Yihwen Chen

Chen studied Creative Media in Film & TV Production at RMIT School of Creative Media in Melbourne.^[1]

Chen's debut short film Like Toy Dolls won the BMW Shorties Malaysia Grand Prize in 2010^[2] including a RM75,000 (around $25,000) grant.^[3] The money was used to fund Chen's next short film Memoria,^[4] starring two young girls and dealing with "betrayal [and] healing".^[1] It premiered as part of the International Competition selection at the GwangHwaMun International Short Film Festival (GISFF), then called Asiana International Short Film Festival after the Korean airline who sponsored it,^[5] in 2011.^[1]

After years of working on documentaries for Netflix, BBC, CNA, History, CNN International and Crime & Investigation Network,^[6] Chen returned to directing her own films in 2019 with the documentary short The Hidden Cut, tackling female circumcision.^[7] Later that same year her debut feature-length documentary on Malaysia's blind football team, Eye on the Ball, premiered in London.^[8] Her next docu-short The Boys Club (2021) reflects on the sexual harassment, bullying and misogyny that Chen had to endure in the making of Eye on the Ball, which eventually led to her having to leave her workplace. The short has been selected by the Busan International Short Film Festival and became the first Malaysian documentary to win the NETPAC award.^[7][9] Chen has spoken out about wanting to use the film to push for anti-sexual harassment legislation and organise panel discussions around it.^[7]

In 2025 Chen's second feature-length documentary Queer As Punk premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.^[10] The film follows the Malaysian LGBTQ punk band "Shh...Diam!". Shot over six years Chen captures the lead singer Faris' transition journey, individual portraits with the band members and the societal challenges queer and trans people face in Malaysia. The result has been described as a "music documentary that pushes past the genre’s boundaries".^[11] It was acquired by French distributor Mediawan Rights in February 2025.^[12]