Ma Wai In (Gali)

Gali (Ma Wai In) is a writer and director from Macao, now based in Taiwan. Her work spans film and theater, blending technology, folklore, and fairytale elements through magical realism and women-centered narratives. She is passionate about exploring new ways of storytelling across cultures and mediums. She began her creative journey in 2016 through a workshop with the Macao theater group Step Out. Her plays have since been staged at major arts festivals in Macao and Taiwan. In 2020, she was selected as the writing fellow of the 12th Taiwan Golden Horse Academy, one of the most prestigious film festivals in Asia. Since then, she has directed two short films: Natasha, about a mother who unexpectedly befriends her deceased son’s widow, a sex doll Natasha; and Pop It, a magical cross-generational tale of migration told through three women and their balloons. She is developing Tales in the Dark, a surreal anthology series co-created with filmmakers from Taiwan, Macao, China, and Malaysia, and two coming-of-age shorts: A Lesson, about a girl’s first confrontation with gender norms; and A Sleepover, capturing a boy’s quiet realization of masculinity and violence. Gali is also committed to supporting fellow storytellers. She co-hosts a monthly Writers’ Night in Taipei, an intimate gathering for creatives across disciplines to write, share, and connect in a space designed not only for productivity, but also for rest and inspiration.