Singapore's budding filmmaking scene achieved a breakthrough when one of its own -- 32-year-old writer-director Kirsten Tan won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting at the Sundance Film Festival with her debut feature film POP AYE.

She was informed on Jan. 29 and news in the media spread quickly about this unprecedented achievement in Singapore filmmaking history.

Her eye-catching achievement caught the eyes of PM Lee Hsien Loong, who congratulated her on the historic win.

Founded by US actor and director Robert Redford, the prestigious Sundance Film Festival is a program of the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes the work of independent storytellers in film and theatre. Held annually in Park City, Utah, the film festival is the largest independent film festival in the US.

POP AYE is the first Singapore feature film selected to compete in Sundance.

Source: Giraffe Pictures

A Singapore-Thailand production, it premiered to a global audience as the opening night film in the World Dramatic section at the festival on Jan. 19. The film tells the story of an over-the-hill architect and his journey home with an elephant.

The Hollywood Reporter described the 102 minutes film as "unhurried and unforgettable", and "a natural for further festival exposure and art house bookings." Its North American rights has been acquired by Kino Lorber.

In her thank you speech posted on facebook, Kirsten expressed her gratitude to people who helped her, and also Bong, the elephant in POP Aye. She has vowed "to write stories that champion our shared humanity and to use stories to bridge walls, now more than ever."

Kirsten was one of the winners of the National Art Council Young Artist Award in 2015. The award is given to artists aged 35 years and below, who are making a mark through their artistic dynamism and outstanding potential to be key contributors in the artistic community.

Hear her speak about her passion of filmmaking and local cinema in this video:

Source: NAC CMYAA

"My advice for aspiring young filmmakers, well I think that if they are serious about doing it, they should see themselves doing it for the long haul. It's not something you do and then there's like any instant success, there's actually a lot of hard work in it. I have quite a lot of hopes and dreams for the Singapore film scene. You know people keep talking about supporting local hashtags and local cinema, but I also think that there's an onus on the part of the filmmaker to actually improve our craft, so that it hits a certain standard, so that when the audience watches it, they actually appreciate it and it leaves them wanting more."

Truly inspiring words.

Top photo adapted from POP AYE official trailer

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