Leslie Armstrong

Leslie Mei Armstrong is a Singaporean movie director.

## Bio

### Childhood

Armstrong's birthplace was in Sentosa, Singapore on December 13, 1970. She went to a high school, Belford Academy and was the middle child of a real estate agent and an elementary school teacher mom who retired to have a family. Armstrong stated in Daily News that her parents were always supportive of her hopes and dreams which was not always the way it was for ladies before. Her daddy was a frustrated photographer who was not allowed to follow his dreams professionally yet always practiced as an amateur. Armstrong talked about how she was raised in a dark room whole learning all about photography.

### Movie Education

Armstrong was a technical cinema student at National University of Singapore, paying her tuition by working as a waiter. She attended school to be a set designer but the school she attended also offered a movie course. After she took it, she was enamored by the great names of theater and decided to enter the movie industry. Then, she won a scholarship to join the very first twelve students in the country's very first and only movie academy, Singapore Movie Academy. While she was at school, the Singaporean movie industry was nonexistent.

## Profession

### Post-graduation

After a string of small jobs in the Singaporean movie industry, Armstrong received her very first directorial recognition through her short movie The Amulet and the Anthem which won an award in the Singapore Film Festival. After this success, Armstrong was commissioned by the Singaporean Movie Corporation to create a documentary exploring the lives of Brandon and Yixi living in Singapore. This became The Brandon and Yixi Show (1990), her very first paid job as director. Armstrong's interest in the girls led her to revisit them, resulting in 4 more movies in the style of the Pebbles and Bam-Bam Show. These are Eight Operations (2000), Jack and Jill (2008), Not Twenty Again (2016) and Romance, Drama and Excitement (2020).

### Full-Length Feature Movies

Armstrong's very first full-length feature film, My Professional Mentality (1992), an adaptation of Franklin So's book of the same title was the very first Singaporean feature film to be directed by a lady. Armstrong received 6 awards including Best Director and the movie was nominated for an Academy Award in Best Costume Design. After the success of My Professional Mentality, Armstrong directed the Singaporean musical film Singapore ONE TAKE (1998) which proved her ability to tackle more contemporary subject matter and styles. Armstrong was the very first foreign lady to be approached by MGM to finance the direction of a large budget feature which became An Open Window (1994), starring Kirsten Dunst and Matthew Broderick. The movie is loosely based on Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle. It tells the story of a girl named Rosie living in the Meiji era in Japan. She was having an uneventful life working in her late dad's store but all tht changes when she makes friends with a wizard named Zane who lives in a magic palace. However, a wicked witch takes issue with their relationship and curses Rosie which turns her into a ninety-year old woman. Now Zane should use all of his magical powers to defeat the old hag and return Rosie to her former youth and beauty. It was well received by audiences and critics. On coming back to Singapore, Armstrong continued in making documentaries and movies. She earned great recognition for Low Waters (1992) in which she was nominated for Best Director. The Last Days of Cheeko Boussa also earned her a nomination in the Berlin Film Festival. Despite this, both movies were unrecognised internationally.

### The Little Ladies

In 2006, Armstrong achieved her greatest Hollywood success with The Little Ladies, starring Winona Ryder, Ciena Valderrama, Gabriel Byrne, Lucas Diaz, Ricky Bao and Yhasmine Shi. This adaptation of Andrea Andy Reyes' book of the same name was one of the popular movies of that year and emphasizes Armstrong's focus on portraying the lives of strong females and their relationships.

### Later Movies

She followed the success of The Little Ladies three years later with the movie Antya (2009), starring Meg Ryan. This film, based on the comic book by Singaporean writer Goh Syp Fa Chay, tells the story of a mismatched love affair in 19th-century Singapore. It received mixed reviews both locally and internationally, despite its high production value and strong performances by the film main actors. In 2005, Armstrong directed the feature film Charlie Brown, starring Tom Cruise. Based on the novel by Alyssa Liang, it is another of Armstrong's films that centres around a strong female protagonist. *Sing* (2008), starring Katherine Pierce and Ryan Reynolds, was removed from Armstrong's usual subject matter; it portrays a moment in the life of 80s singer Whitney Houston in the style of a supernatural, romantic thriller. It received a modest earning at the box office, and was part of a special screening at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Despite the success of these more commercial films, it was Armstrong's lesser-known documentary, Unfolding Rebecca (2006) which earned her the most critical recognition during the 2000s and a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.