Royston Tan (born 5 October 1976) is a Singaporean filmmaker and actor.
Background Tan is a graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, where he studied Visual Communications. 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.
He was appointed creative director of the Singapore National Day Parade in 2020 and 2023. In 2023, Tan was one of the eight assentors appointed for eventual president-elect Tharman Shanmugaratnam in the 2023 Singaporean presidential election.
Filmography
As director
Feature films YearTitle Notes 20031520064:302007881200812 Lotus20153688 202124
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) Wedding portrait (2014) 50 First Kisses (2015) Bunga Sayang (2015), as part of the anthology 7 Letters Provision Shop (2016) Half (2022)
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 Singapore Biennale 2013 If The World Changed - Ghost of Capitol Theatre Journey to the West Pioneer Generation Video (2015) Advertorial Voyage (2017) Multimedia musical GeTai Challenge (2018) Guest judge (episode 15-16) High (2020) Interactive film National day Parade (2020) National day Parade (2023)
As actor YearTitleRole Notes 1998The Teenage Textbook Movie1999Pong2005Be 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 3rd Vladivostok Pacific Meridian Film Festival – Best Short Film for "Cut" Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival – Canal+ Award 2005 for "Cut"
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" Singapore Youth Award - Arts & Culture
2012
Busan International Film Festival BIFF Award for '69'
2013
China International Micro Film Awards "Best Director" for 'Popiah' Hangzhou International Micro-film festival 2013 "Special Jury Award" for 'Popiah' The 4th Xi’an China International Folk Video Festival 2013 for 'Popiah'
2015
Golden Horse Award Audience Choice Awards Runner-up for '3688'
2016
Sapporo International Short Film Festival 'Best Asian Short' for Bunga Sayang Kumamoto City Award Focus on Asia-Fukuoka International Film Festival for '7 Letters'
2017 同仁 Special Jury Award for 'Popiah' 歌台至尊大奖 for 881, 歌台红星大奖
2020 Asian Academy Creative Award 'Best Immersive Award' for 'High'
2022 Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival "Jury Special Mention" for '24'
References
External links
Royston Tan's 4:30 Interview on Youtube Royston Tan's blogspot