Desiree Lim

Desiree Lim (born 1971) is a Malaysian-born Canadian independent film director, producer, and screenwriter. She is known for her films Sugar Sweet, Floored by Love (2005), and The House (2011). Lim tends to work within the realm of family drama and comedy, and highlights themes of lesbianism, multiculturalism, and body positivity. She now works in Canada and Japan.

Early life and education Born in Malaysia in 1971, Lim grew up speaking Cantonese and Mandarin. Her parents are Chinese and had moved to her birthplace from mainland China and Hong Kong. In school, she became a skilled kendo practitioner. Upon graduating from high school, she moved to Tokyo to study at Sophia University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. She did not move back to Malaysia after her education, due to the lack of freedom of the press there. This was the beginning of her career as an independent filmmaker. Six years later she created her first feature-length film, Sugar Sweet, in which she described her coming out as a queer filmmaker.

Notable films Sugar Sweet (2001) Perhaps Lim's most popular work, Sugar Sweet is an erotic comedy that plays with the straight male ideas of what lesbian porn looks like. It is the first erotic film in Japan that was both made for and by queer women.

Floored By Love (2005) This work by Lim was a part of the Eight Stories About Love series on the Canadian television network Citytv. The House won Best Screenwriting and Best Performance at the Vancouver Women in Film Festival and was awarded Best Canadian Feature at the Female Eye Film Festival.

Inspiration From birth, Lim's identity as a transmigrant Asian woman influenced the way she saw the world. Though she was born and had lived in Malaysia, then later Japan, she seldom saw Asian faces represented in media during her childhood, declaring that all the faces on her TV screen were those of white people.

Filmography Film 1995: Closet is for Clothes 1999: Disposable Lez 1999: Dyke: Just Be It 2001: Eroticism 2003: Salty Wet – director (Short film) 2005: Out For Bubble Tea – director, producer, writer (Short film) 2005: Some Real Fangs – director, producer, writer (Short film) 2011: The House – director, producer, writer

Television 2001: Natural Mystery: Health & Hypnosis – associate producer (TV documentary) 2001: Sugar Sweet – director, writer (TV movie) 2005: Floored By Love – director, producer, writer (TV movie)