Lawrence Le Lam is an award-winning filmmaker from Richmond, BC who has an affinity for telling music-centric stories that explore underground worlds and subcultures in the Asian diaspora.
His final thesis film from Emily Carr University of Art + Design about a rebellious radio DJ broadcasting forbidden rock & roll in 1970s Taiwan, The Blue Jet won Best Student Production (Whistler Film Festival / Leo Awards 2016), Best Male Actor, Best Director, and Best Short Film at the Vancouver Short Film Festival 2016, and Best in Canada at the Toronto International Short Film Festival 2016.
His short film about the underground hip hop scene in 1992 LA, CYPHER won Best Cinematography, Best Male Actor, Best Sound Design, Best Director, and Best Short at the Vancouver Short Film Festival 2018, and Best Period Piece at Hollyshorts Film Festival 2018.
Lawrence was a participant in the 2017 TIFF Talent Lab. In 2018, he was the recipient of the Talent To Watch Award from the Whistler Film Festival.
From 2017-2019, he collaborated with director / writer (and friend) Ying Wang, co-writing and editing her feature documentary, The World Is Bright which she has been working on since 2007. The World Is Bright has won many awards (VIFF, Hot Docs) and is currently being used as a tool to facilitate discussions around mental health and immigration.
Lawrence was a story designer / writer for the animated VR exhibition, CHINATOWN XR, (produced by Hammer & Tong in partnership with University of British Columbia's Asian-Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program) taking audiences back in time to explore the history of Vancouver’s Chinatown from young men leaving for WW2 in the 40s through a legendary nightclub in the 60s and onward
In 2020, his first feature project The Chinatown Diner was one of 16 first feature projects chosen across Canada to be granted funding as part of Telefilm’s Talent To Watch program. In 2021, he was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary.
lawrence.le.lam7@gmail.com
+1 778 838 8338