Born in 1984 in Singapore, Anthony Chen enrolled in Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Film and Media Studies at an early age of 17 to pursue his passion for filmmaking. He graduated from film school with his graduation film, G-23(2005), which screened at multiple festivals worldwide and won awards in Europe and Asia. His second short film, Ah Ma (Grandma) (2007), was nominated for the Palme d’Or for Short Film at the 60th Cannes Film Festival, and was awarded a Special Mention. Haze (2008), his next short, screened in competition at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival.
Collectively, his shorts have screened at numerous prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, Busan, London, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Sydney, Montreal, Melbourne, Chicago and Hawaii. In 2009, he was accorded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore. In 2010, he completed his Masters in Film Directing at the National Film and Television School, UK. Anthony is currently based in London.
His debut feature, Ilo Ilo (2013), was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Camera d’Or for Best Debut Feature, the first award for a Singapore feature film at Cannes. It picked up over 30 other awards at festivals worldwide including four Golden Horse Awards (Best Feature Film, Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress) at the 50th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, the equivalent of the Oscars for Chinese-speaking people worldwide. Ilo Ilo was Singapore’s official entry into the 2014 Academy Awards. Anthony has also been recently named as Variety’s Ten Directors to Watch.
