Time For Their Curtain Call

As the29thedition of The Singapore International Film Festival rolls around, we meet the power players of our film industry who are shaping,mouldingand steering the visual language of cinema with their behind-the-scenes bravado

- Natalya Molok

The Festival Flourisher

Nicole Ong, 40, Marketing & Partnerships Director, Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF)

While filmmakers bring life, culture and art to our daily lives, it is film festivals that help spread these stories to audiences around the world. Enter Nicole, the newly minted Marketing & Partnerships Director for SGIFF, who oversees the propagation of high-quality creative films to the masses.

“There are all these filmmakers in the industry but they’re only as good as it gets right? You need to be able to actually spread the good word about these filmmakers and their personal stories so that’s where I come in. I make sure that the festival gets heard,” says Nicole, who moonlights as a photographer on the side.

“It’s also my role to look at how we are able to change perceptions about SGIFF. A lot of people tend to think that the films being shown here are very inaccessible, very indie, and a little bit niche, but one of our objectives this year is to get people who are not very into film to just come and be open to what we’ll show at the festival and come and see the diversity of the talents that we have in the region.”

In Nicole, the festival has found a fresh pair of eyes to take the SGIFF in a new direction. She comes from a different industry altogether – advertising – where she spent more than a decade in brand management.

“After 13 years working with clients, I needed a break just to reset. So, I did some freelancing and concentrated on photography work for a while before meeting with SGIFF. I was very honest about myself being very new to the film industry,” reveals Nicole, who joined SGIFF last March.