From national fencer to award-winning director: Nelicia Low on making her debut feature film Pierce

And the rest was history. Before Pierce, Low directed a slew of critically-acclaimed short films including 2015’s Freeze which was screened at the 38th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the 53rd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and the 33rd Busan International Short Film Festival.

As one would imagine, making a feature-length film is no easy matter. In fact, the 33-year-old admitted that she came close to quitting right before the start of Pierce’s production.

“In the 10 days before Pierce started shooting, there was a moment where I thought that if I were to continue down this path in the shooting of the film, it wouldn’t be the film that I had wanted to film. The circumstances were so difficult and I tried to leave. I said: ‘I don’t want to continue because if I do, it’s not my baby anymore.’” said Low.

She added that she called her parents to inform them of her decision, thinking they would be happy to hear it.

“But my dad looked at me via FaceTime and said: ‘No, you’re not. You’re gonna go back and you’re gonna finish the film.’”

Without going into detail about what exactly happened, Low said that there were “extremely, extraordinarily difficult shooting circumstances” that were partly due to COVID-19.

“It was just one of those things where I carried this on for so long only for it to fall apart. It’s very painful. If my dad didn’t tell me to go on, I don’t think I could have done it,” said Low.

“In the end, the acceptance and empowerment from my parents was very, very meaningful. It’s one of those things in life that you always remember ‘cause finally, your parents acknowledge who you are.”

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