Next month CNN Ones to Watch shines a light on the next big names in film, with Singapore playing a starring role. 

The programme opens at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, with young Singaporean director Kirsten Tan taking her first steps towards the famous red carpet. Born and raised in Singapore, Tan has lived and worked in Thailand, South Korea and New York and has written and directed short films in each country. She was invited to Cannes to meet producers and financiers to help get her first feature film off the ground.

Anthony Chen, who won Singapore’s first ever film honours at Cannes when he took home the prestigious Camera d’Or in 2013, chooses Tan as his One to Watch.

Chen said, “I’ve admired her for a long, long time. I think she has a very unique eye, great visuals and I like her sensibility and tone. I think that’s something quite rare from our part of the world in South East Asia, that black humour. I see that, not just in one film but something that’s recurring in a lot of films. I think that if she can keep on and maintain that sensibility that unique quality in her feature film I think she will go very, very far.”

Also on CNN Ones to Watch this month is Steven Gaydos, an award-winning screenwriter for films including Road to Nowhere, winner of the 2010 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Prize. He nominates Maisie Williams from HBO’s Game of Thrones as One to Watch in the world of film.

While Williams is already well-known globally as the feisty young girl Arya Stark in Games of Thrones, CNN Ones to Watch follows her first steps from TV into film. Actress Natalie Portman presents her with a Shooting Star award at the Berlin Film Festival and we hear from her co-star and producer Jessica Biel.

CNN Ones to Watch is a monthly programme that focuses on a particular discipline – including classical music, modern dance, filmmaking, architecture and sculpture – as a recognised master of their craft identifies ‘ones to watch’ and explains why their careers are on an upward trajectory. The master in each show guides viewers into their art form, shows how it’s evolving and explains what new talent needs to do to succeed.