Wee Li Lin is breaking new ground for women film-makers with her second feature, Forever1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWHEN film director Wee Li Lin first returned from the United States after graduating from Brown University in 1997, one of the first films she remembered really enjoying was Lim Suat Yen’s The Road Less Travelled.
When she was introduced to Lim, it never occurred to her that she was in the company of a rare gem in Singapore’s film history: One of the precious few female feature film-makers.
“To be honest, I never thought, ‘Wow! She’s a female film-maker!’ It was more like, ‘Wow, you made this great feature film!'” said Wee. “Because there were so few Singaporean films being made at that time, it’s amazing that the film got made! She was one of the pioneers; one of the people actually making feature films aside from Eric (Khoo).”
Wee has not only joined Lim’s ranks – she’s surpassed it. With Forever, her quirky second feature out in cinemas now, she is the only Singaporean woman director to have two theatrical-released feature films under her belt (2007’s Gone Shopping starring Kym Ng was her debut). And that’s on top of the award-winning short films she’s been churning out since 1996.
