In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 18 April 1984
- Birthplace
- Singapore
- Country
- Singapore
- Nationality
- Singaporean
- Known for
- Winning the Caméra d’Or at Cannes for Ilo Ilo, the first Singaporean feature to receive the prize
- Full name
- Anthony Chen Zheyi
- Debut feature
- Ilo Ilo, 2013
- Cannes award
- Caméra d’Or, 2013
- Primary roles
- Director, screenwriter and producer
Why this life matters
Chen’s films turn everyday domestic relationships into internationally legible stories without dissolving their Singaporean and Southeast Asian specificity.
Timeline
Key moments
Cannes recognised Ah Ma
His short film received a Special Distinction in the festival’s short-film competition.
Ilo Ilo won the Caméra d’Or
His first feature received Cannes’ award for best debut feature.
Golden Horse breakthrough
Ilo Ilo won major awards including Best Feature Film and Best New Director.
Released Wet Season
Returned to Singapore for a second feature about intimacy, displacement and social expectation.
The Breaking Ice premiered at Cannes
Expanded his filmmaking across borders with a story set in northeast China.
We Are All Strangers entered Berlin competition
The third film in his Singapore Growing Up trilogy became the country’s first selection for the Berlinale main competition.
Film school, G-23 and Ah Ma
Anthony Chen was born in Singapore in 1984 and entered Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Film and Media Studies in 2001. The press kit for his early short Ah Ma identifies G-23 as his graduation film and records screenings and prizes for that student work. Those films matter because his international recognition began in shorts, before the feature that later brought him wider attention.
Ah Ma grew from memories of his grandmother’s death, according to Chen’s director statement in the festival press kit. The short is about a family gathering as the grandmother nears death, with dialogue in Mandarin, Hokkien and English. Cannes lists it in the 2007 short-film competition and records a Special Distinction shared with another entry. The award was for Ah Ma, not for his later debut feature.
Ilo Ilo and two different 2013 awards
Chen’s first feature, Ilo Ilo, follows a Singapore family and a Filipina domestic worker during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The film’s focus on domestic labour and care joined a recognisable Singapore setting to a cross-border relationship. Singapore’s media authority describes it as the first Singaporean feature to receive Cannes’ Caméra d’Or in 2013. The prize honours a first feature; it is not the festival’s Palme d’Or or an award for all of Singaporean cinema.
Ilo Ilo also received four awards at the 2013 Golden Horse Awards, including Best Feature Film and Best New Director, as recorded in a Singapore media-agency film programme. Those are separate from its Cannes recognition. The combination gave Chen both a festival debut prize in France and major recognition in the Chinese-language film world. Neither event should erase the contributions of the film’s cast and production team.
Wet Season and a film made in China
Wet Season, released in 2019, returned to Singapore. Its central character is a Chinese-language teacher navigating a strained marriage and school life during the monsoon season, according to Singapore’s media authority. Chen later described Ilo Ilo and Wet Season as the first two films of his Growing Up trilogy. That is the director’s framing of the series, not a claim that the films have a single continuous plot.
The Breaking Ice took him away from Singapore as a setting. Cannes selected the 2023 China-set film for Un Certain Regard and describes three young people meeting in the border city of Yanji. Chen told the festival he had deliberately worked in an unfamiliar country and climate. The project broadened the geography of his films while retaining his interest in intimate relationships under pressure.
The 2026 Berlin selection
We Are All Strangers completed the trilogy in 2026. Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority identifies Chen as its writer, director and producer and names Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler as returning collaborators. It reports that the film became the first Singaporean production selected for the Berlin International Film Festival’s main competition. Selection is a specific festival milestone; it should not be mistaken for winning the Golden Bear.
The trilogy connects different stages of Chen’s work: a household and its Filipina worker in Ilo Ilo, a teacher’s relationships in Wet Season, and a family negotiating loss and new bonds in We Are All Strangers. Singapore is not merely a backdrop in those works, while The Breaking Ice shows that Chen’s career extends beyond national subject matter. This reading follows the films’ documented settings and the director’s own trilogy description rather than treating festival prizes as a complete measure of their artistic value.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Anthony Chen
- What did Anthony Chen win at Cannes?
- His debut feature Ilo Ilo won the Caméra d’Or in 2013. His earlier short Ah Ma received a shared Short Film Special Distinction in 2007. These are awards for different films.
- Which films make up Anthony Chen’s Growing Up trilogy?
- The trilogy comprises Ilo Ilo (2013), Wet Season (2019) and We Are All Strangers (2026). The label describes Chen’s Singapore-set films, not one continuous plot.
- Is The Breaking Ice set in Singapore?
- No. The Breaking Ice is set in Yanji in northeast China. It was selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2023.
- What was We Are All Strangers’ Berlinale milestone?
- The film became the first Singaporean production selected for the Berlinale’s main competition in 2026. Selection should not be confused with winning the Golden Bear.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Mattie Do
Explore another Southeast Asian director whose films reached international festivals.
- Christine Hakim
Compare another Southeast Asian film artist with a long international festival history.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Festival de CannesAnthony Chen
The festival’s own record distinguishes the 2007 Ah Ma short-film distinction, 2013 Ilo Ilo Caméra d’Or and 2023 Un Certain Regard selection.
- 2. Festival de CannesAbout the Director
- 3. Singapore Media Development AuthorityASEAN Film Festival programme
- 4. Infocomm Media Development Authority SingaporeSingapore films at Cannes in 2023
- 5. Infocomm Media Development Authority SingaporeWet Season
- 6. Festival de CannesThe Breaking Ice, as seen by Anthony Chen
- 7. Festival de CannesThe Breaking Ice
- 8. Infocomm Media Development Authority SingaporeWe Are All Strangers enters Berlin competition
The Singapore media authority confirms 2026 Berlin main-competition selection; selection is not represented as a Golden Bear win.
- 9. Berlinale TalentsBerlinale Talents Festival Returnees 2026
The readable festival returnees list corroborates the 2026 competition entry and creative roles. IMDA’s indexed announcement was also available, but its direct page returned only a short response; no new award or box-office result is inferred.
- 10. Wikimedia CommonsAnthony Chen — image and licence record
The displayed 2013 portrait is credited to Déri Miklós. Its Commons record includes a VRTS permission ticket and CC BY-SA 4.0; the local file retains the complete 347 × 552 source frame.
- 11. Taipei Golden Horse Film FestivalIlo Ilo official archive: four 2013 awards and director credits
The official film archive supports the four Golden Horse awards and the Chinese director name. These are separate from Cannes’ first-feature prize.
- 12. National Arts Council SingaporeFY2011/12 annual report: Anthony Chen Zheyi grant record
The original grant record corroborates the fuller English name Anthony Chen Zheyi. A grant listing is not itself a film award.
