KIRSTEN TAN is a New York-based Singaporean filmmaker. A cultural nomad, she has lived in Berlin, South Korea, and Thailand, and has now been based in New York City for over a decade.

Her debut feature, POP AYE, premiered as the opening film of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance Film Festival 2017, where it won the Special Jury Prize for Screenwriting, the VPRO Big Screen Award at Rotterdam Film Festival and Best International Film at Zurich Film Festival. To date, POP AYE has screened at 50+ festivals, including BFI London, Melbourne, Munich, and Busan; was distributed in the U.S. by Kino Lorber; and has streamed on platforms including Amazon Prime. It was also Singapore’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars.

She is currently developing her second feature, HIGHER, with Ari Aster’s Square Peg production banner. The project received the Sundance Institute NHK Award, which aims to support visionary international filmmakers. She has also been hired by FX as creator/executive producer of a TV adaptation of Ha Jin’s short story collection, A GOOD FALL. Her third feature, CROCODILE ROCK, with Momo Film has already picked up a Gen Z Special Mention Award at Berlinale’s Co-Production Market and a VIPO Award at Busan’s Asian Film Market.

Repped by CAA, she's a Cannes Cinéfondation and Sundance Institute Fellow, earning her MFA at NYU Tisch’s Graduate Film Program, granted by the Tisch School of the Arts Fellowship.

Beyond film, Kirsten has directed content for Giorgio Armani, Heineken, Singapore Tourism Board and Raffles Hotel Singapore. Her fashion film ELLA for Giorgio Armani is now part of the permanent film collection at MoMA, New York City.

Kirsten has been honored with Singapore’s National Arts Council Young Artist Award and was nominated for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year. Other accolades include Her World's Young Woman Achiever of the Year Award and a Great Women of Our Time nomination by Women’s Weekly. She was also featured on CNN International’s flagship program Ones to Watch, which spotlights global creative talents set to be the next big names in arts and culture.