Image: LASALLE College of the Arts
Wesley Leon Aroozoo is a Singapore-based artist, filmmaker, and educator whose medium-defying practice spans literary arts, film, television, performance, and theatre. His works have been nominated and awarded at major platforms including the Busan International Film Festival, NUS Singapore History Prize, Epigram Books Fiction Prize, Mediacorp Pinwheels Awards, and the Singapore Book Prize.
An artist with 13 Little Pictures and an educator at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, Wesley is currently pursuing a PhD at RMIT University’s School of Media and Communication. He holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University and a BFA (Hons) in Digital Filmmaking from Nanyang Technological University.
Wesley’s creative practice is driven by an enduring interest in uncovering lesser-known histories in Singapore. His historical fiction novel The Punkhawala and The Prostitute (Epigram Books, 2021) won at the Singapore Book Prize, was a Straits Times Weekly Bestseller, and was nominated for both the NUS Singapore History Prize and the Epigram Books Fiction Prize. His debut novel Bedok Reservoir (Math Paper Press, 2012) was adapted for the stage at Goodman Arts Centre, where he also performed live music.
His feature documentary I Want to Go Home premiered at the Busan International Film Festival and was nominated for the Mecenat Award, with the book adapted into a multi-sensory exhibit at The Arts House. As a filmmaker, his works have screened internationally, including at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Sapporo International Short Film Festival. In recent years, he has continued exploring overlooked histories through documentaries with Mothership Singapore, performance works with The Storytelling Centre, and the Viddsee edu-tainment series What the Street!
Wesley has lectured at Nanyang Technological University and conducted creative workshops for festivals and institutions in Singapore and internationally, including a documentary filmmaking session for participants in Afghanistan via KITE.
Email: moomeow@gmail.com