Edwin Lai is a Hong Kong–based director and cinematographer. His work spans narrative and commercial projects, with a strong interest in character-driven storytelling and genre exploration.

“As It Should Be grew out of my relationship with family, tradition, and the contradictions that can exist within loving spaces. Growing up in Hong Kong, Lunar New Year gatherings always felt warm, loud, familiar, and overwhelming all at once. They were moments where family members came together through routines, food, jokes, and conversation, but also spaces where certain things often remained unspoken. The film was developed in collaboration with JOYA, a queer artist whose lived experiences and perspective became an important part of shaping Megan’s emotional journey. Together, we wanted to portray the feeling of being surrounded by family warmth and conversation while still carrying something internally that feels difficult to express. A lot of the film came from observing the rhythms of family gatherings - overlapping conversations, casual questions, television noise in the background, relatives interrupting one another, moments of humour alongside awkwardness. We wanted the family to feel real and familiar, people who genuinely care for one another in the only ways they know how. At its heart, As It Should Be is a film about family, honesty, and the hope that acceptance can sometimes arrive in ways quieter and more ordinary than we expect.”