Royston Tan

In this Chinese name, the family name is Tan.
Royston Tan
Tan at a screening of 7 Letters in London on 17 June 2016
Born (1976-10-05) 5 October 1976 (age 48)
Singapore
Other namesChen Ziqian
EducationZhonghua Secondary School
Alma materTemasek Polytechnic
Occupations
  • Director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
  • actor
Years active1995–present
Parents
  • Tan Chin Cheng (father)
  • Ng Peng Hwy (mother)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese陳子謙
Simplified Chinese陈子谦
Hanyu PinyinChén Zǐqiān
Hokkien POJTân Chí-khiam
Websiteroyston-tan.blogspot.com

Royston Tan (born 5 October 1976) is a Singaporean filmmaker and actor.

Tan is a graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, where he studied Visual Communications.[1] He first came into prominence through his short films: Sons (2000), Hock Hiap Leong (2001), 48 on AIDS (2002), Mother (2002) and 15 (2002). He has so far directed six features.

In 2021 he was selected as a jury member for the Sonje Award at the 26th Busan International Film Festival.[2]

He was appointed creative director of the Singapore National Day Parade in 2020 and 2023.[3] In 2023, Tan was one of the eight assentors appointed for eventual president-elect Tharman Shanmugaratnam in the 2023 Singaporean presidential election.[4]

Filmography

Tan in 2007

As director

Feature films

Year Title Notes Ref
2003 15
2006 4:30
2007 881 [5]
2008 12 Lotus [5]
2015 3688 [5]
2021 24 [5]

Short films

  • Adam.Eve.Steve (1997)
  • Jesses (1999)
  • Sons (2000)
  • Hock Hiap Leong (2001)
  • 48 on AIDS (2002)
  • 24 HRS (2002)
  • Mother (2002)
  • 15 (short) (2002)!
  • The Old Man and The River (2003)
  • 177155 (2003)
  • Cut (2004)
  • The Blind Trilogy: Blind / Old Parliament House / Capitol Cinema (2004)
  • The Absentee (2004)
  • Careless Whisperer (2005)
  • New York Girl (2005)
  • Monkeylove (2005)
  • DIY (2005)
  • Cellouiod Dreams (2006), for the National Museum of Singapore's Living Galleries
  • Sin Sai Hong (2006)
  • After The Rain (2007)
  • My SARS Lover (2008)
  • Little Note (2009)
  • Anniversary (2009)
  • No Admittance (2010)
  • Ah Kong (2010)
  • FishLove (2010)
  • I want to remember (2011)
  • Vicky (2014)
  • 033713 (2014)
  • Bunga Sayang (2015), as part of the anthology 7 Letters
  • Provision Shop (2016)

Other works

  • Remains (1995) Music video
  • Erase (1996) Music video
  • Kisses (1997) Music video
  • 4A Florence Close (1998) Home video
  • Birdsong (2010) TV movie
  • Old Places (2010) TV movie
  • Journey to the West Pioneer Generation Video (2015) Advertorial
  • Voyage (2017) Multimedia musical[6]
  • GeTai Challenge (2018) Guest judge (episode 15-16)[7][8]
  • High (2020) Interactive film

As actor

Year Title Role Notes Ref
1998 The Teenage Textbook Movie
1999 Pong
2005 Be with Me

Compilations

  • Royston's Shorts (2006) - produced by Tan Bee Thiam

Awards

1996

  • National Panasonic Video Award for Music Video for "Erase"

1997

  • UTV International Book Prize for "Adam.Eve.Steve"

1998

  • Bios MTV Awards 2nd prize for Music Video for "Kisses"

1999/2000

  • Hong Kong IDN Excellence in Digital Imaging Award for "Senses"

2000

  • 13th Singapore International Film Festival
Best Short Film for "Sons"
Special Achievement Award for "Sons"

2001

  • Singapore Short Film Festival – The Voice Award for "Mother"
  • 6th Malaysian Video Awards: ASEAN Director of the Year – Silver Award
  • 23rd JVC Video Award – Silver Award for "Sons"

