ABOUT





QIAO SE (ciao-see) ONG

/is a transnational social researcher and filmmaker who writes & creates about crisis, affect, Malaysian film & experimental ethnography. 

/is from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

CONTACT

ongqiaose@gmail.com
instagram
READ


 


Academic Writing
& Research



The Feeling of Resistance:
An Affective Analysis of
Independent Cinema in Malaysia

Undergraduate Film Studies Thesis
Mount Holyoke College
2024-2025
/awarded summa cum laude for an exceptional thesis

Culture and Curation in the 
US Study Abroad Industry

Independent Research
Mount Holyoke College Sociology Dept.
2024-2025
/presented at Five College Undergraduate Anthropology Conference 2025

El shock: un estudio afectivo
de la crisis de 2001

Independent Research
CIEE Buenos Aires, 
Mount Holyoke College
2024

Cuba at a Crossroads

Ethnographic Story-mapping
Hampshire in Havana Program
2023
 


Creative  Song for Goodbyes, poem
Issue 03 of Mount Holyoke Review 2022

What I failed to mention in my message was that, poem
Issue 06 of Mount Holyoke Review 2025

Thought Experiment poem
Issue 06 of Mount Holyoke Review 2025

If you had grown up in my house maybe you would, poem
Issue 06 of Mount Holyoke Review 2025


Press
Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary, The Krishen Jit Fund Awards 7 Grants Amounting MYR 62,000 To Local Artists
by Nurin Jasni, Gempak
Kuala Lumpur
2025

Creativity in action with Projects for Peace
by Sonia Paul
South Hadley
2025
          


Lesser-known Skills & Hidden Talents
Anecdote-remembering
Spontaneous Planning
Waiting
Skipping Rocks
Sabre Fencing




EMAIL FOR CV



Last Updated 24.10.31



LOOK







1. Direction 
The Shape of an Almond
Experimental short film, 2025
In Research & Development

The Shape of an Almond is a non-fiction film about Ah Ma, a 90-year-old woman living with Alzheimer’s disease, and her last memories of pre- and post-Merdeka Malaysia. It experiments with the traditional biographical documentary to illustrate the tensions between the past and present Malaysia through a personal lens.

Winner of Krishen Jit Fund 2025





2. Direction
I’m So Happy To Be Here
nonfiction short, 2024

An experimental mockumentary of international student testimonies and higher education promotional media in the United States – this short explores the complexities of being the fortunate and privileged Other within an elite institution.  

Official Selection
Mount Holyoke College Film Festival 2025





3. Direction
The Time Being
nonfiction short film, 2023
Independent Research and Project

Two undergraduate students discuss their futures, the stakes they hold, and their dreams. Completed as part of an independent study of affect, and affective responses to a larger context of neoliberal decay.  





4. Direction
To Die Dreaming
experimental short film, 2024

In an exercise in reenactment, I revisit a dream I have of my grandmother.  

Official Selection
Best of Festival - Experimental
Five College Film Festival 2024





5. Collaboration & Community Organizing
Creativity in Action: Integrated Arts in 
Grassroots Organizing, 2025
Post-production

Creativity in Action is a socially engaged research and creative initiative conducted in Caldas, Colombia, to address the socio-ecological disruption faced by campesino communities.

Winner of Projects for Peace Grant 2025 




6. Editing
Fundraiser Short
Beyond Saydnaya, 2025

An excerpt of an interview with Saydnaya Prison survivor Omar Alshogre. Our short film was screened as part of a fundraising initiative for the survivors of Syrian prison Saydnaya, notorious for the human rights violations sanctioned under the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad.

Winner of Projects for Peace Grant 2025





7. Film Programming
Five College Film Collective
Mount Holyoke College, 2025

A series of experimental film screenings and community-centered events for students in the Five College Consortium.