Six filmmakers from Singapore to watch

A string of 29 Made-with-Singapore international co-productions have featured in competition at top-tier film festivals since 2023.

Among them are Cannes Camera d’Or winner Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell produced by Jeremy Chua, and Cannes Camera d’Or special mention Mongrel, produced by Lai Weijie, which also took the best new director prize for Chiang Wei-liang at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards. Further titles include A Useful Ghost produced by Tan Si En, and Tiger Stripes produced by Fran Borgia, both of which are Cannes Critics’ Week grand prize winners.

Such collaborations made with Singapore talent have achieved international recognition and distribution across major platforms. Made-with-Singapore projects are backed by Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Singapore Film Commission, which boasts a 27-year track record supporting more than 800 features, shorts and projects.

Access to government funding, world-class infrastructure support and a diverse creative talent pool are among the strategic advantages that Singapore offers to ensure technical excellence and distinctive storytelling for premium international productions.

The city-state’s multicultural context provides the sensitivities and foundational know-how to tell stories that speak to both Eastern and Western cultures and deliver content with proven cross-market appeal, thus positioning Singapore as a gateway to Asian markets.

The political and economic stability ensures production continuity, creating a reliable environment for high-budget, long-lead feature films. The centralised, transparent processes simplify regulatory and permitting workflows, avoiding the bureaucratic complexity often seen in larger media markets.

International filmmakers and industry executives can connect with Singapore talents at the upcoming Singapore Media Festival (SMF), which takes place from November 26-December 7. Hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore, it is a focal point for Asia’s media community, showcasing diverse media innovations, forging industry deals and presenting Singapore’s world-class content.

The event brings together media professionals, industry leaders, creators and consumers through the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) and Nas Summit Asia Singapore (NAS).

Here, Screen International profiles six experienced and emerging filmmakers from Singapore.

Anthony Chen

Chen made history with his feature debut Ilo Ilo when it won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2013, making it the first feature from Singapore to win an award at the prestigious festival. The family drama went on to earn 40 global awards, including best film and three further prizes at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards. 

He followed this with 2019’s Wet Season, which reunited him with Golden Horse-winning actress Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler, who was aged 11 when he was chosen from 8,000 children for his role in Ilo Ilo.

The trio recently teamed for We Are All Strangers, a coming-of-age drama about how people unknown to each other can become a family in modern-day Singapore. Production wrapped earlier this year, completing Chen’s Growing Up trilogy.

Chen’s notable work also includes his English-language debut Drift, starring Cynthia Erivo, which premiered at Sundance in 2023, and his first mainland Chinese film The Breaking Ice, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes that same year.

Aside from directing, he also produces through his Singapore-based Giraffe Pictures for emerging directors such as Kirsten Tan’s Sundance-winning Pop Aye, He Shuming’s Ajoomma and Neo Sora’s Happyend.

Fran Borgia

Borgia of Akanga Film Asia is one of Singapore’s most highly decorated producers, having produced and co-produced a string of critically acclaimed films for directors from Singapore and the region.

His notable work includes Yeo Siew Hua’s A Land Imagined, winner of Locarno’s Golden Leopard; Kamila Andini’s Yuni, winner of Toronto’s Platform prize; Amanda Eu’s Tiger Stripes, winner of the Critics’ Week grand prize at Cannes; Yeo’s Stranger Eyes, the first Singapore film ever selected for Venice’s Competition; and Rima Das’ Village Rockstars 2, winner of Busan’s Jiseok Award.

This year, Chie Hayakawa’s Renoir became the second ever Singapore production to premiere in Competition at Cannes, while Tan Siyou’s feature debut Amoeba premiered in the Discovery strand of Toronto.

As with most of his work, Amoeba is a multi-country co-production, comprising Singapore, the Netherlands, France, Spain and South Korea. The coming-of-age drama is set in an all-girls school where four misfit teens form a secret gang, while unearthing the quiet violence of growing up in contemporary Singapore.

Born in Spain, Borgia currently lives between Singapore and New Zealand, where he is pursuing a PhD in poetic cinema.

