Tzang Merwyn Tong

Tzang Merwyn Tong is an independent script writer film director with films that have traveled to critical acclaim in prestigious film festivals Tzangs films are characterized by his rather offbeat style often set in a surreal environment incorporating elements of fairytale and comic fantasy Tong graduated from Curtin University in Western Australia with a degree in Mass Communications But his aspirations of being a filmmakerstoryteller started way back He embarked on his debut film eTzaintes a selfwritten selffunded teenage epic at the age of 19 with no prior knowledge and experience in filmmaking This film which took 3 years to complete with the help of the Singapore Film Commissions Short Film Grant was made guerrillastyle under tight constraints with no confirmed budget no professional actors and no proper onset director It won him the Bronze Remi Award for the Independent Category at the 2003 WorldFest in Houston USA Tzang was also named as one of the 25 Brightest Sparks to watch in Hype Magazine Soon after eTzaintes was completed he started work on his second film a psychoerotic thriller based on the Little Red Riding Hood fable A Wicked Tale made its World Premiere to critical acclaim at the 34th Rotterdam International Film Festival The film went on to festivals in Berlin Munich Frankfurt Tel Aviv Melbourne Montreal Lund Leeds and Florida receiving rave reviews as the Closing Night film of the Montreal FanTasia Festival It was described by The Mirror as a hallicinatory atmospheric film drenched in lust and dread Tzang was one of the 500 selected filmmakers invited to participate at the 3rd Berlin Talent Campus by the Berlin International Film Festival As part of the program Tzang attended master classes conducted by director Ridley Scott Alien Gladiator Kingdom of Heaven Asano Tadanobu Zatoichi Ichi the Killer and award winning cinematographer Christopher Doyle 2046 Chungking Express In December 2005 Tzang became the youngest Singaporean ever to release his film commercially on DVD A Wicked Tale was released on DVDVCD by Comstar Entertainment in Singapore As of 2006 all copies of this limited edition were sold out The movie is now unavailable to Singapore audiences Named by IS magazine as an Xfactor personality to look out for Tzang represents the new generation of Singapore filmmakers calling for a change in the way Singaporean films are made