He Shuming (

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

: 何书铭; born 31 December 1985) is a

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

film director and screenwriter. He is known for his feature film ''

Ajoomma Ajumma (), sometimes spelled ahjumma or ajoomma, is a Korean language, Korean word for a married, or middle-aged woman. It comes from the Korean word ''ajumeoni'' (). Although it is sometimes translated "aunt", it does not actually refer to a clo ...

'' (2022). His debut feature film, ''

'', premiered in competition in the New Currents section at the

27th Busan International Film Festival The 27th Busan International Film Festival () was held from October 5 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea till October 14. This year, the festival restarted events and program sections which were not conducted due to COVID-19 for l ...

. It was nominated for 4

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Taipei Golden Horse Awards () are a film festival and associated awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. The festival and ceremony were founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Repub ...

, including

Best New Director ''Best New Director'' was an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle from its first inception in 1989 until discontinuing in 1996. There was no award in 1993. 1980s 1989 *Kenneth Branagh – ''Henry V'' **Runners-up: Steve Kloves – '' ...

and

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

. The film was selected as the Singaporean entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

95th Academy Awards The 95th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonl ...

Early life and education

He was born 31 December 1985 in Singapore. He attended

Maris Stella High School Maris Stella High School (MSHS) () is a government-aided, all-boys Catholic secondary school with autonomous status. As a full school, it comprises a primary section offering a six-year programme leading up to the Primary School Leaving Exam ...

. After serving his National Service, he attended Puttnam School of Film and Animation at the LASALLE College of the Arts where he received his Bachelor's in Film in 2010. He received his

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

from

AFI Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private non-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on stor ...

as a Directing Fellow.

Career

He enrolled in the AFI Conservatory as Directing Fellow in 2012, where he made several short films. He also began developing ''Ajoomma'' at the Conservatory.

''Ajoomma''

''Ajoomma'' was developed when he was living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

while attending AFI Conservatory. He was inspired by his mother, who was a huge fan of

Korean drama Korean drama (), also known as K-drama or Koreanovela, refers to Korean language, Korean-language television shows made in South Korea. These shows began to be produced around the early 1960s, but were mostly consumed domestically until the rise ...

s. He submitted a treatment to the Southeast Asian Film Lab at the 25th Singapore International Film Festival, where it won Most Promising Project.

Anthony Chen Anthony Chen (born 18 April 1984) is a Singaporean film director, screenwriter and film producer. He is known for directing the feature films ''Ilo Ilo'' (2013) and ''Wet Season'' (2019). His debut feature film, ''Ilo Ilo,'' won the Camera d ...

, whom he's known for many years prior, boarded the project as a producer. He cast

Hong Huifang Hong Huifang (born Ang Hwee Fong on 7 January 1961) is a Singaporean actress. In 2022, Hong became the first Singaporean actress to be nominated for Best Leading Actress at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, for her performance in the film '' A ...

as the lead, and the film went into production early 2022, before premiering at the

22nd Busan International Film Festival The 22nd Busan International Film Festival was held from October 12 to October 21, 2017 at the Busan Cinema Center and hosted by Jang Dong-gun and Im Yoon-ah. A total of 300 films from 75 countries were screened at the festival, including 100 wor ...

in the New Currents Competition section. The film also received 4 nominations at the

59th Golden Horse Awards The 59th Golden Horse Awards () was held on November 19, 2022, at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, the awards honored the best in Chinese-language films of 2 ...

, including Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuming, He 1985 births Living people Singaporean film directors Singaporean screenwriters