congregation while concealing an obsession with a young follower.

The film is built in three chapters inspired by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Its central figure is Johnny, a pastor from Taiwan whose sermons have won him a large following in Singapore through a popular megachurch. Worshippers also fill the hall for the elaborate acrobatic shows he mounts, in the style of Cirque du Soleil.

Johnny is publicly known for conservative views, yet he becomes infatuated with Yang, a newcomer to his training program. His favorable treatment of the young man soon becomes obvious. That unsettles his wife, Ruth, and David, his leading disciple and his daughter's fiance, who both help run the church.

When Yang disappears, Johnny launches a desperate investigation of his own. The trail leads to people in his inner circle, and the outcome is tragic. Johnny and Ruth later move to rural Taiwan, where they live quietly and attend a modest local congregation, until Johnny spots an enigmatic stranger who may bring the couple divine grace.

"I've always been very interested in the subject of sexuality and faith, and I wanted to make a film that dives deep into the psyche of these characters within a church," Boo said.

Boo made his feature debut with "Sandcastle" in 2010, which became the first Singaporean film selected for Cannes Critics' Week. His follow-up, the capital punishment drama "Apprentice," screened in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section in 2016. He has also been creative director of Singapore's National Day Parade, including the 2025 edition marking the country's 60th anniversary, and he currently chairs the Singapore International Film Festival.

Producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, whose credits include "Apprentice," co-wrote the script with Boo and has been involved since the idea first formed. He has also produced Pen-ek Ratanaruang's "Headshot," Ron Howard's "Thirteen Lives" and Pang Ho-Cheung's "Dream Home" and "Aberdeen." Earlier in his career he worked 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.

"Personally, I have had people close to me convert to Christianity due to Evangelism, but this is seldom seen in Asian films," Phathanavirangoon said. He pointed to the spectacle some Asian churches build into their services as what sets the story apart, noting that earlier this year in Korea a stunt sent a man dressed as Jesus into the sky and went "super viral."

"Trinity" is in post-production, and both filmmakers said the team is arriving in Tokyo with a small financing gap left to close before the film can be finished. "I hope people will empathize with the characters, despite them being flawed human beings," Boo said.

The project is produced by Peanut Pictures, Filmagic Pictures and Gaïjin, and is listed as a co-production across 11 countries: Taiwan, France, Singapore, Poland, Greece, Japan, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. The Tokyo Gap-Financing Market takes place as part of TIFFCOM, the content market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival.