Programme director, Singapore International Film Festival
In his early days as a cinema studies student and aspiring filmmaker, Thong Kay Wee enjoyed immersing himself in the various (now-defunct) film programmes organised by The Substation, the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum and Sinema Old School before landing his first programming gig at the Asian Film Archive. Now, in his role as programme director at Singapore International Film Festival, he is fully aware of having a stake in bringing cinema to new audiences. “This is a responsibility that I relish,” he says.
In 2023, he was pleased with the discovery of three notable films that came through the festival’s open call: The Tenants by Yoon Eun-Kyung, Valli by Manoj Shinde and documentary Tedious Days And Nights by Guo Zhenming.
“Films of such confrontational content and unpolished aesthetics may operate at the margins of society and the domestic film industry alike,” he says. “But they may prove to be revelatory to audiences when film festivals like ours offer them a deserving spotlight.”
Also on Thong’s radar are smaller festivals such as FIDMarseille, Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors/New Films, First International Film Festival, IndieLisboa and Jeonju for their exclusive premieres and specialisation. Turning to the bigger events, Thong says the eclectic range of the Berlinale offers him the most surprises and feeds into his ethos for diversity.
He is excited to see filmmaking boundaries become less relevant. “The rise of multi-country co-productions has questioned the notion of national cinemas and given rise to more nuanced, cross-cultural storytelling.”
Contact: Thong Kay Wee
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