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Compelling storytelling meets experimental film making in this block of thrilling and dark shorts. These films explore themes of loss, family, mental health, and disillusionment with unique tones and structures.
This screening features 8 films. Toggle between film descriptions by scrolling and clicking on the buttons on the top right.
A young couple have a horrifying encounter with a yellow Volkswagen Beetle while driving home on a deserted highway in the middle of the night.
Director Biography - Ian Tan
Ian Tan is a filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. He graduated with a BFA in Film Production at UBC. He is an Editor at Atomic Cartoons, one of Vancouver's leading animation studios. Ian is a sought-after Editor within the Asian filmmaking community in Vancouver, with award-winning shorts that have screened around the world from Korea, Los Angeles, Singapore, Toronto and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. His experiences being raised in Malaysia has made Ian passionate about telling stories from his unique Chinese-Malaysian perspective. His films focus on themes of deconstructing masculinity. When he’s not picking up a camera or chipping away at an edit, you’ll find Ian posing his Transformers action figures.
Ian is currently developing his horror short 'Karak' into a feature film.
Director Statement
What haunts you? What shadows from your past have you been avoiding for years, months, weeks? What I find myself running away from is the fear of losing a loved one, and the grief that comes with such a loss.
My name is Ian Tan and I'm a Director/Editor based in Vancouver, BC and I'm accompanied today by my Producer, Nancy Q - who produced the award winning proof of concept short for ‘Karak’.
I spent 19 years of my life in Malaysia and the last 8 in Canada, where I married my lovely wife. As we’ve gotten to know more married couples over the last few years, I’m disheartened to hear so many personal stories of miscarriages and stillbirths. I'm disheartened by the silence and shame that comes with this experience, and I'm unsettled by how little it's talked about in film and media. Worst of all, it makes me wonder, what if this became my reality? What if the child my wife and I are ready to have…doesn't make it?
Enter ‘Karak, a visceral exploration of the avoidance of grief and my personal fears of fatherhood. The film is rooted in the Malaysian urban legend of the country's most haunted stretch of road - the Karak highway - which is traversed by an insidious Volkswagen Beetle that feeds on people's emotional trauma.
According to urban legend, it creeps up behind you for an uncomfortable amount of time, then drives off into the distance. You don't think much of it at first, but then it reappears behind you, again and again until you're forced to acknowledge it.
This is the journey our protagonist Adrian goes through in the film.
After the tragic loss of their baby daughter through a miscarriage, Adrian and Beatrice are at crossroads with each other. Adrian desperately wants things to go back to how they were before their baby's passing, while Beatrice needs time to process her grief. But Adrian’s avoidant behaviour leads him to decide that they have to move someplace new in order to move on faster.
The film ultimately becomes a hero's journey story of sorts for Adrian, who goes from being someone who avoids grief at all costs to someone who embraces it as a painful but essential part of the human experience. Beyond the fear of losing a child, I have a mother who’s battled cancer for 16 years and counting. And with every recurrence I'm always preparing myself for the worst, and I never get used to it. I fear that when her time comes, I won't be able to handle my grief. I fear a reality where my child won't know their amazing grandmother. It would be easier for me to suppress my emotions to “save face” as many Asian men are brought up to do, but we all know that only masks the truth we’re too afraid to face. And unlike Adrian, who avoided the Beetle initially, we have to face these difficult emotions in order to grow and mature. I know I do, if I want to become a better husband and father.
Compelling storytelling meets experimental film making in this block of thrilling and dark shorts. These films explore themes of loss, family, mental health, and disillusionment with unique tones and structures.
This screening features 8 films. Toggle between film descriptions by scrolling and clicking on the buttons on the top right.
A young couple have a horrifying encounter with a yellow Volkswagen Beetle while driving home on a deserted highway in the middle of the night.
Director Biography - Ian Tan
Ian Tan is a filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. He graduated with a BFA in Film Production at UBC. He is an Editor at Atomic Cartoons, one of Vancouver's leading animation studios. Ian is a sought-after Editor within the Asian filmmaking community in Vancouver, with award-winning shorts that have screened around the world from Korea, Los Angeles, Singapore, Toronto and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. His experiences being raised in Malaysia has made Ian passionate about telling stories from his unique Chinese-Malaysian perspective. His films focus on themes of deconstructing masculinity. When he’s not picking up a camera or chipping away at an edit, you’ll find Ian posing his Transformers action figures.
Ian is currently developing his horror short 'Karak' into a feature film.
Director Statement
What haunts you? What shadows from your past have you been avoiding for years, months, weeks? What I find myself running away from is the fear of losing a loved one, and the grief that comes with such a loss.
My name is Ian Tan and I'm a Director/Editor based in Vancouver, BC and I'm accompanied today by my Producer, Nancy Q - who produced the award winning proof of concept short for ‘Karak’.
I spent 19 years of my life in Malaysia and the last 8 in Canada, where I married my lovely wife. As we’ve gotten to know more married couples over the last few years, I’m disheartened to hear so many personal stories of miscarriages and stillbirths. I'm disheartened by the silence and shame that comes with this experience, and I'm unsettled by how little it's talked about in film and media. Worst of all, it makes me wonder, what if this became my reality? What if the child my wife and I are ready to have…doesn't make it?
Enter ‘Karak, a visceral exploration of the avoidance of grief and my personal fears of fatherhood. The film is rooted in the Malaysian urban legend of the country's most haunted stretch of road - the Karak highway - which is traversed by an insidious Volkswagen Beetle that feeds on people's emotional trauma.
According to urban legend, it creeps up behind you for an uncomfortable amount of time, then drives off into the distance. You don't think much of it at first, but then it reappears behind you, again and again until you're forced to acknowledge it.
This is the journey our protagonist Adrian goes through in the film.
After the tragic loss of their baby daughter through a miscarriage, Adrian and Beatrice are at crossroads with each other. Adrian desperately wants things to go back to how they were before their baby's passing, while Beatrice needs time to process her grief. But Adrian’s avoidant behaviour leads him to decide that they have to move someplace new in order to move on faster.
The film ultimately becomes a hero's journey story of sorts for Adrian, who goes from being someone who avoids grief at all costs to someone who embraces it as a painful but essential part of the human experience. Beyond the fear of losing a child, I have a mother who’s battled cancer for 16 years and counting. And with every recurrence I'm always preparing myself for the worst, and I never get used to it. I fear that when her time comes, I won't be able to handle my grief. I fear a reality where my child won't know their amazing grandmother. It would be easier for me to suppress my emotions to “save face” as many Asian men are brought up to do, but we all know that only masks the truth we’re too afraid to face. And unlike Adrian, who avoided the Beetle initially, we have to face these difficult emotions in order to grow and mature. I know I do, if I want to become a better husband and father.
