Festival Team

Bernice Ong is an arts manager and scenic designer with a decade of diverse experience in the cultural sector. She is thrilled to serve as Festival Manager with the dedicated team at the Singapore Youth Film Festival, a critical platform that champions the voices and visions of young creators. Bernice graduated with a Master of Arts (Research) in Media Studies from Utrecht University.

Vess Chua is a film programmer and producer based in Singapore. With a focus on Southeast Asian short films, she is currently the Programme Executive at the Singapore International Film Festival. She is also the Festival Manager of the Singapore Youth Film Festival. Previously, she also contributed to the Perspectives Film Festival, first as a Programmer in 2018, then as the Festival Director in 2019.

Gabriel Goh is the Programme Executive at the Singapore International Film Festival. Along with Sam I-shan, he has overseen the development of the Undercurrent section at the festival since 2021, which brings in bold contemporary artist films from around the world. His programming ethos builds on his ongoing research interests in the concepts of time and idleness in Southeast Asian cinema. Outside work, he enjoys tinkering with Super8 films and documenting tifos at lower-league football matches.

Ryan Pagdanganan programmes films at the Singapore International Film Festival. His practice treads around his residence between cultures and translates into an enduring curiosity of the mundane everyday. His photographs have been plastered at FilmNeverDie (2020) in Melbourne and Ephemere (2023) in Tokyo. His static words are sprinkled around in places such as Bog Bodies Press (2024) and Reboot (2023) while his more interactive work lives in several corners of the internet.

Eri is currently a programme assistant for the Singapore Youth Film Festival and Singapore International Film Festival. She holds a First Class Honours in Film Studies from the University of Adelaide, where her research interests lie in film adaptations of classic literature and postwar cinema from a Bazinian perspective. When not watching films, she enjoys a good book with a cup of tea.

Erika Chandra is the current programme assistant at the Singapore International Film Festival. She is intrigued by films that delve into self-reflexivity alongside provocative themes. When she is not watching films, she spends her time indulging in Bibble-related memes and perfecting the craft of making pancakes.

Sarah is a sophomore at the National University of Singapore, pursuing a double major in Philosophy and English Literature. Currently a programme assistant for the Singapore Youth Film Festival and Singapore International Film Festival, her research interests include continental thought, phenomenology and psychoanalytic theory. She is also active in the Singapore street dance scene and explores dance through a reparative lens as a recuperation of embodiment.

With two decades of experience in the Singapore Film Industry, Mabelyn has been a Line Producer on landmark Singapore films, a Film Educator with the local film institutions and has finally come full circle, returning to the place where it all started for her when she was a little wide-eyed volunteer years ago – the Singapore International Film Festival.

An experienced producer from Singapore, Pui Yin has a successful track record of producing box-office hits and collaborating on international movie projects. Some of her notable works include I Not Stupid, I Not Stupid Too, Homerun, The Maid, 881, Homecoming and Taxi! Taxi!, among others. She has also collaborated on international movie projects such as The Eye, The Eye 2, Turn Left, Turn Right, The Home Song Stories (Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Golden Horse Awards 2007) and Painted Skin. Most recently, she completed the 45-episode The Little Nyonya, the 36-episode The Ferryman – Legends Of Nanyang (iQIYI’s first Southeast Asia Original in 2021), the 40-episode Sisterhood (which aired on iQIYI and CCTV in 2023) and co-produced Miss Tanya (a Douyin mini drama) and Sparkling Show In Singapore 2023 (a Douyin variety).

Krystalle Teh is a writer and cinephile from Singapore. Before joining the Festival team as its Marketing Executive, she previously participated in the Festival’s Youth Jury & Critics Programme in 2021. Her film criticism has appeared with Asian Film Archive and her short fiction is forthcoming in SUSPECT journal. She is at work on a series of short stories on violent desires.