Singaporean director Anthony Chen on new movie Drift, the tale of a Liberian refugee that brought out emotions at the Sundance Film Festival

Drift stars Cynthia Erivo as ‘not your regular refugee’ and is ‘the most raw performance you’ve ever seen from her’, Chen says

The director has also wrapped filming on The Breaking Ice, his first movie shot in mainland China that saw his crew endure temperatures of -18 degrees Celsius

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Cynthia Erivo in a still from Drift, the first English-language movie from Singaporean director Anthony Chen.

Published: 7:15am, 31 Jan 2023

Anthony Chen is looking remarkably composed when we meet over Zoom for this interview, considering that the Sundance Film Festival premiere of his latest film, Drift, took place just the night before.

“We had a thousand-strong, sold-out crowd,” he says. “We had the applause, but most importantly, so many people were in tears at the end of the screening. It was very emotional. In fact, it was emotional for me as well.

“I rarely do tears at my own screenings, but both the actors and myself … we were in tears by the end of the screening.”

The Singaporean director is enjoying a purple patch in his career right now. Drift marks his first English-language movie, after his homespun debut Ilo Ilo, which won the Camera d’Or in Cannes in 2013, and Wet Season (2019).

Anthony Chen at the premiere of Drift at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Set and shot in Greece, this elliptical tale of a Liberian refugee stars British Oscar-nominee Cynthia Erivo (Widows, Harriet), and Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat as an American tour guide who befriends Erivo’s shell-shocked survivor.

It’s not the only film the 38-year-old Chen has in the can. Before he decamped to Greece in January 2022, he wrapped The Breaking Ice, his first film shot in mainland China.