Singapore: Local Documentarians
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“To allow for your subject’s slow unfolding, as a director, to take the back seat to what the matter is on its own accord, this is no small achievement, a laudable and rare exercise in humility.”
- Matthias Ortmann, Reviewer, Sinema.sg, Singapore on Lynn Lee and James
Leong“…Shot and directed to throw light in the darkest places.”
- Tony Rayns, Film Critic-Curator, England Lynn Lee and James Leong
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Amongst the burgeoning group of local documentarians
that have debuted to critical
success like Chan Kah Mei, Chew Tze Chuan, Eng Yee
Peng, Joycelyn Khoo, Li Xiuqi, Martyn See, and
Mirabelle Ang, are filmmaking husband and wife duo
James Leong and Lynn Lee. As one of the
key figures on the rising Singapore documentary circuit,
their three feature-length documentaries have received
nominations at celebrated film festivals including
Paris, Berlin, and Kuala Lumpur. Based in Asia, they
have an interest in 'finding unusual stories and telling
them well' and have established themselves as
documentarians dedicated to portaying the truth in a
sensitive manner. Lynn was invited by the United
Nations-backed Commission for Reception, Truth and
Reconciliation to document the 'Truth Hearings' and to
help set up East Timor's first national television
station.
 Chan
Kah Mei (director of I Love Malaya) - Formerly a broadcast
journalist at Mediacorp Radio, Kah Mei covered local and
regional politics of Southeast Asia. She was awarded the
Dato Tan Cheng Lock scholarship by the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in 2003. Later, she was
joined ISEAS as a research associate and contributed towards
the start-up of the Film Fund at institute. Kah Mei recently
joined the civil service, focusing on trade and economic
issues.
 Chew
Tze Chuan (director of "F.") is an editor and a
cinematographer. Chew's works as a cinematographer started
with Abdul Nizam's "Datura" in 1998. A pioneer in digital
filmmaking, he was an early adopter of kinescopage, a video
to 35 mm film transfer method, which resulted in Eric Khoo's
production "Stories About Love". In 2004 he was the editor
and special effects artist on Toh Hai Leong's mockumentary
"Zombie Dogs". “F” is Chew's debut documentary film in
collaboration with Toh. It became his rediscovery on the
importance of sincerity & simplicity in life and filmmaking.
 Eng
Yee Peng (director of Diminishing Memories) is a freelance
TV Producer (Writer/Director) who graduated from Griffith
University (Brisbane, Australia) with a Bachelor of Digital
Media Production with First Class Honours. Her honors
dissertation film- Diminishing Memories was broadcasted on
South Korea’s national educational channel and Australian
Broadcasting Corporation’s regional satellite channel in
2006. Diminishing Memories won the Best Tertiary Documentary
at the Queensland New Filmmakers Award competition and
nominated Best Documentary at Asian First Film Festival,
awarded Special Jury Commendation Award in 2005. The film
was also invited to international film festivals in the
Asian, Latin American and European regions. Prior to her
studies, she worked as an Assistant Producer and a Studio
Director in the TV newsroom at Media Corporation of
Singapore (MediaCorp News) for almost 5 years. Yee Peng is
now working on the sequel to Diminishing Memories, her
second documentary scheduled to be screened (together with
Diminishing Memories) at Cathay, The Picture House coming
Dec 2007.
 James
Leong and Lynn Lee (directors of "Passabe" and "Aki Ra's
Boys") - Amongst the burgeoning group of local
documentarians that have debuted to critical success,
husband and wife duo James Leong and Lynn Lee are two of the
key figures on the rising Singapore documentary circuit.
Their feature-length documentaries have received nominations
at celebrated film festivals including Paris, Berlin and
Kuala Lumpur. Based in Asia, they have an interest in
“finding unusual stories and telling them well” and have
established themselves as documentarians dedicated to
portraying the truth in a sensitive manner. Lynn was invited
by the United Nations-backed Commission for Reception, Truth
and Reconciliation to document the “Truth Hearings” and to
help set up East Timor’s first national television station.
 Joycelyn
Khoo (director of Singapore Standard Time) is formerly an
electronic and broadcast media student from the Wee Kim Wee
School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), Nanyang
Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She has played
varied roles in a number of school video projects, and was a
producer of MICA’s 2005 National Day Video during her
internship at Mega Media. Currently, she is pursuing other
interests, but still harbours the hope that one day, she
will find it in her to make another film.
 Li
Xiuqi (director of "Seletar Air Base") made Seletar Air Base
in response to the government’s announcement that the area
was slated to be turned into an aerospace industrial park.
It is her first foray into filmmaking. She is currently
working on a video for her church on missions work. She
hopes to do videos on architecture or planning, and also a
film starring a dog.
 Lo
Hwei Shan (producer of Singapore Standard Time) graduated
from the WKWSCI, NTU with a degree in communication studies
and a minor in English literature. Her passion for the
written word encompasses a voracious reading habit and the
occasional freelance article for local film website,
Sinema.SG. She has an avid interest in photography, along
with experience in theatre set management. She is currently
an editor with a publishing company in Singapore, but is
always on the lookout for inspiration for a new script.
Martyn See (director of Speakers Cornered) is a filmmaker
whose previous two works, Singapore Rebel and Zahari's 17
Years, have been banned by the Singapore authorities for its
political content. The former was also the subject of a 15
month police investigation for alleged violation of the
Films Act.
 Mirabelle
Ang (director of "Match Made") graduated from California
Institute of the Arts in May 2006 with an MFA in Film &
Video. She is born in Singapore, with an inquisitive mind
that has led her to explore various walks of life, a
challenge she relishes. Currently based in Los Angeles, she
is making plans for her next documentary.
Wang Eng Eng
(director of "I Love Malaya") currently works with
the local broadcaster in current affairs. She has formerly
worked with companies such as ESPN, Travel and Living and
was a finalist at the project pilot pro 2005 organised by
Arts central. Eng Eng
has also worked briefly in Taiwan as a producer/reporter for
a local TV station.
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Aki Ra’s Boys (2007) by
James Leong and Lynn Lee |
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Passabe (2006) by James Leong
and Lynn Lee |
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I Love Malaya (2006) by Chan
Kah Mei, Wang Eng Eng, Ho Choon Hiong & Eunice Lau |
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Match Made (2006) by Mirabelle
Ang |
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Seletar Airbase: Singapore's
Secret Garden (2006) by Li Xiuqi |
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Singapore Standard Time (2006)
by Joycelyn Khoo & Serene Ng |
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| Award |
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Aki Ra’s Boys, Official Selection, Cinema du Reel, Singapore International Film Festival & Thessaloniki International Film Festival, 2007 |
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Passabe, Winner, Humanitarian Award for Documentaries, Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2006 |
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