Kelvin Tong is a brand name in cutting-edge Singapore cinema. He started his film career in 1995 with Moveable Feast, a quirky short film about one man's obsession with food. Moveable Feast garnered a Special Mention at France's 1996 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. The short film is also the first – and, to date – only piece of Singapore cinema to be showcased at the prestigious Museum Of Modern Art in New York.

Between 1995 and 1999, Kelvin was the film critic for The Straits Times in Singapore, and is regarded as one of the top movie critics in Asia. He was also awarded a seat on NETPAC/FIPRESCI, an international body of film critics who serve as jury members at film festivals around the world.

In 1999, Kelvin Tong made his feature directorial debut with Eating Air. His direction and original screenplay saw the Singapore movie winning The Young Cinema Award at the 2000 Singapore International Film Festival and the FIPRESCI prize at the 2000 Stockholm International Film Festival. Eating Air beat 144 other entries to become one of the seven finalists in the 2000 Rotterdam International Film Festival's Tiger Awards, a prestigious showcase of debut films from around the world, and was acclaimed by Variety magazine after a screening at the Hollywood American Cinematheque in Los Angeles in 2001.

Named as the best Singapore movie to date in October 2003 by Lianhe Zaobao, Eating Air represented Singapore extensively in the international film-festival circuit competing in the Vancouver International Film Festival, Hongkong International Film Festival, Helsinki International Film Festival, Moscow Sochi International Film Festival, Udine International Film Festival, Barcelona International Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian-American Film Festival, Manila Film Festival, Tokyo PIA International Film Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival, Denmark International Film Festival, the inaugural Deauville Film Festival and the CineAsia Film Festival in Cologne, Germany.

In 2005, Kelvin released his second feature, The Maid. The slick horror film broke box office records in Singapore and was acquired by Fortissimo Films for worldwide distribution.

Love Story, an arthouse project with Hong Kong's Focus Films, was Kelvin's third feature to be released. The movie premiered at The Singapore International Film Festival this year, and earned Kelvin the Best Director award.