2002

  • The National Arts Council – Young Artist Award 2002
  • 21st Uppsala International Short Film Festival (Sweden) – International Jury Honorary Mention for "Hock Hiap Leong"
  • 6th Thai Short Film and Video Festival – Best International Short Film Award for "15"
  • Asian Television Awards 2002 – Technical and Creative Winner
Best of Show
Best Cinematography Award
  • Promax Asia 2002 – Silver for "48 on AIDS"
  • 15th Singapore International Film Festival – Special Achievement Award for Short Film "15"
  • "Fest Forward" – Audience Choice for "15"
  • Tampere International Film Festival – Jury's Diploma of Merit Award for "Hock Hiap Leong"

2003

  • Filmlet 2003 – Best International Short Film
  • Brief Encounter Short Film Festival 2003
  • Best International Short Film
  • Kurzfilmtage Winterthur 2003 – Promotion Prize of the International Competition 03
  • 22nd Uppsala International Short Film Festival (Sweden) "UppsalaFilmkaja" Award
  • Mecal Film Festival – Special Mention for "15" (short film)
  • 16th Singapore International Film Festival – NETPAC-FIPRESCI Jury World Critic Award for "15: The Movie"
  • Newport International Film Festival – Honorable Mention for "15"
  • Oberhausen Short Film Festival – Special Mention Award for "15"
  • Tampere Film Festival – Best Fiction Award for "15"
  • Hong Kong Independent Short Film & Video Awards – Asian New Force 2003 Critics Awards for Short Film for "15"
  • New York Film and Television Award – Silver for "48 on AIDS"

2004

  • Hall of Fame – Best Family TVC (Starhub)
  • 10th Lyon Asian Film Festival – Press Award for 2nd Best Film for "15"
  • TIME Magazine – "Top 20 Asian Heroes"
  • Panasonic Digital Filmmaker Awards 2004 First Prize for "Cut"
  • 2004 Busan Asian Short Film Festival Excellent Kodak Film Award for "15" (short film)
  • Buenos Aires VI Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente
Signis Special Mention Award for "15: The Movie"
Best Director Award for "15: The Movie"
  • Deauville Asian Film Festival – Special Jury Award for "15: The Movie"

2005

2006

  • 2006 Hawaii International Film Festival NETPAC award – (4:30)
  • 2006 Sapporo Short Shorts Special award – (Monkeylove)
  • 2006 HAF Award – "132"
  • 2006 Fitzroy Short Film Festival – Audience Prize for "Monkeylove"
  • Geneva Black Movie Festival – Special Mention Award for "4:30"

2007

  • Main Prize of the 5th Festival Signes de Nuit for "Monkeylove"
  • Winner of the Silver Screen Gangster Award
  • 29th Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival Grand prix for "Monkeylove"

2009

  • 22nd Singapore International Film Festival – Singapore Film Awards: Best Director for "12 Lotus"

2010

  • 1st Singapore Short Film Awards – Honorary Award for "outstanding contribution to the film community through short films"

References

  1. ^ "Wowing Audiences With His Films". TP4u.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
  2. ^ Kim Ji-won (24 August 2021). "부산영화제 지석상·비프메세나상·선재상 심사위원 발표…미래 이끌 신인 찾는다" [Busan Film Festival Ji Seok Award, BIFF Mecenat Award, Son Jae Award Jury Announcement… Looking for new talent to lead the future]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. ^ "This year, get ready to watch - and smell - an unforgettable NDP show". AsiaOne. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Ho Kwon Ping, Royston Tan & Muhd Alami Musa among S'poreans publicly supporting Tharman's presidential bid". Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d Auto, Hermes (6 September 2021). "Royston Tan's new film 24 will premiere at Busan International Film Festival | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Pop singers, award-winning filmmakers contribute to opening of the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre". TODAY. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  7. ^ "GeTai Challenge 2018 歌台星力量 兴-旺-发 - EP15". Archived from the original on 5 October 2018.
  8. ^ "GeTai Challenge 2018 歌台星力量 兴-旺-发 - EP16". Archived from the original on 5 October 2018.
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