Ivan Tan is a writer-director from Singapore. His first short film, Tadpoles, was awarded the jury prize at the 66th Locarno International Film Festival – the first for a Singaporean director. Shortly after, he was one of eight directors accepted into the National Film & Television School in the UK under a national scholarship.

Ivan spent the first seven years of his life living with his grandparents. At eight, he found out that they were not his real grandparents. This rupture in his childhood allowed him to understand how powerful stories can be in shaping one’s reality. Ivan’s early films constantly asked what family meant.

Today, Ivan’s work examines contemporary Singaporean society through bizarre and absurd situations. He also likes Ozu, Teresa Teng, Chinese tea and cheeseburgers.