Meet Tan Si En, The 26-Year-Old Female Producer Behind Anthony Chen’s WET SEASON3 min read
Reading Time: 3 minutesTan Si En is one of the three producers responsible for award-winning Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s second feature film, Wet Season. The film premiered earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has been invited to numerous international festivals since. Wet Season has also been nominated for 6 Award Categories at this year’s Golden House Awards. The film will be released nationwide on 28 November 2019.
Chen’s debut film, Ilo Ilo (2013), earned numerous accolades, including the Golden Horse Award for Best Film and Best New Director. Wet Season takes place during the monsoon season in Singapore. It follows the plight of Chinese-language teacher Ling (played by Yeo Yann Yann), whose marriage and school life are falling apart because she is unable to bear a child. However, an unlikely friendship with a student (played by Ilo Ilo‘s Koh Jia Ler) changes her life.
Si En’s collaboration with Chen began on Pop Aye, directed by Kirsten Tan. The film won numerous awards at the Sundance Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Zurich Film Festival. Since then, Si En has grown to fill bigger shoes, working with Chen’s film company Giraffe Pictures to produce He Shuming’s debut feature Ajoomma and award-winning Thai short filmmaker Sorayos Prapapan’s debut feature Arnold Is a Model Student. Both films will go into production in 2020.
At the age of 26, Si En’s involvement in the film industry can be considered ‘illustrious’. Her love for filmmaking was ignited from a young age, after winning a national short film competition in primary school. She topped her graduating cohort in Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Dip. in Film, Sound & Video course in 2013, and went on to receive a B.A. in Philosophy at the National University of Singapore. Since then she has worked under the mentorship of Soros Sukhum (185 Films, Thailand), Lai Weijie (E&W Films, Singapore) and Anthony Chen (Giraffe Pictures).
Now Si En is forging her own path as a producer in her own right. Aside from being the programme manager at the Singapore International Film Festival, her interest in championing talent in the Singaporean and Southeast Asian film industry have recently culminated in the boutique film company, Momo Film Co, co-founded with Singaporean director-screenwriter Kris Ong.
Check out Sinema’s interview with Si En on her experience working on Wet Season here.
As part of our 100 Seconds on The Red Sofa series, Sinema also sat down with Kris Ong, co-founder of Momo Film Co to talk about her film, You Idiot. The short will be screened at Singapore Shorts ‘19 Encore on Saturday, 5 October. Information of the screenings can be found here.
About Momo Film Co
Momo Film Co is a boutique film company founded in 2018 by Tan Si En and Kris Ong. The company works with emerging filmmakers across the Southeast Asian region to develop culturally distinct films for a global audience. Momo Film Co champions the voices of emerging film talent in the Southeast Asian region, and breaks away from the traditional production company model by tailoring support according to the needs of each project. This includes distribution and marketing support. The company is excited to grow with the emerging generation of storytellers in the region.
In 2019, the company recognised the need to support women’s voices and stories and are supporting first time Vietnamese female filmmaker Anh La’s short film, as well as the development of Singaporean writer-director Nelicia Low’s debut feature film God Sister. Momo Film Co is committed to championing female perspectives in cinema, and places importance in achieving more equality and diversity in the industry. Most recently, the company also supported maverick Singaporean short filmmaker Nelson Yeo’s latest short, Mary, Mary, So Contrary.
