Biography

I am interested in the urgency and usefulness of "island cinema" as an aesthetic and political category that can be applied to readings of Southeast Asian films, focusing on works by independent filmmakers in Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. By privileging "island" as a critical category, I want to investigate how this more eco- and geo-conscious approach can expand academic discourse on Southeast Asian films as they pertain to decoloniality, marginalities and the non-human. I've worked as a film journalist and critic, with work published in Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Telegraph, the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound, Forbes.com and NME. I am a member of FIPRESCI and was a Golden Globes voter from 2022-2024. I've worked as a programmer for the Singapore International Film Festival and served on the critics’ jury at the Venice Film Festival 2022. Outside of film, I am passionate about sports and have been part of Singapore's national cricket and football teams. In 2023, I represented Singapore in cricket at the Southeast Asian Games held in Cambodia.

Previous Education

University of Pennsylvania Cinema Studies and English 2020