The Contestant

Brought up in South and Southeast Asia, British director Clair Titley grew up watching Asia’s answer to MTV and visiting back-alley video shops to rent pirated copies of the latest western movies. Her work taps into the quietly surreal moments of life, while often being a trojan horse for comment on the world around us. Themes of identity and self-discovery run through her films – what it means to be young, old or even just human.

Clair cut her teeth making oral history films for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK, quickly gaining a reputation as a filmmaker with a talent for interviewing and for unearthing untold angles. As well as a BAFTA nomination, she has been nominated for the Royal Television Society award for ‘Outstanding New Director’. The Contestant is her first feature-length documentary.