Mickey Lai is a Malaysia-based filmmaker working across fiction and documentary forms. She holds an MA in Film and Television Production from MetFilm School, London. Growing up in a multiracial and religiously diverse society has deeply shaped her artistic practice, which examines how institutional structures—such as family, religion, education, and the state—quietly shape bodies, choices, and silence. Her work is rooted in intimate, character-driven storytelling and is marked by a sustained interest in moral tension, care, and the ways power operates through everyday systems.
Her latest short film WAShhh premiered at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, where it received the Golden Leopard for Best International Short Film. The film has since travelled widely and been presented at major international festivals, including Clermont-Ferrand, Taipei Golden Horse, Red Sea, Singapore, Vienna Shorts, etc. WAShhh has received multiple international awards, including Best Short Film at Toronto Reel Asian, International Jury Prize at QCinema Philippines, the SHORTS Award at Alternativa Film Awards, Best Top Ten Short Films at the Golden Rooster Festival, the Housen Short Film Award at Osaka Asian Film Festival, Jury Award at Hiroshima International Film Festival, and the SeaShorts Competition Award.
Her thesis short film, The Cloud Is Still There, screened internationally at festivals including Clermont-Ferrand, Busan, and Shanghai International Film Festival. The film received the Best Performance Award at the SeaShorts Film Festival in Malaysia and the New Talent Award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle, United States.
Her documentary short, A Worm, Whatever Will Be, Will Be, won the Jury Award at the SeaShorts Film Festival and was selected for major festivals, including Golden Horse, Singapore, Jogja-NETPAC, and the Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival.
Mickey is an alumna of the Golden Horse Film Academy 2024 and Locarno Spring Academy 2025, and a participant in the MASO Short Film Training Programme 2025-2026 for her latest short film, Can You Touch Me.
She is currently developing her first feature film, which continues her exploration of silence, care, and moral responsibility within institutional systems.
mickey lai 