Tan Pei Lin, Director
Pei Lin is a documentary filmmaker who believes that stories can create shifts within people, eventually causing a continuous ripple across time.
She has produced and directed broadcast television documentaries that have taken her from a petroleum megastructure in Malaysia to the home of a second-generation refugee in Hong Kong. She has also produced and directed short docs about social issues in Southeast Asia, especially in the mental health space. Pei Lin has always been enamored with the power of moving visuals. Lady! is her first feature documentary.
The subtleties of life inspire her. She is an adrenaline junkie, and her current obsession is bouldering. Also a home baker, she uses dessert as a way to express her imagination and to form connections with people. Pei Lin is fascinated by the psyche and wants to make more films exploring the human condition.
Kelly is drawn to stories from people living on the fringes of society. She has been a journalist since 2013, first ccovering Singapore and now the wider Asia region. She is currently a journalist at BBC News who takes particular interest in China's political economy and South-east Asian affairs.
Kelly lives most of her journalism life in text, but is exploring storytelling through film. In 2019, she co-directed Curtain Up!, a film on Asian-American children doing theatre in New York. Lady! is her second venture into documentary filmmaking. This craft, which she considers herself still an amateur in, has also taught her empathy, given her company, and challenged her to break some journalism conventions.
A long-distance runner for half her life, Kelly’s ideal vacation would be a multi-day hike in the mountains, fuelled by Cheez-Its and gummy bears.
Kelly Ng, Producer
Ee Ming is a freelance journalist and writer who is passionate about social issues. Her stories have been published globally on news outlets like the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, South China Morning Post, Southeast Asia Globe, Mekong Review, and more.
She has covered everything from endangered vultures deep in the Himalaya, the aftermath of a disastrous toxic waste crisis in Malaysia, 24-hour child care in Sweden to Finland’s creative senior living models. Her work has earned her multiple awards, including being recognised by the International Journalists' Network.
In her free time, she can be found at the stables caring for horses, exploring offbeat places with her camera and whiling away slow afternoons over a cup of matcha.