She moved to Singapore, quit her lucrative job, acted in Crazy Rich Asians, and made her first movie at 36

In many ways, Rebecca Chu is your typical well-educated, overachieving Chinese-American.

She attended Stanford.

Then she attended Stanford again, for its world-leading Master of Business Administration after earning an economics degree.

Along the way, she did stints at Oxford and Peking University.

Outside school, Chu continued to be a high-flyer. 

Disney. Las Vegas Sands. Apple.

"Everything from budgeting to evaluating a new investment and determining where the cash should be spent in order to be the most profitable for the company", was how the 36-year-old described her steady rise in corporate finance in the US and later on in Singapore.

"I will say that my previous life was very stable, very traditional and something that you could really depend on for a good living."

Then in 2017, Chu quit the proverbial ladder - to become a filmmaker.

Not back in Los Angeles (read: Hollywood) where she's from, but here in Singapore, where the highest-grossing local movie last year placed 29th at the box office.

"It was a big deal," she said.

"I think you'll find that there are two reactions that you'll get from people. One is the very shocked reaction and disbelief, almost like, why would one leave behind such a lucrative previous life?

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEQtL7Qg74U[/embed]

"And then there's the other which is respect for being able to take that step that I think many people are not courageous enough to."

She had two young children at the time and had moved here seven years prior, after deciding that Singapore was the place to raise them. 

But instead of seeing family as a financial liability, she saw it as stability to launch a career switch.

"If not now, when?"

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Before you gossip about her at the water cooler, Chu apparently has it all figured out.

Refraining from discussing dollars and cents, she told AsiaOne at the ciNE65 Festival, where her directorial debut Rojak is screening, that the benefits of this "long-term investment" outweighs her income loss.

"This time away from the corporate world is time for me to invest in the long-term career plans that I have, which are to combine the creative and the business sides of things. My previous experience was more business; my current pursuits are more creative.

"If I can spend that time now to invest in that, I figured that in the long term I'd be much happier than if in the short term I just focused on day-to-day bringing home the bacon and living a very traditional life. So for me taking that risk is going to be worth it.

"I view it as I'm investing in the future where if I'm actually doing what I love to do, I will actually have more potential in the long term."

The three-minute Rojak, about two children of different ethnicities who share a love for the titular dish, is nominated for eight awards at the ciNE65 Movie Makers Awards, a short-film competition organised by Nexus, Mindef's central agency for National Education and Total Defence, in partnership with mm2 Entertainment.

Besides the eight categories to be judged by a jury including director K. Rajagopal and actor Edmund Chen, the public will decide the Audience Choice Awards for favourite film, favourite actor and favourite actress through voting at cine65.sg.

ciNE65 Festival, a new addition, will screen entries from this year and past years for free at various venues until June 9.

While acknowledging that on some days it's very obvious "the industry here is still developing and you know there are not as many opportunities in Singapore as there might be elsewhere", Chu explained that joining ciNE65 was to "get that visibility" as a first step.

In Rojak, she flaunts her grasp of local nuances, from the hawker dish to cultural traditions and government policies.

She also decided to write her film's leads as kids because "they're very innocent, they approach the world with almost naivete that I think adults don't have.

"Adults have their built-in biases, their baggage. Children don't look at colour and race the same way that adults do."

But the two kids weren't the only ones Chu had to contend with.

She shot Rojak while six months pregnant.

"When you're carrying a bowling ball in your belly and trying to direct a film at the same time, you run into a lot of, let's say, issues."

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If you thought Singapore couldn't feasibly uncover another Crazy Rich Asians reference, Chu was actually an extra in the hit movie.

She did it right after she quit the corporate world, playing a guest at the ethereal wedding of Colin and Araminta.

The nine days immersed on a Hollywood set "helped solidify (her) interest".

Contacts she made on set eventually helped her cast Rojak.

The inaugural ciNE65 Festival saw more than 600 people attend its opening day (June 5). Reactions have also been positive.

Student Jacob Folkler, 16, said, "Through all the films I watched there were many, many different values that all came together to follow the theme 'Singapura'."

"I think it's very useful," added 28-year-old Zion Teo. "I'm also a filmmaker and I brought my girlfriend along to let her understand what I'm actually doing."

Vote in the Audience Choice Awards for favourite film, actor and actress at the ciNE65 website here and you stand a chance to win air tickets to Seoul and Bali, staycation packages and other vouchers. Voting will end on June 11. 

Free screenings for ciNE65 Festival 2019 will be held at various venues until June 9; the full schedule can be found here. For more information, go to cine65.sg.

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Still undecided? Tan Thiam Peng recommends 10 films worth travelling out to watch on the big screen.

FIRST IMPRESSION

Starring 987TV Star winner Warrick Wee and Ah Boys To Men actor Hafiz Aziz, this seriously-funny talkie sees a Chinese man walk his Malay friend through how he plans to meet his Malay girlfriend's parents for the first time - or so he thinks. Watch this for how it injects humour into the topic of interracial romance.

AH GONG GARDEN

For years, the filmmaker never knew the place her family gathered at every Chinese New Year was part of her grandfather's thriving horticulture business. She seized on the chance of a personal journey tracing the octogenarian's footsteps. Watch this documentary because how many of us wished we knew our grandparents better?

KAMPONG

A simply-told series of vignettes through the innocent eyes of a child that breathes new life into the kampong, a space whose use can sometimes be tiresome. Watch this visceral experience if you like your films to make you feel, rather than make you think.

ONE LAST TIME

A love letter to an old shopping mall the protagonist grew up with, One Last Time questions whether our memories endure when place and people are separated. Watch this exquisitely-shot film for its cerebral use of colours - and even a sequence that recalls the great Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai.

一人一半 (HALF EACH)

Starring veteran indie actor Tuen Wai Meng, this short shows how Singaporeans with little find joy in the little things. Watch this because it's in Hokkien.

PULAU UJONG

Taking its title from an old name for Singapore, this film eschews conventional storytelling in favour of the landscape and soundscape of the island in telling its history. Watch this unique work if you're a fan of Royston Tan.

IN TIME WITH

Part surreal, part absurd, In Time With utilises an unusual conversation to remind us that what makes the Singaporean identity are relationships shaped over time. Watch this for its refreshing mode of storytelling.

BUILT TO LAST

When there's a plot twist involved, it's advisable to say as little as possible. A heartfelt short that's sensitive beyond the years of its makers from Temasek Polytechnic.

SOUND OF HOME

This one-of-a-kind film deserves its nominations in the technical categories. Sound of Home reminds us that wherever your dreams take you, home is where you can never forget. Watch this if you belong to the half of humanity that appreciated Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

ROOTS OF REJECTION

Through nothing but stories and traditions, the protagonist visits Bukit Brown Cemetery hoping to reconnect with his roots before its eventual exhumation. Watch this for its deceptively-dense ideas - down to its film title.

tanthiampeng@asiaone.com

This article was brought to you in partnership with ciNE65.