info@kaylatong.com | www.kaylatong.com | New York & Hong Kong
Fluent in English, Cantonese & Mandarin; Intermediate in German
Cinematographer on all directed work below, including Home/Land.
Home/Land is a feature documentary on two generations of Hong Kong migration, filmed over five years across Hong Kong, the US and the UK.
2025 – A-Doc Allies of Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc)
2024 – DOK Leipzig’s DOK Preview International Showcase
2023 – Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) Cut to the Chase Market
2023 – EURODOC International Lab for Creative Documentary Production (Germany, France, Poland)
2022 – Docs by the Sea International Documentary Lab and Forum (Indonesia)
2021 – Eye Catcher Incubation Film Development Fellowship, Renaissance Foundation (Hong Kong)
2026 – Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University (Hong Kong Memory Collection)
2026 – Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University (Hong Kong Memory Collection)
Mississippi Chinese Grocer tells the story of a Chinese immigrant who ran a grocery in Mississippi from 1930 to 1967 and became a trusted figure in town through the Depression and Jim Crow.
2020 - “Hong Kong Art & Democracy” documentary short series
A series directed for a political campaign for the Arts, Culture and Publication seat in Hong Kong's legislature.
2018 - “Story of: Cabinet of Curiosity” fine jewelry brand documentary short
A portrait of a bespoke jeweler who builds each piece by hand in her studio, setting rare gemstones into bands shaped to echo their raw, natural edges — an intimate maker-portraiture.
2016 - “Home is Where the Sunsets” narrative short
My autobiographical debut and first film in Cantonese, about about a young woman whose sense of who she is unravels when her Hong Kong family visits her in L.A. for the first time. Made through the Armed With a Camera Fellowship, it launched my career across 20+ Asian and Asian American festivals — LAAPFF, Toronto Reel Asian, Vancouver Asian, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Kerry (Ireland) among them — winning Best Director at the Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival.
2025 - “Oscar’s Return” documentary short, dir. Steven Raven Liang
SFFILM · San Quentin FF
2023 - “Sweet Lime” narrative short, dir. Fatema Abdoolcarim
ZINEBI Bilbao · Osaka Asian FF (Housen Special Mention) · Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin (Special Mention) · HK Asian FF · San Diego Asian FF · North East Intl. FF (UK)
2022 - “Queerfully Departed” comedy short, dir. Trent Nakamura
Honolulu Rainbow FF (Best Overall Short) · LA Asian Pacific FF · Slovak Queer FF (Bratislava) · Media FF
2022 - “Hei, I’m Home” “ narrative short, dir. Lam Lo
Asian American Intl. FF (NYC)
2022 - “Ateh” narrative short, dir. Kristie Ko
ViuTV HK · HK Fresh Wave (Audience Award & Special Mention) · Taiwan Golden Harvest · Kaohsiung · Reykjavík
2021 - “Twin Cities” interactive film, British Council
Hong Kong Ballet · Wind & Foster · Unsensible
2021 - “#WorkingMomsHK” dir. Kristie Ko
PathFinders Hong Kong · Three-part campaign honoring migrant domestic worker mothers
2021 - “Herselves” documentary hybrid short, dir. Kristy Choi
The New Yorker Documentary Series · LA Asian Pacific FF · Seattle Asian American FF
2020 - “Baldwin Beauty” (B Camera) narrative short, dir. Thembi Banks
Sundance · NAACP Image Award nominee (Outstanding Short Form) · Powderkeg (Exec. Prod. Paul Feig)
2019 - “Morning Passing on El Cajón Boulevard” segment of 4-part documentary feature, dir. Quyên Nguyen-Le
KPBS · SBS Australia · OVID · New Orleans FF · Opening Film, San Diego Asian FF · Seattle Asian American FF
2019 - “The Shabbos Goy” (B Camera) comedy short, dir. Talia Osteen
Florida FF (Best Short, Audience Award) · SF Jewish FF (Film Movement Award) · HollyShorts · Austin FF · Just For Laughs
2017 - “Wash” narrative short, dir. Zhichun Huang
LA Shorts Fest · BLOW-UP Intl. Arthouse FF Chicago · LA New Wave Intl. FF
2014 - “The Return” narrative short, dir. Jingliang Tan
Asian Film Academy · Busan Intl. FF
2017 - Erasmus Mundus Scholarship for Studies in Cinematography, European Commission
2017 - Best Director Award (Narrative) for “Home is where the Sunsets”, Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival
2016 - Armed With a Camera Fellowship (Directing Fellow), L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival (Los Angeles, California)
2014 - Busan Asian Film Academy (Cinematography Fellow), Busan International Film Festival (Busan, South Korea)
2026 - New York University, ITP Camp — Creative Technology & Interactive Media (New York City)
2020 - C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles, Certificate in Analytical Psychology (Los Angeles, California)
2016 - Universidade Lusófona, Kinoeyes Master Courses in Cinematography (Lisbon, Portugal)
2015 - USC School of Cinematic Arts, B.A. Cinema Studies (Los Angeles, California)
2012 - University of Hong Kong, Summer Institute in Asian Studies, Social Science & Politics (HK, Seoul, Beijing)
Since 2025 - Documentary Cinematographers Alliance
Since 2024 - Portrait Creative Network
Since 2023 - Video Consortium
Since 2020 - Brown Girls Doc Mafia
Since 2019 - Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc)
Learning languages is a long-term passion and an ongoing creative practice. I study through immersion and principles of language acquisition, and my proficiency is continually evolving. The indicators below are my own self-assessment, broadly corresponding to the CEFR scale (A1–C2).
Native/Fluent
English ▰▰▰▰▰▰
Cantonese ▰▰▰▰▰▰
Mandarin ▰▰▰▰▰▰
Learning
German ▰▰▰▱▱▱
Spanish ▰▰▱▱▱▱
Korean ▰▱▱▱▱▱
Uyghur ▰▱▱▱▱▱
Arabic ▰▱▱▱▱▱