Calleen Koh is a Singaporean BAFTA-nominated animation filmmaker, writer and artist, currently studying at California Institute of the Arts under the Experimental Animation MFA Programme. A lover of dark comedy, her films have been recognised for its subversive and irreverent energy.
Her latest short film, “My Wonderful Life” (2024), produced by Tan Si En (Momo Film Co.) and starring the voice of Yeo Yann Yann, is set to have its world premiere at the Oscar-qualifying festival, Bucheon International Animation Festival.
Her film “Sexy Sushi” (2020) was selected for over 40 international festivals, winning awards such as Best Art Director at Singapore’s National Youth Film Awards (NYFA), the Air Canada Award, and Gold at the Crowbar Awards for animation and art direction. Her graduation film, “To Kill the Birds & the Bees” (2021), was shortlisted for the Yugo BAFTA Student Awards in 2022. It also won three awards at NYFA for Best Original Music, Best Screenplay, and Best Art Direction. Additionally, it received five Gold awards at the Crowbar Awards, the Audience Choice award at ANIMAC, Best Student Film and Audience Choice at Cartoons Underground 2022, and the Michael Fukushima Animasian Award from the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. To date, the film has been screened at over 30 festivals.
In 2022, she directed a team at Finding Pictures for her animated short film, “Hot Buns” (2022), under the NYFA Film Facilitation Programme and was under the mentorship of Oscar-nominated animation director, Song Siqi, for it. The film became a recipient of the Momo Film Distribution Grant and premiered at Kaboom Animation Festival, most recently also winning a special mention award at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. It was listed at top 15 Best Asian Short Films of 2023 by Asian Movie Pulse.
Calleen’s achievements in filmmaking has been featured in many media publications such as Vogue, Channel News Asia, Her World Magazine, 987 FM, Money FM 89.3, The Straits Times and more. In 2023, Calleen also had the honour to be part of the jury for the 2023 Yugo BAFTA Student Awards and Cartoons Underground. She is currently developing her first TV series alongside her studies.