Confinement (坐月)
Confinement (坐月)
Ash Goh Hua
Ash Goh Hua
Jing returns to Singapore following the birth of her niece, Juliet. To become an aunt she tries to support the family during the traditional month-long postpartum confinement period, inevitably having to confront her contentious relationship with her estranged mother, complex family dynamics, and the cultural politic of her hometown—the very causes of her departure a decade prior.
Film/Moving Image, Narrative Film
2025
About Ash Goh Hua
Woodhaven, NY
Ash Goh Hua is a filmmaker working between New York and Singapore. Utilizing both documentary and narrative forms, Ash tells personal stories that reveal the inherently embodied politics of relation, society and culture. Named one of the “25 New Faces of Film” by Filmmaker Magazine in 2022 and a 2024 Berlinale Talent, Ash has been supported by programs and fellowships from institutions like Sundance, Jerome Foundation and ITVS. Their 2020 documentary I’M FREE NOW, YOU ARE FREE (distributed by PBS POV Shorts) has screened and won awards at film festivals internationally: Sheffield Doc/Fest, BlackStar Film Festival, Camden International Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary, Ann Arbor Film Festival and more. Ash’s 2022 film is the Oscar-qualifying THE FEELING OF BEING CLOSE TO YOU (distributed by Condé Nast | The New Yorker), which won Best Documentary Short Award at the New Orleans Film Festival and screened at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, and True/False, among others. Ash’s first narrative short FULL MONTH is made with support from Jerome Foundation’s Production Grant, IMDA, and Berlinale Talents’ Short Form Station.
Ash Goh Hua is a filmmaker working between New York and Singapore. Utilizing both documentary and narrative forms, Ash tells personal stories that reveal the inherently embodied politics of relation, society and culture. Named one of the “25 New Faces of Film” by Filmmaker Magazine in 2022 and a 2024 Berlinale Talent, Ash has been supported by programs and fellowships from institutions like Sundance, Jerome Foundation and ITVS. Their 2020 documentary I’M FREE NOW, YOU ARE FREE (distributed by PBS POV Shorts) has screened and won awards at film festivals internationally: Sheffield Doc/Fest, BlackStar Film Festival, Camden International Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary, Ann Arbor Film Festival and more. Ash’s 2022 film is the Oscar-qualifying THE FEELING OF BEING CLOSE TO YOU (distributed by Condé Nast | The New Yorker), which won Best Documentary Short Award at the New Orleans Film Festival and screened at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, and True/False, among others. Ash’s first narrative short FULL MONTH is made with support from Jerome Foundation’s Production Grant, IMDA, and Berlinale Talents’ Short Form Station.