M. Raihan Halim

After establishing a distinctive career in TV, Raihan of Papahan Films made his film debut in 2014 with wrestling comedy drama Banting. It was followed by 2023 romantic comedy drama La Luna, which premiered in Tokyo’s Asian Future competition before screening as the closing film of Rotterdam and being selected as Singapore’s Oscar submission.

His upcoming family drama Badak reunites him with La Luna star Shaheizy Sam, who plays a deaf father who runs a burger stall and struggles to stay connected with his hip-hop loving daughter.

To prepare for this challenging role, Shaheizy — one of Malaysia’s most popular actors known for hit film franchise Polis Evo — gained 30kg over five months to embody the present-day version of the character. The production then paused for six months, giving him time to shed the weight and return to a leaner frame for the scenes that showcase the same character in his younger, more hopeful years.

The Singapore-Malaysia-Indonesia co-production, shot in Malay language, is scheduled for release in Malaysia on October 2 and Singapore on October 16.

Ong Kuo Sin

Before transitioning to film, Ong was a top TV director, with a flurry of sitcom, travelogues, variety shows, drama series and telemovies under his belt.

He made his film debut in 2013 with Judgement Day and has since directed a total of seven feature films, including Wonder Boy, Number 1, which received a best actor nomination for Mark Lee at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, and Reunion Dinner. 

His latest feature A Good Child recently premiered as the closing film of the 21st Osaka Asia Film Festival that coincided with Expo 2025 Osaka. Starring Richie Koh and Hong Hui Fang, it is inspired by a true story, focusing on a drag queen who returns home to care for his dementia-stricken mother and pretends to be her long-lost daughter.

It is set to open in Singapore on October 9, with further releases in Hong Kong and Taiwan scheduled for early December.

Ong, who runs Byle Productions, often blends humour, heart and cultural identity in his work and explores family, resilience and acceptance through a distinctly local lens.

Tan Fong Cheng

After a stint making commercials, Tan joined Eric Khoo’s Zhao Wei Films in 2001. Since producing her first feature, Royston Tan’s 15, in 2003, she worked closely with director Khoo on most of his titles, including Be With Me, Cannes competitor My Magic, animated feature Tatsumi and In The Room.

More recently, she produced Spirit World for Khoo, which features iconic French star Catherine Deneuve as a jaded singer who dies suddenly while on tour, launching her into the spirit world. Filmed in Japan, it was the closing film of Busan in 2024.

Tan ventured into writing when she penned the scripts for Gilbert Chan’s horror film Ghost Child, Khoo’s culinary drama Ramen Shop and the Japanese segment of HBO Asia’s horror anthology series Folklore 2.

Her latest features as a producer include Mike Wiluan’s Monster Island, a war horror set on a deserted island, and Kopitiam Days, an anthology film backed by IMDA to celebrate Singapore’s 60th year of independence, with six directors comprising Ong Kuo Sin, M. Raihan Halim and Tan Siyou.

Tan Si En

A champion of Singaporean and Southeast Asian cinema, Tan became the first film producer to receive the young artist award in 2024, Singapore’s highest award for young arts practitioners aged 35 and below.

Most recently, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s A Useful Ghost, which she co-produced, won the grand prize at Cannes Critics’ Week, while Duong Dieu Linh’s Don’t Cry, Butterfly took the grand prize at Venice Critics’ Week in 2024 and Nelson Yeo’s Dreaming & Dying scooped two top awards at Locarno in 2023, including the Filmmaker of the Present prize.

Among her latest projects are Polen Ly’s Becoming Human, which premiered at Venice’s Biennale College Cinema, and Chan Sze-Wei’s LGBTQ+ documentary Tens Across The Borders, which premiered in Busan’s Wide Angle documentary strand.

Through her company Momo Film Co, which is part of Beach House Pictures and Fremantle, she is developing Kirsten Tan’s Crocodile Rock, Daniel Hui’s Other People’s Dreams and Yeo’s The House On The Moon. She is also collaborating with Studiocanal on crime drama series Red Butterfly.

Her further initiatives include the Objectifs Short Film Incubator and the Momo Distribution Grant to support Southeast Asian talent.

Explore co-production possibilities with Singapore talents. Find out more at IMDA’s website. www.imda.gov.sg/sfc