Anthony Chen trained at film school in Singapore and at the National Film and Television School, UK. His shorts have screened and been awarded at numerous prestigious festivals. With AH MA (GRANDMA), his 2007 short, he became the first Singaporean awarded at Cannes.

Chen’s debut feature ILO ILO debuted at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the prestigious Camera d’Or for best first feature. ILO ILO went on to become an arthouse favourite, winning forty awards internationally, including four awards at the 50th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. His sophomore feature film, WET SEASON, premiered in competition at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and was once again lauded critically, garnering 6 Golden Horse nominations and 12 international awards. His latest short, THE BREAK AWAY, is part of the anthology film THE YEAR OF THE EVERLASTING STORM. Produced by US distributor Neon, the film premiered in Official Selection at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

He is currently in post-production on his first English-language film DRIFT with Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo in the lead. He is also completing post on his first Mainland Chinese feature THE BREAKING ICE, starring young Chinese stars Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran and Qu Chuxiao.

As producer, he produces out of his Giraffe Pictures outfit based in Singapore. Upcoming films include Singapore filmmaker He Shuming’s feature debut AJOOMMA and Thai director Sorayos Prapapan’s debut feature ARNOLD IS A MODEL STUDENT. In pre-production are Indonesian director Mouly Surya’s fifth feature THIS CITY IS A BATTLEFIELD and Filipino director Petersen Vargas’ second film SOME NIGHTS I FEEL LIKE WALKING.